Newspaper Websites

Power Users 2006: An Engaged Audience for Advertising and News

In 2002 and 2004, the New Media Federation of the Newspaper Association of America released a comprehensive overview of the demographics, media consumption and shopping habits of general Internet users and visitors to newspapers' Web sites. To expand on the "Power Users" report, Minnesota Opinion Research Inc. (MORI) and NAA have again updated the analysis about specific topics of interest to members.

The 2006 research builds upon similar audience studies conducted by MORI in 2002 and 2004. The accompanying PowerPoint provides more detail and further illustrates the desirability of the newspaper Web site audience.

• Newspaper Web site users remain Power Users: They are demographically more desirable to advertisersand more online-intensive than other users of the Internet. Newspaper Web sites provide an efficient channel for reaching this attractive audience.
• Compared with Internet users who do not visit newspaper sites, Power Users go online more frequently, spend more time online, especially in the morning and at work, and are more likely to have high-speed Internet access.
• Power Users are much more interested in news content, entertainment content and various online services than non-users of newspaper sites.
• Demographically, Power Users are younger, better-educated and more affluent than non-users of newspaper sites.
• Nearly all Power Users research, shop and make purchases online and they strongly lead non-users in these behaviors.
• Power Users continue to grow as a percentage of the Internet population.

View the report.

Exceeding Expectations: Enhancing Newspapers' Online Ad Performance

"Exceeding Expectations: Enhancing Newspapers' Online Ad Performance" is available at no cost to NAA Federation members. The report can be purchased by NAA Members for $19.95 and by nonmembers for $39.95 by visiting NAA's online publications transactions page

How well do online newspapers perform for their advertisers in contrast to other Web sites? Do they have any advantages that the industry can exploit? Do certain formats or practices do better than others?

To determine the answers, NAA commissioned market research company Dynamic Logic to analyze the ability of newspapers' online advertising campaigns to impact branding metrics. The New York-based marketing effectiveness firm has compiled a MarketNorms™ database that draws on more than 1,000 measured campaigns, 10,000 creative executions and one million respondents.

Dynamic Logic researchers discovered that newspaper campaigns perform "on par" with MarketNorms. But online newspapers excel in impacting brands in the financial services and travel categories and in building persuasion in the automotive category, significantly outperforming MarketNorms in these industries. Expectations were exceeded even more in retail, but from a comparatively much smaller sample size.

View the report.

Power Users Plus: Content Interests, Media Habits of 18- to 34-Year-Old Web Readers

Earlier this year, the New Media Federation released a comprehensive overview of the demographics, media consumption and shopping habits of general Internet users and visitors to newspapers' Web sites. To expand on the "Power Users 2004: Newspapers' Online Audience in a Broadband World" report, Minnesota Opinion Research Inc. (MORI) and NAA have prepared a series of updates that provide a deeper layer of analysis about specific topics of interest to members.

The second edition of "Power Users Plus" describes the characteristics and idiosyncrasies of 18- to 34-year-old Web site users. In particular, visitors to newspaper sites in this age range are likely to be Internet veterans, and 49 percent say the paper's site replaces their need for the printed edition.

"Emergent Power Users" keep up with the local news, weather and sporting information on the Web. "Net Pragmatists" use online banking and maps and directions.

Newspaper Web sites lead the list of local news and information resources for 18- to 34-year-olds, followed closely by Yahoo! and Google. Yahoo!, Google and MSN are more popular choices than newspaper sites for local entertainment information.

"Power Users Plus" also provides details about the frequency of usage for newspaper sites and print editions, along with media consumption patterns that occur since reading the online newspaper. The research report concludes with examples of how the newspaper industry is attempting to reach younger viewers with print products and related Web sites that emphasize interactivity.