According to Deloitte's 23rd Annual Holiday Survey of retail spending and trends, 59% of consumers expect to reduce their spending this holiday season. Higher food prices (73%) and higher energy prices (69%) were the top two reasons for spending less, outpacing the economy (61%) and job uncertainty (18%).

According to Azuki Systems, Inc., the results of its first annual U.S. mobile phone user survey found that over 54% of those surveyed said their mobile phone usage had increased by more than 25% over the last two years, and one in five respondents said it had increased by more than 50%. A significant catalyst behind this growth is smart phone adoption, with 62% of respondents indicating they either own or will own such a device in the next 12 months.

According to the Executive Summary of a study conducted by Fellows of the Society for New Communications Research and made possible by Vocus, the advent of new online communication channels, the goals, target audiences, and overall scope of press releases have transformed press releases themselves into a new communication tool used by public relations and marketing professionals alike.

According to new research by Knowledge Networks on behalf of the Association of Directory Publishers (ADP), the ADP National Yellow Pages Study shows that 85% of the U.S. population used a printed directory last year. Independent publishers (those not affiliated with local telephone companies) enjoyed a strong share of this consumer usage, with 40% of overall Yellow Pages look-ups going to independent directories.

According to the 2008 Presidential ImagePower Survey by Landor Associates and Penn, Schoen & Berland, James Bond and Jack Bauer (TV 24) would be heading into the final stretch of the U.S. presidential campaigns this month. The poll of likely voters sheds light, says the study, on various aspects of the nominees' identities by associating them with familiar brands across categories. For example, in the eyes of the public, Obama is associated with BMW, Target, and Google, while McCain is aligned with Ford, Walmart, and AOL.

Nielsen Online reports that (Power Moms) women online ages 25-54 with at least one child are nearly twice as likely as the average Web user to provide frequent advice about Parenting/Family, Non-food Household Products and Beauty/Cosmetics.

According to a new study "Watching The Web: How Online Video Engages Audiences" conducted by Forrester Consulting for Veoh Networks, , not all online video viewers are equal when it comes to advertising. While some online video viewers still only "snack" on short clips, there exists a large audience of young, influential, engaged viewers who watch a great deal of long-form online video and pay attention to the brand messages delivered to them in online video environments.

According to BIGresearch's Simultaneous Media Survey (SIMM12), the effectiveness of product placements varies by product category and consumer group. Consumers indicate product placements have the most influence on their grocery purchases with 14.8% saying so, up from 13.0% one year ago. Electronics and apparel round out the top three categories most influenced by product placements.

According to the PubMatic AdPrice Index for Q3 2008, online ad prices declined overall this past year by 27%. Small sites continue to command better pricing for eCPMs, now at $0.61 on average in Q3, but these price levels have been declining quarter-to-quarter in 2008. eCPMs for large sites held steady in Q3, but at a lower pricing base of $0.18.

According to the Publishers Information Bureau (PIB), total magazine rate-card-reported advertising revenue through the first three quarters of 2008 closed at $18,452,988,859, posting a 5% decline against the previous year, There were 164,125 ad pages generated through the first three quarters of the year, a drop of 9.5% compared to the same period in 2007.