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According to an Adage report, the latest "Influentials Online"
study, conducted jointly by the Washington Post Co.'s WashingtonPost/Newsweek
Interactive and RoperASW analyses this community-minded population
that highly values personal relationships; relies heavily on word
of mouth; and tends to perform a wide array of activities online,
including banking, arranging travel plans, reading magazines and
newspapers and making purchases.
Major findings
Among the survey's major findings about this group of Influentials:
* 77 per cent of the Influentials have Internet access, compared
to 50 per cent of the general population.
* Six in 10, or 59 per cent spend at least one hour online each
day (excluding e-mail), more than they spend with any other medium,
including TV, radio, newspapers and magazines. The average Influential
spends two hours online per day.
* 82 per cent access the Internet multiple times a day and 95 per
cent at least once a day.
* 56 per cent recommend the Internet and an equal percentage of
people recommend newspapers as a means to be reached by advertisers.
* The Web is the top media used by Influentials to research new
places to visit (86 per cent), what to buy (82 per cent) and is
second (78 per cent) only to newspapers (83 per cent) for political
news and information.
Nearly 44 per cent describe themselves as people who are asked
for advice prior to purchasing various products and services:
> Government and politics: 79 per cent
> Computers: 59 per cent
> Restaurants: 58 per cent
> Web sites: 58 per cent
> Career choices: 56 per cent
> Vacation destinations: 43 per cent
> Investments: 38 per cent
* Two-thirds are asked for their opinions or to forward recommendations
and information about products and services. The advice is forwarded
to an average of five to 20 people.
* One in three have broadband Internet connections at home, double
that of the general population.
Another study, conducted by the Online Publishers Association with
Millward Brown IntelliQuest, found that three out of 10 professionals
who access the Web at work each day get all of their news online;
suggesting that daytime is prime time on the Web and that marketers
can't afford to ignore the importance of this audience.
The writing is clearly on the wall or should be say "on the
net".
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