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Search Engines Influence Consumer Buying
"RESTON, Va. -- About 25% of consumers who conducted electronics or computer searches at one of the top 25 search engines ultimately purchased a CE/C product, and an estimated 92% of these purchases occurred offline, according to a study released recently by comScore Networks Inc.. Among the 8% of post-search purchases that were made online, the vast majority occurred in subsequent user sessions rather than directly after a search click-through.The comScore study tracked online buying behavior for 90 days following a CE/C search and found that only 15% of online purchases following a CE/C search occurred in the same user session as the search itself, with 85% of conversions occurring in a latent (or non-search) session. Additionally, nearly 40% of all purchases occurred five to 12 weeks after the initial search was conducted."These findings reinforce the importance of considering the latent impact of search engine usage when evaluating search engine marketing investments," says James Lamberti, vice president of comScore Networks. "Search cannot be thought of as solely a direct response marketing tool, especially in highly considered product categories where search activity can precede a purchase by as much as 60 to 90 days."Generic product search terms (e.g., "camera," "plasma television" or "PDA phone") accounted for more than 70% of total search volume, while trademarked retailer terms such as "Best Buy" or "Gateway.com" accounted for 20% and specific product terms like "Canon digital camcorder" or "HP notebook nx9010" accounted for 10%, the study found. While generic terms accounted for 61% of purchase conversion, branded terms (either retailer or product terms) were approximately 30% more likely to result in an online purchase."It's critical that retailers consider generic search terms as an important part of their keyword strategy," continued Mr. Lamberti. "Marketers focused solely on specific product terms known to convert directly will fail to address the vast majority of consumers in the buy cycle."The study results challenge a widely held belief that most consumers begin the product search process by using a generic search term (e.g., "plasma TV") and then later refine their search activity to product- specific terms (e.g., "Sony Plasma KE-42M1"). Operating under this assumption, many retailers and manufacturers believed that investing only in product-specific terms allowed them to reach the majority of in-market consumers closer to their purchase decision. In reality, by taking this approach, marketers are missing the vast majority of their addressable market, since most consumers never use these types of terms.Although 85% of searchers do indeed conduct additional CE/C searches later in the shopping process, the majority of consumers continue to use the same search term type (either generic or branded) with which they began the search process, the survey found. Since 83% of consumers start their search process with a generic term and only a relatively small percentage later search using a product-specific term, retailers or manufacturers that invest solely in product-specific keywords will miss more than 80% of CE/C searchers.Also, generic search terms are likely to have influenced even those consumers who converted to purchase after conducting a retailer trademark search (e.g., "Best Buy" or "Gateway"), the study found. Fully 84% of these buyers searched using a generic term earlier in the buying cycle, reinforcing the importance of reaching consumers early in the search process when they are defining their consideration set. "This research supports the theory that all types of terms play an important role in influencing the consumer's purchase decision," said Diane Rinaldo, director of strategic alliances at Overture Services Inc.. "With this new knowledge, marketers take a major step toward better understanding the full impact of their search advertising campaigns."Visit comScore Networks Inc.: www.comscore.comThis report is new this week in The Business Journal's small business how-to section. To see what else is new, click here or click on the "how-to" tab at the top of The Daily Business Journal Online home page."