Archive for October, 2008
Teens Online Buy Stuff, Prefer Reality Over Virtual Sometimes, And Have Concerns
From Tom Polanski, EVP, eBrand Media and eBrand Interactive
New research from OTX and The Intelligence Group studies teens’ online behavior, finding that teens are spending an average of 11.5 hours per week online, doing everything from instant messaging and visiting social networking sites to shopping and listening to music, but dispels myths that this group wants to do everything online. The study did find that 24% of teens are spending more than 15 hours a week online.
The study determined that teens chose reality over virtual reality in many aspects of their lives. Given the choice, teens prefer:
Real friends (91%) to online friends (9%)
To date someone from school (87%) over someone from the Internet (13%)
To shop in a store (82%) rather than shop online (18%)
To get their locker vandalized (63%) versus their homepage (37%)
To IM a friend (54%) instead of calling (46%)
Jane Buckingham, President, The Intelligence Group “… (the) report shows this group to be complex, sophisticated consumers and media users, just as we all are.”
Posted by Tom Polanski in Teen Talk on October 27th, 2008
Advertise To Workers At Work To Influence Purchases
The results of a new study, conducted by consumer intelligence firm BIGresearch, into the media and shopping behavior of consumers at work, finds that Americans are spending 60% of their waking hours at work, more than ever before. Marketing chiefs are rethinking their ad budgets and advertisers are preparing to meet a new, highly coveted, yet entirely untapped demographic on their own beige-carpeted turf.
At-work consumers research products online before purchasing, with 47.2% of them reporting having researched electronics online in the last 90 days during the workday before making a purchase in a store. And, almost ¾ of at-work consumers indicate they regularly or occasionally dine out or purchase groceries and beverages during the workday, says the report.
The survey looks at the unique shopping behavior of consumers during the workday, including the role of online search as a catalyst to retail purchase, grocery shopping, casual and fast food dining preferences, and new media consumption.
Posted by Tom Polanski in Marketing on October 21st, 2008
Dr. Robert Cialdini and 6 principles of persuasion
By Tom Polanski, EVP, eBrand Media and eBrand Interactive
I have long been a big fan of Dr. Cialdini. I originally became familiar with his work years ago through, “Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion”. It’s a must read. It gave me useful tools to use for marketing to others and taught me how to resist the marketing efforts of others.
Here is a reprint from a leading publication regarding his work and a new book he’s co-authored. It’s the cliff notes version of his original book which I referenced in the preceding paragraph.
SUMMARY: Influencing others isn’t luck or magic – its science. There are proven ways to help make you more successful as a marketer and an office politician.
We talked to a renowned expert on the science of influence and pulled excerpts from two of his books to demonstrate ways to make people say “yes” to your messaging and management. Includes links to scientific studies and takeaways to use at work or at home.
Robert Cialdini, Regents’ Professor of Psychology and Marketing, Arizona State University, has spent 30 years studying the ways people are influenced. He’s whittled his findings down to six key principles, found in the fifth edition of ‘Influence: Science and Practice’.
We interviewed Cialdini and also read through ‘Yes! 50 Scientifically Proven Ways to Be More Persuasive’, a book he co-authored with Noah Goldstein, a professor at the University of Chicago School of Business, and Steven Martin, Director, Influence at Work. The authors “relied entirely on the significant body of research from the study of social influence and persuasion” to suggest ways you can improve outbound messages and office interactions to get the results you want.
Posted by Tom Polanski in Marketing on October 14th, 2008
How to Cut Your Website Download Time in Half!
Believe it or not, we web surfers are an impatient lot. The era of instant-access, high speed, broadband has spoiled us, and anything less than “right now” will have us reaching for our browser Back button.
No matter how great your content is, or how closely it answers your visitor’s question or addresses their needs – they won’t stick around long if your site takes too long to download. The question is, how can you find out how long it takes – and what can you do about it?
Posted by Sherice Jacob in Website Optimization on October 12th, 2008