TV remains top
In the course of technological change, media use is also changing in many respects. It is interesting to note that television is maintaining its position as the leading medium despite all the shifts.
This is the conclusion of a new study from the USA, for which the market research company Knowledge Networks conducted an online survey of 1,557 consumers aged 13 and over on behalf of the Television Bureau of Advertising. According to the study, television reaches more people every day than any other medium. 88.3 percent of consumers aged 18 and over watch television every day. The Internet is used by 73.1 percent of adults, putting it ahead of radio (58.8 %) and daily newspapers (36.1 %). Only one in four (24.8 %) look at a magazine every day.
Compared to 2010, it is clear that TV is able to maintain its strong position, although the daily reach of the internet has increased from 67.5% to 73.1% in this period. In 2010, the daily reach of TV was 89.5%; now it is only slightly lower at 88.3%. An analysis of reach according to socio-demographic parameters is also interesting. This shows that TV can also keep up with the Internet in terms of reach among the very young, i.e. 13 to 17-year-olds: 76.7% of this group watch TV daily, 76.3% of them use the Internet daily. TV is also ahead when it comes to reaching particularly high-income target groups: 90.5% of consumers with an annual household income of more than 100,000 US dollars watch TV every day - followed by the Internet, which is used daily by 83.4% of this group.
However, TV is not only the medium with the greatest reach, but also the one with the highest usage time. On average, Americans spend 5.2 hours a day watching TV, 3.0 hours on the internet and 1.4 hours on the radio. On average, women spend more time using media than men (12.0 vs. 10.5 hours a day). However, TV is clearly number one for both genders (5.4 vs. 5.0 hours a day). On average, 13 to 17-year-olds also watch TV longer than they use the internet (3.1 vs. 2.3 hours a day).
So what about the influence of the media on consumers' purchasing decisions? In this respect, too, the study comes to exciting results. For example, 39.8% of those surveyed said that TV was the best way to find out about products they would like to buy or try out. Only 8.7 percent say this about the Internet, only 8.0 percent about daily newspapers and only 6.8 percent about magazines. The situation is very similar when consumers are asked which medium has the greatest influence on their purchasing decisions. Almost four in ten respondents (37.2 %) state that television has the strongest influence on their purchasing decisions.
Only 10.6% said the same about daily newspapers and just 5.6% about the internet. The impact of TV advertising is rated highest by all age groups. Even among 13 to 17-year-olds, 36.4% of respondents perceive TV as the most influential advertising medium, while only 12.0% of young people see the Internet as the most influential advertising medium.
The fact that TV advertising has a major influence - and interacts well with the web - can also be seen in the following result: 51.0 percent of adults state that they have already searched the internet for further information on products advertised on TV.
Clemens Koob
