f2 survey debunks Internet advertising and consumer myths

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(No Transcript)
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f2 survey debunks Internet advertising and
consumer myths
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Focused network of category leading interactive
businesses
Australias Internet and Phone Directory powered
by
Directories
News Network
Financial Services
Classified Supersites
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f2 network traffic growth Unique Visitors
thousands
Unique Visitors
94
Source Red Sheriff
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DISPELLING MYTHS
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Dealing with negative sentiment

• The problem with TV is that people must sit and
  keep their eyes glued to the screen, the average
  American family hasnt got the time for it
• New York Times following TV demo at 1939 World
  Fair

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MYTH 1

• Advertising on the Internet is a waste of time
  unless you want to drive people to a website that
  does ecommerce

f2 TRUTH
The Internet is a key player in peoples
purchasing decision making. f2 users are actively
seeking information that will influence their
purchasing decisions. What better context is
there for an advertiser than one where people are
actively seeking information for making their
short-lists of manufacturers, products and places
to buy them from?
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SUPPORTING FACTS

• 96 use the Internet to research products and
  services they are wanting to buy
• 92 say the Internet is of some/great Influence
  in their purchasing decisions
• 92 of f2 users said they use it at least
  sometimes to help them research products and
  services they are thinking of buying. 70 said
  often/very often and this increases with time
  spent on line, so that 80 of people whove been
  using the Internet for at least 4 years said they
  use it often or very often to help them make
  purchasing decisions

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MYTH 2

• The Internet will never be a major place for
  commerce. It hasnt worked, so companies are
  throwing their money away continuing with it.

f2 TRUTH
The longer people are online the more they come
to trust it and rely on it to assist them in
making purchasing decisions. While people dont
change, their habits do, but it takes time for
these habits to mature and for their perceptions
to evolve. Experience builds trust.
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SUPPORTING FACTS

• 98 of people who have been on the Internet since
  1996 (experienced users) say the use it to help
  them research products and services they intend
  to buy, versus 92 of people who started using
  the Internet in 2000/2001 (recent users).
• 80 of experienced users say they use the
  Internet very often of often to research
  products and services they intend to buy, versus
  52 of recent users
• When we asked people which, of 30 categories of
  goods, they had researched online, experienced
  users averaged 11 categories while recent users
  averaged only 6.

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SUPPORTING FACTS

• 68 of experienced users had researched books
  online vs 38 of recent users.
• 62 of experienced users said they had used the
  Internet to help them find the location of a
  store to buy goods from versus 40 of recent
  users.
• 95 of experienced users said the Internet was
  of great or some influence on their
  purchasing decisions, versus 84 of recent users.
  
• 92 of experienced users had spent some money
  online in the last 12 months, versus 69 of
  recent users.

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MYTH 3

• The only reason that people will use the Internet
  to buy goods is because they expect them to be
  cheaper. Lack of profitability is therefore
  inevitable.

f2 TRUTH
Cheapness is only a motivator for low income and
new Internet users. The convenience offered by
the Internet is far and away the strongest
motivator and the longer people are online, the
more they see this as its key advantage. With
benefit of experience through time, the Internet
will consolidate its position as the most
convenient way to make purchasing decisions.
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SUPPORTING FACTS

• While 79 say the Internet helps them to identify
  price, only 32 of f2 users agreed cheapness was
  one of the reasons why they choose to purchase
  products and services over the Internet
• 83 of f2 users agreed its benefit related to
  being able to make purchases from the comfort of
  their own computer
• 69 agreed that time saving was one of the main
  reasons for online purchasing
• 69 agreed it was because it made it easier to
  make comparisons between goods and services they
  were wanting to buy

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The Role of the Internet in Purchasing Behaviour
(amongst f2 users)
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MAY 2001

• f2 conducted a survey across its network of sites
  during April 2001.
• The questions related to the role of the Internet
  as part of purchasing behaviour
• The data was collected via an opt-in online
  survey. f2 users were directed via banners and
  links on f2 to complete the survey online
• The total number of responses (sample size) was
  4,160
• To ensure that the sample was representative of
  all f2 users, the results were weighted using
  unique visitor figures from Red Sheriffs Red
  Gauge Report for March 2001. The larger sites
  were also weighted for sex
• As the survey was conducted online all
  respondents had used the Internet
• The survey was not intended to understand the use
  of all Internet users, just those of the f2
  Network of sites. Where the survey results refer
  to Internet users or users or people it is
  referring only to f2 Network users.

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A PROFILE OF f2 USERS

• 68 have completed tertiary education
• 69 have a household income of 50,000 or more
• 85 live in a capital city
• 60 said they have been using the Internet for at
  least 3 years
• 89 say that they use the Internet at least once
  a day
• 68 have access to the Internet at home and at
  work
• 96 use the Internet to research products and
  services they are wanting to buy
• 92 say the Internet is of some/great Influence
  in their purchasing decisions
• 85 bought something online last year
• 90 said they will buy something online this year

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A PROFILE OF f2 USERS - RED SHERIFF

• Looking at a profile of sites users by income
  and employment in NSW and Victoria, Aprils Red
  Sheriff figures show f2's leading position in
  terms of attracting a prime audience.
• Five f2 sites -- domain.com.au, afr.com,
  mycareer.com.au, smh.com.au, and f2.com. au --
  are among the top 10 websites visited by those
  employed full or part time.
• Five f2 sites -- afr.com, drive.com.au,
  f2.com.au, smh.com.au, and domain.com.au -- are
  among the top 10 websites visited by those with
  personal income over 56,000.
• Five f2 sites -- afr.com, five.com.au,
  domain.com.au, smh.com.au and f2.com.au -- are
  among the top 10 websites visited by those who
  have income over 56,000 and access the net from
  work.
• Six f2 sites -- domain.com.au, afr.com,
  smh.com.au, f2.com.au, drive.com.au, and
  mycareer.com.au -- are among the top 10 websites
  visited by those with income over 36,000 and who
  are employed full or part time.
• Six f2 sites -- domain.com.au, afr.com,
  f2.com.au, drive.com.au, smh.com.au and
  mycareer.com.au -- are among the top 10 sites
  visited by those with access to the net from
  work.

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f2's LEADING POSITION

• Looking at a profile of sites users by income
  and employment in NSW and Victoria, Aprils Red
  Sheriff figures show f2's leading position in
  terms of attracting a prime audience. The tables
  below refer to the of the sites traffic which
  falls into each category.

• top 10 websites
• personal income over 56,000
• and access from work
• afr.com
• drive.com.au
• domain.com.au
• f2.com.au
• smh.com.au

• top 10 websites
• personal income over 36,000
• and employed
• afr.com
• smh.com.au
• f2.com.au
• drive.com.au
• mycareer.com.au

• top 10 websites
• personal income over 56,000
• afr.com,
• drive.com.au,
• f2.com.au,
• smh.com.au, and
• domain.com.au

• top 10 websites
• employed full or part time
• domain.com.au
• afr.com
• mycareer.com.au
• smh.com.au, and
• f2.com.au

• top 10 websites
• access the net from work
• domain.com.au
• afr.com,
• drive.com.au,
• f2.com.au,
• mycareer.com.au

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The role of the Internet in purchasing behaviour

• The Internet has clearly become an important part
  of peoples purchasing behaviour. Not only do
  the vast majority (96) of f2 users use it
  research their intended purchases, they use it
  often and say it is of significant influence on
  on them.

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The role of the Internet in purchasing behaviour

• Using the Internet as part of purchasing
  behaviour isnt a rare event. 92 of users said
  they use it at least sometimes to help them
  research products and services they are thinking
  of buying. This is directly related to the length
  of time people have been using the Internet,
  which indicates that the Internet will become an
  everyday part of making purchasing decisions for
  all Internet users in the near future.

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The role of the Internet in purchasing behaviour

• Not only is the Internet a frequent part of
  purchasing behaviour, but it is also plays an
  important, influential role. 92 of f2 users
  said the Internet was of some or great influence
  in their purchasing decision. The wealthy relied
  more heavily on the Internet in making purchasing
  decisions. The higher their income and education
  level, the more likely they were to say it was of
  great influence.

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Reasons why the Internet plays an important role
in purchasing behaviour
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Reasons why the Internet plays an important role
in purchasing behaviour

• The main reason that f2 users use the Internet as
  part of their purchasing behaviour is because of
  the role it plays in helping them become better
  informed. 81 said that the Internet helped
  their decision making because it help provide
  deeper information and knowledge about what they
  were wanting to buy. The Internet also helped
  them obtain information that enabled them to
  narrow down their decisions about which
  manufacturer (74) and which products (60) and
  where to make the actual purchase.
• The Internet helps people choose where to buy
  their goods from. 56 of people said they used
  the Internet to help them find the location of a
  retail store to buy it from. This figures was
  significantly higher amongst CitySearch users,
  where 64 said that the Internet had helped them
  find the right retailers.

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Reasons why the Internet plays an important role
in purchasing behaviour

• When we asked specifically about making purchases
  over the Internet, the most motivating factor
  overall was not a cheaper price, but convenience
  which was cited by 78. 83 of people agreed
  its benefit related to being able to make
  purchases from the comfort of their own computer,
  while 69 agreed that time saving was one of the
  main reasons for online purchasing.
• People who were high income earners in full time
  employment were, not surprisingly, more motivated
  by the convenience factor
• Only 32 of f2 users agreed that the reason why
  they choose to purchase products and services
  over the Internet was because they were cheaper.
  This was more likely amongst people who use the
  Internet only from home, were over 50, earned
  less than 50k.

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Reasons why the Internet plays an important role
in purchasing behaviour

• The sex of the user was one of the most
  discriminating factors in how they viewed the
  benefits of online purchasing. Males tended to
  be more focused on choice and price than females.
  Females were more concerned than men about
  convenience and having to deal with sales people.
  70 of women agreed that not having to deal with
  sales people was a benefit of using the Internet
  for purchasing products and services.

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Products and services most likely to be affected
by the Internets role in purchasing behaviour
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The products services that have been researched
online

• The products most likely to be researched online
  are airline tickets, holiday accommodation,
  books, event tickets, electronic goods and music.
  When it came to actually buying goods online
  holiday accommodation and electronic goods were
  not as popular, suggesting that people researched
  these goods online and then were more likely to
  make the purchase offline.
• People aged 18 to 24 are more likely to have
  researched their purchases of clothing,
  electronic goods, entertainment tickets and
  mobile phones online.
• People over 50 were more likely to have
  researched gardening products and
  telecommunications providers online.

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The products services that have been researched
online

• Men said they had used the Internet to research
  their purchases of computer hardware, cars and
  ISP providers.
• Women have used it more often to research gifts,
  flowers, holiday packages and homewares they were
  thinking of buying.
• People with a household income over 130k had
  used the Internet to research products and
  services more than any other group. The products
  they said were more likely to research online
  than other groups included airline tickets,
  groceries, holiday accommodation, lingerie,
  personal digital assistants and wine.

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The products services that have been purchased
online

• Airline tickets, books, event tickets, music,
  computer software and gifts were the most popular
  products and services that f2 users had purchased
  online in the past year.
• The more frequently people use the Internet the
  more likely they are to purchase goods online,
  for example 90 of airline tickets, 91 of
  entertainment tickets, 89 of books an purchased
  online are bought by people who use the Internet
  daily.
• The areas with the most growth year on year will
  be holiday packages, electronic goods, home wares
  and pharmaceutical goods

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Future purchases online

• Airline f2 users intend to purchase a wider
  variety of goods and services online in the
  coming year. According to the survey the most
  popular goods and services purchased online next
  year by f2 users will be airline tickets, books,
  entertainment/event tickets, holiday
  accommodation, gifts and music. This differs
  slightly from last year, in that holiday
  accommodation is going to become more popular.
• 53 of f2 users said they intended to spend more
  online this year and only 10 said they didnt
  think they would spend anything online this year,
  down from 15 who didnt spend last year.

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Some site specific behaviour

• Of all f2 sites, users of smh.com.au were the
  most attuned to using the Internet as a core part
  of their purchasing behaviour. They use it more
  often, trust it more and transact more than users
  of any other f2 site.
• 72 of smh.com.au users say they intend to
  purchase airline tickets online in the next 12
  months.
• 71 of CitySearchs users researched
  entertainment ticket purchases online last year.
• drive.com.au users were more likely than other f2
  users to research the purchase of a mobile phone
  over the Internet (47 versus 35). 13 of
  drive.com.au users actually completed the
  transaction online last year.

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Some site specific behaviour

• domain.com.au users are more interested in
  purchasing homewares and furniture online than
  other users.
• brw.com.au users are twice as likely to purchase
  their office supplies online in the coming 12
  months.
• brw.com.au users were the biggest online
  spenders, they were twice as likely as the
  average f2 user to have spent more than 5000
  online last year.