Every advertising medium has its own unique set of consumer dynamics. Individual media vary with regard to:

• the type of audience attracted and delivered to advertisers,

• the reasons why individuals use that medium, and

• how consumers perceive and respond to advertising within that medium.

This section addresses these issues to help you better understand the consumer dynamics of yellow pages users.

"The term "demographics" ... derives from demography, "the study of the characteristics of human populations." Professional demographers, such as those who work at the United States Census Bureau, are concerned primarily with population size and density, birth and death rates, and in- and out-migration. But the practice of describing human groups according to distributions of sex, age, ethnicity, educational level, income, or other such has become a commonplace in many domains. These categories are called demographics." (Source: Eric Rothenbuhler, "Demographics")

Yellow Pages User Demographics - Print

The demographics of yellow pages audience delivery can be viewed on two levels. First, we can look at the demographics of overall directory usage, that is, who in general uses print yellow pages directories. Second, we can see how this overall media profile varies across individual yellow pages headings.

All Yellow Pages Users

Overall, yellow pages print directories tend to attract an upscale, well educated group of consumers. Compared to the nation as a whole, directory users are more likely to be both men and women who:

• are younger, aged 18-49 and within this group, particularly aged 25 to 34,

• are college educated, and

• have an annual household income of $60,000 or more.

Specific Heading Users

Within this broad demographic it is not surprising that there are variations across the users of different directory headings. The table below shows the demographic profiles of individuals who use some of the most referenced individual print directory headings.

As you can see, some headings, such as "Restaurants," have broad demographic appeal while others tend to differentially attract specific age, income or other demographic segments.

Implications for Advertisers

Advertisers recognize that their return on advertising investment is heightened and their media buying is more efficient when the audience demographics delivered by a particular media vehicle closely matches the demographics of their target audience. This is why television and radio program demographics and magazine audience analyses are such an important part of the media selection and buying process.

The print yellow pages directory is in nearly everyone's home and, as a result, many think that the directory is therefore only appropriate for reaching a very broad, undifferentiated group of consumers. The demographic variation across headings suggests, however, that this is not the case. Similar to other media, different demographic profiles across directory headings allows advertisers to match media delivery to target audience characteristics. Just as different television programs deliver different audiences, different directory headings also deliver different audiences. The focused audience delivery by heading lets advertisers determine how and to what extent a yellow pages heading delivers their desired demographic audience.

Yellow Pages User Demographics - Internet

The demographics of Internet yellow pages users are very similar to the demographics of print directory users. Internet yellow pages users are more likely than the population as a whole to be:

• aged 25 to 49,

• college educated, and

• in households with an annual income of $60,000 or more.

"Psychographics is the art of determining the perceptions, attitudes, drives, feelings and preferences of customers. It's understanding what they think, what motivates them, and what determines their behavior in their purchase decision process." (Source: Holt Marketing & Management)

Just as the demographics of yellow pages users in general and by heading differ from the population as a whole, the psychographics - the attitudes, outlook and beliefs - of yellow pages print directory users also differ. Heavy users of the yellow pages print directories display three important psychographic traits:

• They consider themselves to be smart, spontaneous shoppers who enjoy shopping.

• They are more "adventurous" shoppers. Heavy users are more likely to visit multiple stores; are willing to travel longer to reach a favorite store; and like to be the first among their friends to find and shop at a new store.

• They are "risk takers." Heavy users are more likely to agree that they are experimenters who change brands often; enjoy taking risks; and like to spend money without thinking.

(Source: CRM Associates using data collected by Simmons Market Research Bureau)

Section 2 discussed how different media, including the yellow pages, conduct research to demonstrate the unique value of their specific medium. Value was discussed in terms of audience delivery, audience influence and return on investment.

An additional way to discuss media value is in the context of "quality" of audience delivered. This approach takes the perspective that while two different media may reach and deliver the advertising to the same number of individuals for the same cost, differences in the behaviors of the delivered audience may make one medium a better advertising vehicle than the other.

One key behavior typically examined in "quality of audience" analyses is amount spent once exposed to the advertising. Imagine, for example, that members of Coke's target audience are exposed to ads for the cola. Some see the ads exclusively on television while others see the ads exclusively in magazines. In the month after ad exposure, those who saw the ads on television buy an average of six cans of Coke per week while those who saw the ads in magazines buy an average of twelve cans per week. Clearly, in this example, magazines are delivering a better "quality" audience for Coke.

The Yellow Pages Association has taken this approach to determine the quality of the audience delivered by print yellow pages directories, where "quality" is defined in terms of dollars spent on the purchase of products or services.

The analysis performed by CRM Associates (using data collected by Simmons Market Research Bureau) first identified individuals who made a purchase in a particular product category (such as furniture). Then category buyers were divided into those who used the yellow pages and those who did not, and the average amount spent by both groups was compared.

The tendency for yellow pages users to spend more than the average consumer brings into question the stereotype of yellow pages users being "price driven shoppers," that is, individuals who call around to find the absolute lowest price. Rather, yellow pages users' higher incomes coupled with their psychographics, indicate that these individuals are not adverse to spending money, but that they demand high "value" for their purchase.

Usage and Gratifications

Blumler and Katz's uses and gratification theory suggests that individuals take an active role in choosing and using different media. A specific medium, from among a range of options, is chosen at a particular time because it best responds to and fulfills an individual's unique needs. Uses and gratification theory has been used to explain why individuals select different genres of entertainment, different media types and different media forms . This, and other uses and gratifications research, shows that while media selection is guided by the needs and gratifications sought, specific needs and gratifications vary across media and media types. An individual might, for example, watch a soap opera because the content provides a basis for conversing with others (the need for social interaction) or for identification and involvement with characters (need for positive self-image). An individual might watch a quiz show due to the need to feel smart (need for self-esteem).

While specific needs and gratifications vary across media and media types, the prior examples illustrate an important commonality across media: needs and gratifications typically relate to media content.

An important implication of the relationship between media content and media selection is that advertising exposure is typically a by-product of media selection. Individuals select a media vehicle such as a television program for its content and during exposure to the program they are also exposed to advertising. But the program content (and the gratifications received from that content) and not the advertising is what motivates the person to select the medium or media vehicle. (One exception to this might be the Super Bowl, which many watch just for the advertising.)

In this respect, the yellow pages are distinctly different than other media that carry advertising because the medium is advertising. And, information is the key to yellow pages advertising. Luo notes that "the informativeness construct of uses and gratifications theory can be defined as the extent to which [a medium] provides users with resourceful and helpful information." Information is the key to how the yellow pages responds to individuals' needs and gratifications sought.

Why is information so important?

Individuals come to the yellow pages with a specific need, a problem to solve. Information is important because it is the source that provides the gratifications sought, i.e., a successful resolution of the problem. The use of the yellow pages to solve a problem explains why greater than 83% of those who use the yellow pages make contact with a relevant business or service after turning to the yellow pages.

Need and Life Events

Two types of need-related problems appear to underlay yellow pages usage. These are needs and problems that are related to commonly occurring events and and those associated with infrequently occurring life events.

Commonly Occurring Events

Commonly occurring events fall into two groups: anticipated and unanticipated.

• Anticipated events are those that occur without surprise in the normal course of daily activities. These events may occur frequently, such as having a car's oil changed or ordering office supplies, or they may occur less frequently, such as the decision to build a fence or order flowers.

• Unanticipated events are those that take one by surprise, for example, the need to repair a roof or respond to flood damage.

Clearly, anticipated and unanticipated common events motivate individuals to use both print and Internet yellow pages. Further, because directory users are "value" shoppers, they tend (on average) to read about five ads before making contact.

Infrequently Occurring Events - Life Events

In any given year, many individuals and families undergo a major life event, such as marriage, birth of children or change in jobs. Regardless of the nature of the event, the presence of the event itself causes a need for assistance or information, and the yellow pages are one source of information individuals turn to in an attempt to satisfy problems that arise as a result of a life-related event. In the context of uses and gratifications theory, the presence of the life event causes a unique set of needs (problems to be solved) to arise, and the yellow pages provides the information that can be used to address this need (by providing the gratification of a successfully solved problem).

The table below shows the percentage increase in yellow pages usage for different types of actual or anticipated life events. Note that in all cases, yellow pages usage increases in the presence of a life event.

Given that these events occur only once (or a few times) in an individual's life, the yellow pages provide an opportunity to reach consumers who have an immediate need to satisfy, but who have not yet developed strong loyalty to businesses or services that can be used to satisfy their need.

This trend in usage helps to explain why (as discussed in Section 3 and Section 4) certain types and content of yellow pages ads tend to work better than others. Directory users are looking for information about what to buy, which brand to buy, or where to buy so that they can best satisfy the specific need rising out of a rarely occurring life event.

(Source for Life Events section: CRM Associates using data collected by Simmons Market Research Bureau)

It is intuitively reasonable that consumers come to the yellow pages with a need to solve a specific problem. After all, the directory almost entirely consists of advertising for products and services that respond to consumers' needs. While all individuals who come to a heading share a common need, their attitudes in approaching the advertising in different headings may differ. This difference in attitude generally reflects their prior experience in the category and their exposure to category advertising in other media.

Some consumers, typically those with prior experience or exposure to other category advertising, come to the directory with the name of a specific company in mind. Others, typically those without prior experience or exposure to other category advertising, come to the yellow pages not knowing whom they will ultimately contact.

• Across all Internet directory searches, most individuals come to Internet yellow pages without a single contact name in mind (58%).

• Across all print directory references, individuals are evenly split between those with a single contact in mind (51%) and those without (49%). (Individuals in the latter group includes those with "no name in mind" and those with "two or more names in mind.")

An individual's predisposition when coming to the yellow pages can be put in the context of models of how brand preference is formed.

Brand preference, a consumer's explicit desire to use one brand over another, is typically viewed as the end result of a four-stage process. (Source for the four-stage discussion is Jui Hong Teoh, "The Battle for Consumer Preference" )

• "Stage 1: Brand recognition is low level consciousness of your product, service or brand in the minds of your consumers. At this stage, your advertising has made perhaps a small inroad. Some people may have come across it and remember your name. However, at this stage brand recognition may not be enough to be effective, as it does not guarantee a sale.

• Stage 2: Brand awareness happens when your brand name becomes familiar to large numbers of people within your target market. At this stage, they know who you are, they are aware of what you do and what you're selling. They may not have bought your product, but they are aware of it.

• Stage 3: Brand recall. Brand awareness on its own is not enough to generate a sale. For one, a particular brand needs to be part of the selection list of the consumer at the time of purchase. Brand recall occurs when, at the moment of a buying decision, a consumer is able to produce a menu of options from the top of his or her mind without having to be reminded what those options may be.

• Stage 4: Brand preference. A coveted place to be, brand preference happens when a consumer purposely chooses one brand over the other."

We can use this four-step process as context for understanding the relationship between consumers' mindset when they come to the yellow pages and yellow pages' advertising effects.

No Name in Mind

All four stages of developing brand preference occur nearly simultaneously when an individual comes to the yellow pages with no name in mind. In these cases, which may be the result of a consumer having limited experience in the category and/or limited (if any) exposure to category advertising in other media, yellow pages advertising must successfully break through the clutter (i.e., generate awareness) and present information that will lead to brand preference.

The table below displays some of the directory headings in which a majority of consumers come to the yellow pages with absolutely no business name in mind. Not surprisingly, given that they come to the headings with very low levels of awareness, consumers who come to these headings read many ads before deciding whom to contact and typically wind up contacting a company with which they have never before done business.

Advertisers in these and other high percentage "no name in mind" headings need to take great care to make certain that their ads adhere to the guidelines presented in Section 4 since yellow pages advertising represents these advertisers' best (and often only) opportunity to obtain these new customers.

The need to develop advertising that simultaneously accomplishes all four stages of the brand preference cycle for these and other "no name in mind" categories is especially important because, for these headings, the yellow pages are the primary source of advertising exposure and influence. As the table indicates, in these "no name in mind" categories, the yellow pages are always the primary medium when consumers are asked to identify all media that presented information considered at the time of purchase. (Note: In the table below yellow pages refers to the print directory.)

Two or More Names in Mind

Some consumers coming to the yellow pages have already begun the process of brand preference, although the presence of two or more names in mind indicates that a firm brand preference has not yet been reached. Here, individuals may have had some experience with businesses in the category and/or may have seen advertising for category businesses.

The table below displays directory headings in which many consumers come to the yellow pages with two or more business names in mind.

Interestingly, even though these consumers come to these yellow pages headings with some predisposition as to whom they will contact, being "value-oriented, smart shoppers" they still read quite a few ads before deciding whom to contact. Advertisers in these and other high percentage "two or more names in mind" headings must make certain that their advertising responds to the mindset of these individuals.

• Advertising in these headings must be designed to work with advertising in other media. Consistency in tone, approach and content is essential.

• Advertising content must be carefully crafted to appeal to two types of consumers: those who are specifically looking for the advertiser's ad and those who may see and then read an ad (of a business they did not have in mind) while looking for the ad of a particular business. This latter group of consumers is very important, given the relatively high percentages of individuals who make contact with a new business.

The table below shows media considered by consumers in leading "two or more names" categories (where yellow pages refers to the print directory). In these and similar categories, the yellow pages works well to supplement and extend the reach of other media. The table also indicates how, as discussed in Section 1, individuals are beginning to form preferences for where they turn to meet different types of needs. Online is more likely to be used for needs that relate to travel or business and/or where close proximity to home is not required. On the other hand, printed sources of information, including the print directory, are more likely to be used to meet needs that can be addressed by a business/service that is close to home.

One Name in Mind

This mindset indicates that consumers have reached the end of the brand preference process, that is, they have developed a strong preference for a particular brand.

You might think that yellow pages advertising might be irrelevant for this last group of consumers, those who come to the yellow pages with a specific contact name in mind. However, this is not the case. These consumers still read the heading's advertising before making a decision, although they do read fewer ads than the other two groups. For these consumers, the yellow pages provides an advertiser's last opportunity to extend advertising in other media and influence the target consumer.

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