As reported by Richard H. Levey for Direct Newsline, if a consumer saw a televised commercial during the war's opening days against Iraq, chances are it was a direct response spot. Open inventory soared between 50% and 75% during the first three business days after bombing started, according to Cheryl Green, vice president, media director of Advanced Results Marketing. "Most traditional advertisers pulled their campaigns" Green said.

As a quick follow-up to a recent Brief suggesting that reluctant spending will slow retail sales, a study by the Cambridge Consumer Credit Index points out some probable "cash" generators. The index reveals that 59 percent of all Americans expecting tax refunds this year plan to spend them on everyday purchases or to pay bills. "The results of Cambridge Consumer Credit Index's April study indicate the economy should get a boost as most taxpayers spend their tax refunds. However, consumers are still cautious, as shown by the four percentage point increase in the number of Americans putting their refunds into …

According to Jupiter Research's new report "Audience Benchmark: Teen Videogame Adoption, Usage and Preferences", female teens represent a highly underserved sub-segment while teens from low-income households are voracious game players that also merit special attention. And, although teens account for less than 10% of the U.S. population, they represent 20% of the console videogame audience.

Colin Nelson, research analyst of business market segmentation for Reed Business, using the Bureau of Labor Statistics' recently released February employment numbers and In-Stat/MDR estimates, says that the sharpest drop in employment since November 2001 gives every indication of being a short-term, cyclical anomaly, and the monthly employment numbers should correct for it at some point later this year.

Europemedia.net reports that Europeans, especially Northern Europeans, enjoy reading newspapers but are less keen on the online versions, according to new analysis from market analysts at Forrester Research. In Sweden, 29 percent of consumers read newspapers online, but other markets lag behind. Interestingly, across Europe, online readers often turn to their offline paper's competitors.

As a follow on to a Brief released in early March, more of the data has become available and may be of interest to those who captured the first portion. In February the Electronic Retailing Association (ERA) unveiled initial results of a consumer tracking study designed to monitor and update direct response television (DRTV) viewership trends as well as consumer attitudes and preferences about electronic retailing. Elissa Matulis Myers, ERA CEO, said "much of the news is great and reflects the growing importance of direct response TV in the marketing mix."

Charles Buchwalter, vice president of client analytics, Nielsen//NetRatings says "No longer dominated by the smaller dot-com companies, traditional business-model advertisers are staking their claim. This increased usage by the heavy hitters of advertising clearly signals their recognition of the validity of the Internet as an effective ad medium." Nielsen//NetRatings reports that the top 100 traditional advertisers increased their share of online advertising and are leading the way for bolstering the online medium. The top traditional advertisers comprised more than 30 percent of the online advertising market by the end of 2002, as measured by ad impressions.

A Harris Poll of 2,201 U.S. adults surveyed online between January 21 and 27, 2003, using the same methods used by Harris Interactive to forecast the 2000 elections with great accuracy, summarized by Humphrey Taylor, the chairman of The Harris Poll, Harris Interactive, finds that 89 percent of the people believe in miracles, 68 percent believe in the devil, 69 percent in hell, 51 percent in ghosts, 31 percent in astrology, and 27 percent believe in reincarnation.

Designed to demonstrate the impact of shifts in media allocation on audience reach, a DoubleClick study by Nielsen//NetRatings and IMS, reveals that by using standard media planning tools for both offline and interactive marketing, marketers could increase reach by shifting dollars originally spent on television to the Internet.

Several factors gave new impetus to the digital TV (DTV) set market, according to a new report from In-Stat/MDR, Digital TV Sets: A New Day Has Dawned. The high-tech market research firm reports that with the FCC mandating that DTV tuners be integrated into all TV sets larger than 13-inches by mid 2007, the U.S., the market will see explosive growth.