Comment

Analyst Speak: Online ads have measurable influence on users' purchases

Platform: Internet | Author: Trevor Vagg, director, BMRB Media | Source: NMA magazine | Published: 13.11.08

Email article | Printer Friendly | Comment on this articlemore Comment

Digital advertising's ability to drive branding is seen as a possible reason for the industry's continued growth in difficult times. BMRB's TGI Net Europa survey provides evidence to back the internet's capacity to help brand building.

Internet users recognise its advantages when they're deciding on purchases. Three-quarters feel the internet allows better understanding of the advantages of a product and a similar number believe it provides more information than can be found elsewhere. Two-thirds...

Article continues below

... feel the internet helps more than TV to make a choice between products.

Online advertising specifically contributes to much more than raising brand awareness. One in five internet users in the UK believes that online ads play a part in influencing the brands they buy. That's to say, online advertising has a direct impact on the purchases made by these consumers, in addition to merely raising awareness. These people are a quarter more likely than internet users as a whole to be men aged 15-24.

Furthermore, 13% feel online ads are more entertaining than other ads. This rises to 24% among males aged 15-24 — further evidence of the strength of online advertising to engage with this difficult-to-reach group. The importance of influencing online buzz is also illustrated by the fact that just over half of internet users agree that other people's online opinions help them make decisions about major purchases.

The link between advertising effectiveness and trust and relevance also seems clear, with 56% of users in the UK agreeing they pay more attention to ads on sites they trust and 55% preferring to see ads that relate to the content of sites. One in seven (15%) believes advertising on the internet is more relevant to them than other advertising.

With the increase in pan-European digital campaigns, TGI Net Europa compares internet behaviour and attitudes in the UK to France, Germany and Spain. Users in Spain are a third more likely than the average user in Western Europe to feel that online ads influence the brands they buy. British users are a fifth more likely, leaving German (16% less likely) and French (25% less likely) users below average.

While internet penetration is lowest in Spain, those adults who do use the internet there represent a relatively niche and technology-involved group who are more likely than their Western European counterparts to be engaged by many aspects of the online experience.