• by Jack Loechner , Staff Writer @mp_research, February 5, 2009

According to the 2008 Personalization Survey from ChoiceStream, 39% of consumers overall are more likely to click on an ad if it is personalized, while that number rises to 58% among those who shop online at least several times a month. The survey finds that the bigger the spender, the greater the interest in personalized ads. Half of those spending more than $250 online over the past six months indicate that they are more willing to click on ads that are personalized. This compares with only 32% of the smallest spenders.

The survey finds that consumers are surprisingly savvy about online advertising in terms of its effect on their behavior. 70% of consumers admit that their purchase decisions are at least sometimes influenced by having seen an ad for an item.

A smaller percent of consumers admit that they are influenced by brand advertising as well, with 39% admitting that they are more likely to buy from vendors or retailers that they have seen advertised than from unrecognized sources. In both cases, the bigger the spender, the more likely he or she is to admit to being influenced by advertising.

A full 60% of shoppers are aware that retailers use information about their online shopping behavior to target advertising to them, the study found. Additional survey findings include:

Overall, 78% of consumers are interested in receiving personalized content

The types of content consumers want personalized are consistent with the previous findings, with music, books and DVDs being the most popular categories.

Cheryl Kellond, SVP at ChoiceStream, says "Advertisers that are spending premiums to target the biggest spenders and the most frequent shoppers should... note that those shoppers want intelligent ads that speak to their specific needs and shopping intent... "

Other personalization suggestions from the respondents include:

• 71% of the consumers believe that personalization would improve their experience in social networking by introducing them to other members with similar interests and preferences.
• Interest in personalized ads is strongest online and on television. A large majority 72% of consumers are interested in personalized advertising distributed through their television
• 73% interested in Online distribution of personalized advertising
• 35% are interested in personalization on their mobile device
• 45% of consumers reported receiving personalized recommendations that were a poor match based on their tastes and interests in 2008

Respondents were US adult internet users, 95% of whom have made at least one online purchase within the past year, who were distributed across 4 age categories (18-24, 25-34, 35-49, 50+). They were 54% female and 46% male.

To access the PDF report on the Study, please visit ChoiceStream here.

Correction: We missed an update from comScore in yesterday's Job Search Online Brief that would have placed the data about Monster.com in the proper order in the first chart. The data has now been corrected on the website.