Direct response media agency Equi=Media has commissioned an independent research agency to build a picture of the path consumers take to purchasing financial and travel products.
Particular attention is to be paid to how media affects that path, and of consumer's preferences for online and offline routes. The initial qualitative research shows that while TV advertising has a key role to play in raising brand awareness and communicating key messages, the call to action is usually from direct marketing.
The qualitative research will be combined with quantitative research, using a sample of 600 individuals purchasing financial services and travel products.
The combined research, expected in November, will show consumer preferences for various on- and offline media, such as search engines, comparison sites, directories and the telephone, when conducting research. Consumers will also be asked about their brand preferences, for example Google, travelsupermarket.com and Thomson.
Richard Davies, planning and client services director at Equi=Media, claimed the research was the first of its kind.
"User numbers and circulation figures are widely available, but this doesn't provide any insight into how and why consumers use the various channels available to them when researching and purchasing products," he said.
"Marketing directors want to know which channels are most effective and to which extent they are interdependent."
The research will be updated biannually to track changes in consumer preference patterns.
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