Ads in newspapers send consumers to websites
As internet users in India have become more familiar with the web, its role in consumers’ lives has expanded and changed. The internet vies more and more for consumers’ attention, not only when looking for information and communicating with friends and family, but also for purposes of entertainment—taking eyes away from TV, as well as other traditional media.
In a study released in October by Deloitte, the research firm found that the internet and TV were tied among internet users in India as their favorite media-related activities, at 51% each. That’s an enormous jump from 2009 when Deloitte asked a similar question, and a whopping 91% of urban-dwelling, middle to upper-middle class consumers cited TV as their favorite entertainment medium, and only 5% listed the internet.
For those watching TV, multitasking has increased according to Deloitte, but the web is not wholly responsible for that divided attention. Email was the top activity web users were most likely to engage in while consuming television, at 32%, but reading a print newspaper came in a close second, at 30%.
Overall, a preference for the internet was actually more consistent across age groups than TV. TV was 8 percentage points more popular for boomers vs. trailing millennials. As millennials age up and take those media proclivities with them, the disparity suggests that the internet will continue to take more eyes off of television and other media.
For marketers though, even if TV is no longer king of media, it still remains the most influential advertising around. And newspapers, too, are an important and attention-worthy medium in the country.
Newspapers were nearly tied with TV as the type of ad most likely to influence purchase decisions, according to the study. The internet was not especially influential among older internet users, but among those ages 14 to 28, its influence was nearly equal to newspapers.
Interestingly, the internet seems to follow its own logic when it comes to advertising influences. Ads in newspapers were actually tied with results in search engines as the type of ad most likely to prompt internet users in India to visit a website. Ads on TV and in magazines were not far behind.
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Check out today’s other articles, “Mobile Display Proves Its Worth” and “Millennials Keep Connected on Ever-More Devices.”