June 13 2008

Internet more influential than TV

A new report shows the Internet to be twice as influential as TV on creating an impression and brand awareness, and if you ask it nicely it'll probably make the tea

The internet is the most influential of all media channels, beating TV almost two-fold, according to the Digital Influence Index (DII) – a study designed to track and measure the influence and impact of the internet on consumer behaviour and decisions in the UK, Germany, and France. – conducted by Harris Interactive and Fleishman-Hillard Research.

Key findings include the following:

• Across all three countries addressed by the study, the internet has roughly double the influence of the second strongest medium – television – and roughly 8 times the influence of traditional printed media. This shift in consumer influence indicates a need and an opportunity for companies to reprioritise the mix of communications channels they use to reach their customers.
• Consumers use the internet in different ways to make different decisions. For example, consumers are more likely to seek opinions of others through social media and product-rating sites when making choices that have a great deal of personal impact (e.g., healthcare options or major electronics purchases). But they do use company-controlled sources when making transactional decisions on commoditised items, such as utilities or airline tickets .
• While consumers see the clear benefits of the internet on their lives, they continue to have concerns about internet safety and the trustworthiness of some online information. In the UK, for example, 66% of online consumers say the internet helps them make better decisions, but just 28% trust the information companies provide on the internet.
• Although most survey results were consistent across all three countries, use of the internet shows distinct national differences. Germany leads the three countries in Web research, for example, while UK consumers are the most likely to have created an online profile site on a social networking page.

In the UK, the average response on how influential the internet is was 42%, followed by TV with 23%.

It was a similar pattern in the two other countries that were surveyed by the market research firms. In Germany the internet gained an influence score of 40% while in France it was slightly lower with 37% preferring to spend more time watching TV than surfing the internet, however. For time spent across all media, 38% is devoted to TV, compared to 30% for the web.

The two research firms analysed the media consumption patterns and internet behaviour of nearly 5,000 users across the three markets.

Despite the strong influence of the internet, consumers are concerned about internet safety. While less than half of online consumers in the UK (48%) believe that it's very safe to sell and buy things online (compared to 34% in France and 29% in Germany), only 25% of UK users trust the information companies put on the web.

Brian McRoberts, VP of Fleishman-Hillard Research, said he was unsurprised by the low level of trust placed in the internet. "There's no central authority imposing absolute control on the internet," he said. "There's a variety of characters trying to get people to reveal personal information, such as access to your credit card details. So no wonder consumers are sceptical."

by Marcus Austin (Web Editor)