Press Release: DoubleClick Sponsored Study Shows Media's Impact on the Purchase Process

DoubleClick Inc. today announced the results of its Touchpoints Survey at the company's Insight 2003 Annual Conference. The survey examines the "touchpoints" that connect consumers with brands and it assesses the factors that impact the purchase process of nine categories of products. Results from the study show that word of mouth, sales personnel and various forms of media have dramatically different effects at specific stages of the purchasing process. […]

Websites, both company websites and content sites, and online marketing, advertising and email are shown to have a major impact on the purchase process in certain categories. In the travel category, travel websites are the number one driver of awareness (cited by 41% of respondents), followed by online marketing (11%) and online search (9%). Although it is not a primary builder of awareness in other categories, at both the further learning and the crucial purchase decision stages, the interactive channel is a top three influence in almost all categories. Compared to other media, online advertising is highly effective at getting consumers to those crucial company websites.