NEW YORK, NY – According to a new Ad-ology Research study, "Advertising's Impact in a Soft Economy," more than 48% of U.S. adults believe that a lack of advertising by a retail store, bank or auto dealership during a recession indicates the business must be struggling. Conversly, a vast majority perceives businesses that continue to advertise as being competitive or committed to doing business.

C. Lee Smith, president and CEO of Ad-ology Research, says "It is critical to advertise in the current economic climate, to maintain long-term positive consumer perception of your brand... advertising... assures consumers of a business' reliability... "

Other key findings include:

• 40% of consumers use coupons more now than a year ago;

• Most consumers are as willing or more willing to pay more for ‘healthy' or ‘organic' products than they were a year ago;

• A ‘deeply discounted price' was the number-one factor that would make consumers more likely to purchase a big-ticket item (+$1,000);

• TV, newspaper, direct mail, and Internet top local media from which consumers saw/heard an ad within the last 30 days that led them to take action;

• Store Web sites ranked second only to search engines as the way consumers research products and shop online.

Copyright 2009 MediaPost Communications. All rights reserved. From http://www.mediapost.com.
To view the Internet Travel Monitor Archive, click http://www.tripinfo.com/ITM/index.html.