Study: 39% of Offline-Influence Online Searchers Make Purchase
BOSTON — A new study has revealed that 67 percent of the online search population
is driven to search by offline channels. Furthermore, 39 percent of these searchers
who are influenced will ultimately make a purchase.
iProspect, the company behind the iProspect Offline Channel Influence on Online
Search Behavior Study, commissioned the study to gain a better understanding of
online search users and how exposure to offline channels influences their search
and purchase behavior. Jupiter Research fielded the study in June 2007.
Amongst its key findings, the study showed that offline channels clearly influence
a significant percentage of online search users to subsequently perform queries on
search engines based on the company name, product or service name, or slogan that
appears in the messaging of the offline channel. Nearly two-thirds of the online
search population is driven to search by offline channels.
“At the outset of the study, we figured we’d see an even split between those
influenced to search by offline channels, and those not influenced by offline,” said
iProspect president Robert Murray. “Needless to say, we were more than surprised to
learn that a full 67 percent of online search users were driven to search by some
offline channel.”
Beyond examining the power of offline channels to drive search, the study also looked
at purchase behavior. Offline-influenced online searchers were asked whether they
ultimately made a purchase from the company whose Web site had been the object of
their search. The data revealed that more than one-third does so. This number translates
into a 39-percent conversion rate, suggesting a synergistic relationship between search
and offline channels.
