MediaPost Publications - Teens Shy Away From Yellow Pages - 03/21/2006
Here's an interesting snippet from Kelsey Group study in advance of their upcoming conference in San Jose.
There is plenty of life in the print directories, but as more information on local businesses is made immediately available online, the major shift will continue.
I understand that retention of Yellow Pages directories (meaning how many households don't pitch the books out) has dropped substantially in the last few years.
Also, an average of five new directories are launched every single month, which further dissects the market for local ad dollars.
As the recent reports from syndicated YP use come out, it is abundantly clear that usage of directories is split between incumbent telco directories and independent directories.
That spells trouble for the paper directories down the road. Declining usage, declining retention, increasing competitors, and the "Internet Menace."
Oh, My!
MediaPost Publications - Teens Shy Away From Yellow Pages - 03/21/2006: "Teens Shy Away From Yellow Pages
by Shankar Gupta, Tuesday, Mar 21, 2006 6:00 AM EST
WHEN IT COMES TO FINDING local listings, Baby Boomers and older Gen-Xers still prefer print Yellow Pages to other media, according to data that the Kelsey Group is expected to release next week.
Overall, more than six in 10 consumers--61 percent--of 1,000 adults and 500 teens surveyed last month said they turn to the phone book first when looking for local listings. Just 12.5 percent of that overall group went to search engines first, while 11.8 percent said they turned to directory assistance, and 7 percent reported using online Yellow Pages. But the survey revealed a major divide between younger and older consumers--with just 44 percent of respondents between the ages 18 and 34 favoring print Yellow Pages, compared to 72 percent of respondents between 45 and 54, and 85 percent between 55 and 64. At the same time, only 28 percent of teens said they would turn to print Yellow Pages first, while 47 percent said their first choice would be search engines.
'There's a very clear age factor,' said Kelsey Group analyst Neal Polachek. He added that younger Web users' propensity toward online sources heralds a sea change in the way businesses will be prioritizing their local ad spends in the next several years.
Polachek said that as consumers who are most accustomed to using the Web begin to enter their 30s, when they have more disposable income and are making bigger purchases, so too will businesses in their local advertising. 'All of a sudden, you're looking for schools, you own a house, you're looking for mortgages--big purchase decisions. Those people will never have had the built-in habit of picking up the print Yellow Pages.'"
There is plenty of life in the print directories, but as more information on local businesses is made immediately available online, the major shift will continue.
I understand that retention of Yellow Pages directories (meaning how many households don't pitch the books out) has dropped substantially in the last few years.
Also, an average of five new directories are launched every single month, which further dissects the market for local ad dollars.
As the recent reports from syndicated YP use come out, it is abundantly clear that usage of directories is split between incumbent telco directories and independent directories.
That spells trouble for the paper directories down the road. Declining usage, declining retention, increasing competitors, and the "Internet Menace."
Oh, My!
MediaPost Publications - Teens Shy Away From Yellow Pages - 03/21/2006: "Teens Shy Away From Yellow Pages
by Shankar Gupta, Tuesday, Mar 21, 2006 6:00 AM EST
WHEN IT COMES TO FINDING local listings, Baby Boomers and older Gen-Xers still prefer print Yellow Pages to other media, according to data that the Kelsey Group is expected to release next week.
Overall, more than six in 10 consumers--61 percent--of 1,000 adults and 500 teens surveyed last month said they turn to the phone book first when looking for local listings. Just 12.5 percent of that overall group went to search engines first, while 11.8 percent said they turned to directory assistance, and 7 percent reported using online Yellow Pages. But the survey revealed a major divide between younger and older consumers--with just 44 percent of respondents between the ages 18 and 34 favoring print Yellow Pages, compared to 72 percent of respondents between 45 and 54, and 85 percent between 55 and 64. At the same time, only 28 percent of teens said they would turn to print Yellow Pages first, while 47 percent said their first choice would be search engines.
'There's a very clear age factor,' said Kelsey Group analyst Neal Polachek. He added that younger Web users' propensity toward online sources heralds a sea change in the way businesses will be prioritizing their local ad spends in the next several years.
Polachek said that as consumers who are most accustomed to using the Web begin to enter their 30s, when they have more disposable income and are making bigger purchases, so too will businesses in their local advertising. 'All of a sudden, you're looking for schools, you own a house, you're looking for mortgages--big purchase decisions. Those people will never have had the built-in habit of picking up the print Yellow Pages.'"
posted by Dick Larkin at 5:17 AM
1 Comments:
I honestly don't think my 12 year old knows what the Yellow pages are. We continue to find that more local consumer traffic is coming from the Local Internet. As we all work to get the 10-20M small businesses online, it is clear that the print yellow pages will be forced to be more competitive. The demographics just support the fundamental shift.
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