Following are findings from recent studies on marketing and advertising-related topics. For a more in-depth look at these subjects, visit our sister site, MarketingCharts.com.

Shoppers Make Increasingly Complex Purchase Journey

Shoppers no longer traverse linear paths to a purchase, but instead take a highly-dynamic and sometimes multidirectional route, according to Carat's "2010 New Shopper Journeys Survey." Marketers need to respond with deeper segmentation and step up the post purchase phase on future sales, it found.

Search and SEO Top Conversion in Budget Survey

Converting visitors may be most marketers' primary website challenge, yet most are focusing their budget on search and SEO, according to a recent survey of nearly 300 senior-level marketers by Maxymiser. It also found that while 79% of marketers agree/strongly agree that content testing is critical for objective website design and content decisions, only 27% make changes to their website based on testing results.

Social Networks Supercharge Political Campaigns

Websites, social networks, and email communications are more useful for retaining the attention of voters over time, according to an E-Voter Institute survey conducted by HCD Research. Four out-of-five potential voters expect candidates to have a website, half expect candidates to participate in social networks and provide webcasts of events, and 41% expect candidates to use Twitter.