Internet rivals TV for user time and attention

Consumers are spending more free time browsing the internet instead of watching TV, according to a new global consumer trends study from IBM. Nearly 20% of respondents said they spent six hours or more per day on the internet, compared to nine percent of respondents who reported the same levels of TV viewing.

Meanwhile, 66% reported viewing between one to four hours of TV per day, versus 60 percent who reported the same levels of personal internet usage. It suggests that the gap is closing between the internet and TV as entertainment sources, as the popularity for online destinations like YouTube, MySpace and FaceBook soars.

Consumers are increasingly turning to new media channels to access content, music and entertainment. While 23% said they’d used a portable music service like iTunes; 7% had a video content subscription for their mobiles, 11% had a PC-based music service and 18% had an online newspaper subscription.

Even with all this take-up in new communications channels it should be noted that TV ads continue to be the most effective among consumers in terms of affecting their impression of a product or company.  While 66% of respondents were influenced by a TV ad, just 5% were influenced by an internet ad.  But an interesting spin off from the internet has been the viral distribution of TV ads… remember Cadbury’s Gorilla? (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=
XdO2aYfQa6I). Consumers first see the ad on TV and then watch again via the likes of YouTube.