The Evolving American Shopping Psyche
The latest report on search engine use by The Pew Research Center’s Internet & American Life Project says almost half (49%) of all Internet users now use search engines on a typical day.
But in the day following the report’s release last month, one of the Project’s associate directors was quoted as saying, “People are basically putting themselves in the driver’s seat. They have ideas about what they want to find versus waiting for it to be served up to them.”
I’ve long likened the experience of a search engine user entering a query to that of someone raising their hand to ask for information. That essence makes search a proactive experience for users and turns traditional advertising communications on their head.
The report revealed that the percentage of Internet users turning to search on a typical day grew by 69% from Jan. 2002 to May 2008. This rapid-fire adoption of search as a research tool implies its significant and growing importance to marketers. Plus, the shift isn’t likely to slow down any time soon, as the younger crowd being even more apt to turn to search engines.
You’re playing by their rules.
Pew Research Center executives say consumers have climbed into the driver’s seat, and search engines are an increasingly favorite resource for tracking down information. Only once consumers decide they need information on a product or service will they begin actively seeking to learn more. When they do, many consumers will only hear from those marketers who have created an effective presence on the engines and positioned the right messages relevant to the user query.
This presents a unique opportunity for small budget advertisers since big dollar offline branding campaigns, word of mouth and other factors often create the demand among consumers that motivate them. Small advertisers can ride the coattails of larger marketers to find success as long as their search program is setup to capture consumer interest once a search has begun.
You can’t afford not to be there.
The cost effective nature of search only makes up half of the argument for why big budget marketers can’t afford to ignore search. The other half of the argument stems from the big budget branding campaigns employed by chief marketers to create brand equity and demand for products and services.
When branding campaigns aim to plant an idea in consumers’ minds, deliver a call to action, create demand or accomplish a number of other goals, consumer response is likely to come in the form of a search query, and the cost of an integrated search program to support multi-million-dollar branding campaigns often comes in at a small fraction of the overall cost.
So why on earth would some marketers drop such significant media spend without casting a search net to catch the resulting demand? The recent findings from the Pew Research Center only strengthen the case for doing so.
Some other interesting findings of the Pew Research Center Report included:
- Internet users with higher levels of education are more likely to use search on a typical day
- Internet users from higher income households are more likely to use search on a typical day
- The younger the user, the more likely they will search on a typical day; 55% of respondents between the ages of 18 and 29 said they did
Stuart Larkins is senior vice president of search operations at DoubleClick Performics.
