Newspapers Are Primary Source Of Advertising.

When Americans are in the mood to buy — and even when they’re “just browsing” — they turn to daily and Sunday newspapers for the advertising information that will help them decide what to buy and where to make their purchase, according to a report released by the Newspaper Association of America.

The 2001 National Report: Newspaper Advertising of ROP, Inserts and Coupons found that nearly two-thirds of consumers say newspapers are their primary source for advertising and shopping information in general. More than eight in 10 adults regularly or occasionally use preprint advertising, also known as inserts, and seven in 10 use ROP, or run-of-press, advertising with the same frequency.

“The Sunday newspaper is a portable shopping mall,” commented NAA Senior Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer John E. Kimball. “Preprints provide an easy one-stop comparison shopping resource, and combined with the ROP display and classified ads it’s a powerhouse combination at an incredibly competitive price.

“Newspaper preprinted inserts have grown dramatically over the years as advertisers have found that the combination provides a great way to target a message to their customers,” he said.

Among the study’s findings:

* Seven in 10 adults make a point of looking at newspaper inserts when they are in the market for something and three-quarters say they check the Sunday inserts to see what’s on sale. In addition, nearly two-thirds look through the inserts even when they’re not looking for something in particular.

* Consumers prefer preprint delivery via newspapers to direct mail by a 63 percent to 25 percent margin. An even stronger preference for newspaper preprint delivery is seen among consumers with higher household incomes ($75,000+), where the margin in favor of newspapers over direct mail increases to 75 percent to 16 percent. And, more consumers use newspaper inserts than similar advertising delivered by mail; 70 percent of adults used newspaper inserts to plan shopping in the past month, compared to 51 percent for direct mail.

The 2001 National Report: Newspaper Advertising of ROP, Inserts and Coupons also found:

* More than half of respondents said they look through most of the Sunday newspaper inserts. They are particularly encouraged to look at advertising beyond their regular stores when they want to compare prices, look for a particular product or check out a new store.

* Newspaper readers actively check ROP ads; 64 percent to see what’s on sale, 63 percent to comparison shop and 61 percent to get shopping ideas. In addition, 65 percent say ROP ads bring new products or local events to their attention, and more than a third say they often notice ads from stores where they don’t regularly shop.

* Half of consumers say they most often check advertising on Sundays, an answer almost universal among nearly all consumer groups.

* Almost two-thirds of consumers say newspapers are their primary source for advertising or shopping information in general. Further, for each of 10 major store categories measured, consumers report that newspapers are their primary advertising source.

Report results were culled from a national telephone survey of 4,000 adults, focus groups and a pretest conducted in April-May 2001. The quantitative phase was facilitated by MORI Research Inc., Minneapolis, and Tolley Research Inc., West Hartford, Conn., conducted the qualitative phase.

The full text is on online at http://www.naa.org/marketscope/2001_Preprints_Study.pdf .

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