GENDER:The CommerceNet/Nielsen survey of Internet Demographics found that women now represent over 45% of the online population. Source: Nielsen/CommerceNet
AGE:
The average age of Web users is 34.9 years old, according to the 6th GVU WWW User Survey. This average age has been steadily increasing over the last several GVU surveys. (Fourth Survey: 32.7 years, Fifth Survey: 33.0 years, Sixth Survey: 34.9 years) Source: Georgia Institute of Technology, Graphics, Visualization & Usability Center (GVU)
INCOME:
A survey by the Media Futures Program of SRI Consulting revealed that more than 65% of Internet users have household incomes of $60,000 or more, compared with 35% of the U.S. population as a whole.
According to the sixth GVU study, average household income of Internet users is $70,800. The distribution of income levels is very similar to the Fifth GVU survey: Less than $29K: 18.8%, $30-60K: 23.0%, over $60K: 41.1%. Sources: SRI International; GVU.
EDUCATION:
According to the same SRI study, more than 75% of Internet users have attended college, as opposed to 46% of the total U.S. population. Source: SRI International
Fact:
Web Ad Banners Build Brand Awareness and May Be Better at Generating Awareness than Television or Print Advertising
Since their first appearance on commercial Web pages, the value of banner ads has been debated. Many felt they were physically too small to offer much branding and some advertisers convinced themselves that click-through was the only metric by which to measure ad effectiveness.
They erroneously believed:
- Despite the fact that no research existed to support their belief and
- That without a click-through, no brand building would occur.
Millward Brown International set out to test the impact of banners on brand awareness, the first study of its kind. Millward Brown's objective was to measure the impact of a single ad banner exposure on brand awareness.
The three brands tested included a men's apparel brand, a telecommunications brand and a technology company. The findings were significant and conclusive for each brand.
Awareness was significantly greater among the banner-exposed (test) group than the non-exposed (control) group. Specifically, exposure to the ad banners alone increased brand awareness from 12% to 200% in a banner-exposed group.
The study also compared the impact of the banner ads in this test to television and magazine norms from prior Millward Brown studies. The findings were remarkable:
Single exposure to a Web banner generated greater awareness than a single exposure to a television or print ad. Millward Brown used their FORCE score ("First Opportunity to See Reaction Created by the Execution") as a means of evaluating the impact of the ad banners relative to other media.
A FORCE score indicates the effects of time, exposure weight, diminishing returns and base level. As such, FORCE scores can be directly compared across media types.
As the median FORCE score for television advertisements is 10, the scores reported suggest that Web banners tested very favorably to most TV ads, in terms of creating brand-linked awareness.
