Comparing digital and print mass market readers

Ads24 investigated the differences between print and digital first readers and discovered some interesting insights. Obviously, some readers consume both mediums and some favour one over the other. The combined unduplicated reach of the Ads24 mass-market bundle, which includes Daily Sun, Soccer Laduma, Son and Ilanga, is about 9.6 million.

Mobile is the favoured digital device for the websites of Daily Sun, Soccer Laduma, Son . On dailysun.co.za 82% of reader access is via mobile and 18% on a PC, socccerladuma.co.za 86% mobile versus 14% PC and son.co.za 82% mobile and 18% PC. This can help advertisers know how best to format their creative to be most effective in targeting this audience.

The digital audience is more demanding of brands ‘getting’ their way of life. 66% say that, ‘if a brand does not seem to speak to me, then I will not use it, even if the product or service meets my needs’; 61% of print readers adhere to this, with the norm or average population in this market segment being 59%. The digital readers are also more influenced by service delivery: 80% say they will avoid shops, because of bad service, compared to 73% of print readers and the 71% norm.

© Karolina Grabowska via Pixabay

Amongst the researched mass market, 82% of digital readers said that when they shop they try to make environmentally friendly choices, so did 73% of print readers, the norm is 71%. Both digital (65%) and print (64%) Ads24 readers say that they like to shop; the norm here is 61%.

Big purchase decisions

Mass-market readers have big purchases on their minds, particularly the digital readers. Almost a third (31%) of digital readers is seriously considering buying a house, compared to 16% of print readers and the 13% norm. Exactly a third (33%) of digital readers is likewise seriously considering buying a car; this is higher than the 17% of print readers and the 14% norm. Just under a third (29%) of digital readers is investigating ways to invest their money, compared with 15% of print readers and the 12% norm.

Digital readers are more serious about moving up in the world and are in a state of active acquisition particularly when it comes to big purchase possessions. They are more interested in this than print readers who are still higher than the norm. Mass market digital readers are on average between 5 and 10% more likely than print readers and the norm to be seriously considering buying furniture, large appliances such as a fridge or TV, a computer, laptop, tablet or cellphone, in changing banks, taking out insurance policies, and in getting DStv.

Brand and status

The mass-market digital reader is more brand and status conscious than the print reader and both are more so than the norm. The vast majority (80%) of these digital readers say that it is important to buy the right brands to create the right impression, 72% of print readers also say this and 68% of the norm. Both digital (61%) and print (60%) readers agree overall that brands are important to reflect self-identity, a bit higher than the norm of 56%. Brand name is most important to 66% of digital readers when buying a product and 61% of print readers compared to the norm of 57%. Sport sponsorships influence digital readers when selecting a brand, 77% are influenced by this, compared to 68% of print readers and the 64% norm.

Material success is important to the mass-market readers. 65% of both print and digital readers agree that the best way to see how successful someone is, is through their possessions, slightly higher than the 63% norm. 54% of print readers say that they respect people who have expensive cars, clothes and lifestyles, half (50%) of digital readers agree with this, the norm is somewhere in between at 52%. Cost is associated with quality: 62% of print readers believe that a more expensive brand is better, compared to 61% of digital readers and the 58% norm.

Price checks important

Having said this, 84% of print readers always shop where they find the cheapest prices, the norm is 83%. This is less important to digital readers with 77% making the extra effort. When they are shopping, however, 90% of both digital and print readers carefully check prices; the norm of 89% is not far off. When it comes to buying groceries and toiletries 43% of both digital and print readers say that newspapers are the most useful media to give them information about products.

Digital readers show a higher prevalence to be experimenters; 43% say that they are usually the first to try new brands that they see advertised compared to 39% of print readers and the 38% norm. Again 67% of digital readers buy a new brand to see what it is like, compared to 66% of print readers and the 64% norm. These digital readers are also more open to advertising: 71% say that they are more likely to buy brands that they see advertised, 68% of print readers agree with this, the norm being 64%.

Demographics

In the mass-market bundle, 62% of print readers are male and 38% are female. The balance is further skewed toward men for digital with 73% male readers and 27% female. There may be a perception that the digital audience is always younger, but the research in fact shows that 20% of digital readers are aged 15-24 compared to 25% of print readers. Most digital readers (47%) are aged 25-34, while 29% of print readers fall into this age group. The audiences are even for the 35-49 year olds, 29% of readers fall into this segment for both digital and print. We see a big difference again in the over 50s, with only 5% consuming these newspapers digitally and 17% reading the print version. The average reader ages are similar: 35 for print and 32 for digital.

Print readers tend to have a slightly higher household (HH) income than their digital counterparts do, the average mass market print reader has a HH income of R10,145 per month and the average digital reader R9,030. They even out in the high income groups with 21% of both print and digital readers having a HH income of over R16,000 per month. 10% of print compared to 9% of digital readers have a HH income of between R12,000 and R15,999. The greatest variance is between those who have a HH income of up to R2,999 per month, 34% of digital readers and 14% print. The HH income segments ranging between R3,000 and R11,999 each have between 4% and 9% more print than digital readers do.

Marketers who are targeting the mass market and fail to have a well thought out print and digital solution up their sleeve are doing themselves a disservice. This is an audience that is becoming increasingly sophisticated and savvy advertisers will do all they can to keep up.