Star Wars fans have been flocking… to the internet - to research the movie, watch trailers, read reviews and buy tickets, according to Claria's Feedback Research unit (via AdJab). And some 69 percent of its Star Wars respondents have seen or heard ads online, and 27 percent of general entertainment respondents cited TV or radio advertisements as the way they found out about the movie.

According to Claria, the internet played a key role in ticket sales. Some 46 percent of fans intending to see the movie in theaters bought or were planning to buy tickets online, and most often cited Fandango and Movietickets.com .

The study ran from April 18, 2005 to May 15, 2005 among users who viewed either the general entertainment category or Star Wars-specific websites. Feedback Research also surveyed a random sampling of Claria users to gauge interest and activity around the movie.

In seeking the official Star Wars site, 23 percent used a search engine and 18 percent found it through a general movie or entertainment Web site. Yahoo Movies was the most popular site for reviews with both Star Wars respondents (51 percent) and general Entertainment respondents (60 percent).