Wednesday, April 7, 2010

to study or to shop...

It’s not so surprising that the last two of my blog posts (out of three…) towards the end of the term have a topic that I thought of while procrastinating. Regardless, while sitting in the library among other “studiers,” I decided to look at some of my favorite store’s websites. Not that I had any intention to buy anything now, but at least a fourth of the time I spend on the sites, I actually do purchase something.

I’m sure I’m not in the minority. I began to wonder how strong college students’ spending is online. Furthermore, did these stores advertise online? How did they get those students to visit their site?

A two-second Google search confirmed my assumption: A study by Experience, Inc. (a career services provider) found that 98% of college students have bought a product or service online.

What was surprising was that the same study found that students are extremely responsive to online advertising. Personally, I figured most would simply find them annoying. The research said that more than 50% have bought a product or service based on an online ad and 34% said Internet ads were the most influential way to motivate them to learn more about a product or service. Not surprising, however, is that the study found that a contest or promotion offering value was the most appealing advertisement to the group.

So there it is, I’m not the only procrastinator on jcrew.com and, it’s true, show me a sunny banner ad with a pretty j.crew dress and I’m sold. You can’t blame me… I’m in the library…

-Alex Harper

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