Research by Starcom USA, behavioral targeting firm Tacoda, and comScore found that the 6% of the online population accounting for most of the click-throughs skews toward male Internet users ages 25 to 44 with household income under $40,000.
The study also found that their heavy clicking did not reflect high spending levels offline. They were also more likely to visit auction, gambling and career sites. The findings suggest that high click-through rates don't necessarily boost branding campaigns.
"While the click can continue to be a relevant metric for direct response advertising campaigns, this study demonstrates that click performance is the wrong measure for the effectiveness of brand-building campaigns," said Erin Hunter, executive vice president at comScore, in a prepared statement.
--Mark Walsh