Look what happened when we weren't paying attention: Shoppers trust the internet more than TV.

Are you surprised? You shouldn't be.

The findings of a timely study last week supported what's becoming very obvious to most of us at a personal level:  More shoppers trust the internet than television as a source of useful information that guides their actual purchase decisions.  How could it be any different and what took so long?  First the findings...

From the report provided by Yahoo and Universal McCann it seems that buying based on information provided by a medium, the internet wins out over the television to influence what is bought.  In a survey of almost 2500 respondents reported by Ad Age who have purchased or intend to purchase, the...

"Internet has earned a level of trust greater than traditional print or television outlets. Increasing familiarity with search and digital articles has enabled consumers to act as their own filters, picking and choosing which sources to rely on and which to ignore. When it comes to media, the Internet comes out on top as 2 in 3 people stated they trust the Internet for researching their purchases followed by 43% for magazines and 35% for TV."

What accounts for this?  A number of things, including almost universal access to online information, the influence of others via the social media, crowd-scouring feedback information that drives brand switching at the point of internet purchase, and ease with which the best price can be found. 

A platform of controlled chaos.

"The internet is no longer viewed as an overwhelming information source, but rather a platform of controlled chaos"; instead, it offers information that speaks to the criteria and attributes germane to the prospect, not the ad copy repeated in TV commercials. 

Hey, who’s really surprised by this?  Fifty percent of all television commercials have some sort of affirmative disclosure or fine-print disclaimers.  Advertising in magazines is limited to what the vendor or advertising wants you to consider, not necessarily what's important to you as the consumer.

More change is on the way.

This decade-long revolution will have serious ripples in terms of the commercial viability of some bricks-and-mortar operations.  By siphoning-off planned purchases and leaving only mostly immediate need or impulse purchases to take place at the mall, price differentials of online versus off-line will become even more exaggerated.  Indeed, Black Friday [i.e., the Friday after Thanksgiving that's reputed to be the break even day for retail operations in the calendar year] might no longer be so, pushing the retail profitability pivot point back closer to Christmas.

And, too, the way commercial programming supports network and cable television is also threatened, what with the value of television advertising diminishing along with the rates paid for it to work a lesser commercial magic.  Consumers may be paying less in online shopping for purchases made, but they'll likely start paying more for heretofore "free" programming they see in their living rooms. 

Stay tuned for what's next.

It's looking like a different world of shopping out there--and television is no longer the king of the mountain when it comes to influencing purchase behavior.  Malls will be quieter as well.  Only time will tell where it all leads; there’s more changes to come.  

As they say on television:  Stay tuned.  
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Follow Keith's biz blog on Twitter for updates and see more of what he's reading about on his Facebook Page. If you are inclined, you can write him at kmurray@bryant.edu.