What influences holiday shoppers?

Columbus, Ohio – US consumer confidence is down, fuel prices are up and consumers are looking for ways to stretch their holiday expenditures and are relying on coupons, newspaper inserts and word of mouth as key media influences for choosing a shopping destination, according to BIGresearch's December Consumer Intentions and Actions Survey (CIA) of 8,135 consumers.

“Advertisers keep repeating the ROI mantra and from the consumers' standpoint, the best media to influence them to shop your store is through accountable forms of media, such as coupons, direct mail and newspaper inserts,” said Gary Drenik, President of BIGresearch.

Top 5 Media Influences on Holiday Shopping

Coupons - 35.2%
Newspaper Inserts - 30.4%
Word of Mouth - 22.7%
TV/Broadcast - 21.3%
Direct Mail - 16.1%

“While media such as TV, radio and newspapers are still important, 78% of consumers couldn't identify a favourite holiday TV commercial and even among those who can, most say they aren't influenced to shop by the commercial,” said Drenik.

Of the 22% of participants who identified having a favourite Holiday TV commercial, almost 70% say it either had no impact or did not motivate them to shop that particular retailer:

Did the commercial motivate you to shop that retailer?

Yes - 30.4%
No - 39.9%
No impact - 29.8%
I regularly shop there

Additional information on the CIA and other BIGresearch samples may be accessed by going to: http://www.bigresearch.com and clicking on Complimentary Top Line Findings.

About BIGresearch

BIGresearch is a consumer intelligence firm providing solution-based insights of consumer behaviour, present and future, in areas of products and services, retail, financial services, automotive and media. BIGresearch conducts the monthly Consumer Intentions and Actions Survey (CIA) of 7,500+ respondents and the semi-annual Simultaneous Media Survey (SIMM) of 15,000+ respondents. More information is available at http://www.bigresearch.com