Newspaper Sites, Online Shoppers Linked
A survey by the National Newspaper Association and Scarborough Research found that of the 30 percent of online users who shop online, half are readers of online newspapers.
Nearly half of online users who use the Internet for shopping are online newspaper readers, as are a considerable number of those making purchases online, according to early results from a Newspaper Association of America study of online usage.
“As we continue our analysis of the survey results, what we’re seeing is that online newspaper users are as attractive an audience for advertisers as those who read print editions,” said NAA President and CEO John Sturm. “When the final numbers are published, we’ll have have a very thorough and comprehensive picture of online users — and online newspaper users.”
The survey found that among the 51 percent of all online users who shop online, 45 percent are online newspaper users. Slightly more than half (51 percent) of the 19 percent of Internet users looking online for information about sales in local stores are newspaper readers, as are 53 percent of the 11 percent who participate in auctions, and 59 percent of the 10 percent who download coupons.
Of the 30 percent of online users who reported making a purchase on the Internet, half (50 percent) have looked at an online newspaper, the study found. Within the 24 percent who have purchased airline tickets online, 66 percent use an online newspaper. Fifty-nine percent of the 47 percent who have bought books online are online newspaper users, and nearly as many 59 percent are included in the 40 percent who bought hardware or software online. Online newspaper users also account for 56 percent of the 30 percent who bought music CDs or tapes, 55 percent of the 18 percent who purchased clothing online, and 55 percent of the 18 percent who used the Internet to buy games or toys.
The survey was conducted by Scarborough Research of New York, which surveyed online users 18 and over via telephone in the Top 50 US markets.
