Tuesday, March 6, 2001

Are eHealth Consumers Reading Your Ad?

It’s no secret that there has been an unprecedented level of advertising on the Internet over the past few years. It’s also no secret that Internet advertising levels have slumped over the past year and continue to drop as advertisers question the effectiveness of these ads.

Is Internet Advertising Effective?
Where are advertisers able to get their messages across to the people they are targeting? New Harris Interactive research, focusing on the use of health and medical information on the Internet, points to the success of some advertising in this area. Some consumers are indeed taking notice of ads placed on health and medical information sites on the Internet.

Preliminary findings from our most recent Harris Interactive OnSiteSM survey suggest that site quality alone will not guarantee that an ad will be read. Health care consumers need to feel that an advertisement on the site is acceptable. That it is appropriate. Then they may read it and, in fact, be influenced by it. There is a strong relationship between thinking that advertising on a site is acceptable and the likelihood of reading ads on a site. Equally strong is the relationship between looking at ads and the likelihood of buying something from a particular site.

To gain a better understanding about consumer use of health care information on the Internet, Harris Interactive conducted more than 100,000 online interviews among consumers. The survey confirmed what most advertising, media professionals, and others with an interest in healthcare have been saying for the past several years—that healthcare information on the Internet is, by and large, one of the most sought after and fastest growing areas on the Net. But the survey told another story as well—that much of the advertising on health and medical information sites goes unnoticed.

Will online ads be read?
Advertisers with any number of different messages targeted at the health care marketplace want to place ads on health and medical information sites because the ads are likely to be read by the very people they are trying to reach. But will consumers visiting health and medical information sites actually read the ads placed on these sites? The answer – "It depends." It depends on the kind of health care site the ad is placed on.

According to the OnSite study (a comprehensive survey that measures consumer involvement, loyalty, satisfaction and receptivity to advertising on more than 250 websites within 28 areas of health care) consumers are much more inclined to read ads on some sites than on others. While 4 in 10 visitors to dental health sites (41%), gay health information sites (40%) and marathon and running sites (40%) are "very" likely to read or look at the advertising placed on these sites, only half that number are "very" likely to read ads placed on mental health (19%), drug information (18%) and clinical trial sites (17%). And, least likely to be read are ads that appear on medical journal sites (13%), health references and directories (15%), and government health resources (15%).

This new research also looks at ad receptivity at the individual site level. What this shows is that even in the top categories, some sites do a lot better than others in terms of getting visitors to actually look at advertising on their sites. In the area of dental health, for instance, 54% of those who visit 1-800-Dentist (800dentist.com) and 51% of those who log on to Dental.com say they would read or look at advertising on the site. Topping the list in the area of gay health information and resources are the Gay Financial Network (gfn.com) at 56% and PlanetOut.com at 42%. And among marathon and running sites, Asimba.com (50%) and Runnersworld.com (41%) top the list.

Dr. Anne Axelrod, Senior Vice President of Harris Interactive e-Health Research, notes, "Advertisers need to know that their ad dollars are being well spent. Now they can do so. They will know that a toothpaste ad will get more attention on a dental health site than it will on a drugstore site. OnSite is the first research tool of its kind to provide advertisers with the information they need to make informed decisions about where to spend their advertising dollars."

Macintosh Users Most Loyal
Harris Interactive, a global leader in Internet-based research, today released the results of a new survey of more than 140,000 Internet users, including more than 6,500 who purchased a home PC in the first three quarters of 2000. Among other topics, this study examined brand shares among first time home PC buyers and brand loyalty among repurchasing home PC buyers.

Gateway Inc. (Gateway) and Hewlett-Packard (HP) Favorites Among First-Time Buyers

The study showed Compaq as the overall unit share leader, followed closely by HP and Gateway. Together, these three brands accounted for about half of the consumer PCs purchased in the first three-quarters of 2000. Gateway was the number one brand among first-time home PC buyers. Its share among first-time buyers was nearly 50% higher than its overall share and significantly higher than its share among repeat buyers. HP also had a higher share among first timers than repeat buyers did, but its share was more balanced than Gateway’s. In contrast, Compaq was stronger among repeat buyers than among first timers, although its share was also relatively well balanced.

Repurchase Loyalty Has Apple On Top, With Gateway Best of Wintel Brands

The study found wide disparity in repurchase loyalty among the top PC brands. Apple Macintosh owners were the most loyal – just over half of Mac owners who bought a personal computer in the first three-quarters of 2000 repurchased a Mac. Gateway’s customer loyalty was highest among Wintel brands with a 45% repurchase rate. IBM had the lowest repurchase loyalty among the top brands, with only 9% of IBM PC owners buying another IBM brand PC when they bought a new home PC.

News Tidbits (appears every day on the front page)
- Idea Labs has launched its most ambitious project yet - offer its own domain name extensions! The company yesterday began offer extensions for .kids, .video, .sport, along with 17 other extensions. It claims that it has the technology to do such. If you're interested in checking out the service, which may be challenged legally, visit new.net