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In-Car Listening Has Increased to 34 Percent of Radio Listening – Biggest Gain in Share of Radio Time Ever 10.02.03
However, Among Youngest Listeners, Age 12-24, CD and Other Devices Diminish the Impact of Radio As "One Essential" In-Car Companion
NEW YORK, OCTOBER 2, 2003 - In-car listening has increased over the past five years, gaining 34 percent of total listening, according to The National In-Car Study: Can Radio Defend Its Turf?, a study by Arbitron Inc. (NYSE:ARB) and Edison Media Research. However, among persons age 12- 24, CD and cell phones minimize radio stronghold as "one essential" in-car companion
On the
road
Over a third of Americans are spending more time in their cars than in 2002.
On average, people are spending more than 15 hours per week on the road and
surprisingly equal time is spent in the car on weekend days as weekdays.
While both sexes report equal time in the car on weekends, men report more
time in
the car than women during weekdays and overall, men use radio in-car radio
more frequently than women.
Last minute shoppers and extended time in-car
The study reveals that workers make many stops on the commute home. Seventy-seven
percent stop by the grocery store, and more than a half go to convenience
stores or large retail stores. Since two out of five consumers decide at
the last minute to make many of these stops, it is an advantage to target
them close to the purchase.
Advertisers can benefit from later day advertisements as forty-eight percent of listeners have heard advertisements for sales while listening in a car and visited that store later that day.
Consumers with household incomes over $100,000 are 42 percent more likely to make choices based on radio advertisements while they commute. Forty-five percent of men make last-minute decisions to shop at a store on the way home from work. Men are also 31 percent more likely to hear an advertisement and be motivated to visit that store.
Radio reigns in-car
Radio is used by 96 percent of Americans who drove or rode in a car in the
last month. In addition, CD players and cell phones are used by more than
half of in-car consumers. Of all devices currently used in-car, 75 percent
of Americans who drove or rode in a car within the last month used the radio
almost all or most of the time. When asked to choose only one device for
their primary car, consumers chose radio by 69 percent above CD players at
16 percent and cell phones at 8 percent.
However, radio is less essential for 12-to-24-year olds. Only 49 percent chose radio as the most essential device in the car, while the CD player was chosen by 34 percent. Comparing time spent with radio, 78 percent of persons 25+ spend most of their time in the car with radio, while only 61 percent of persons age 12 to 24 spent most time with radio in the car.
How The National In-Car
Study was conducted
Telephone interviews were conducted in July 2003 of 1, 505 of a random sample
of Arbitron Spring 2003 diarykeepers age 12+. Ninety-eight percent of the
sample had driven or ridden as a passenger in non-public transportation vehicles
(car/truck/van,
etc.) in the last month.
For the full study go to: http://www.arbitron.com/home/incar_study.asp.
About Arbitron
Arbitron Inc. (NYSE: ARB) is an international media and marketing research
firm serving radio broadcasters, cable companies, advertisers, advertising
agencies and outdoor advertising companies in the United States, Mexico and
Europe. Arbitron's core businesses are measuring network and local market
radio audiences across the United States; surveying the retail, media and
product
patterns of local market consumers; and providing application software used
for analyzing media audience and marketing information data. Arbitron Internet
Broadcast Services measures the audiences of audio and video content on the
Internet, commonly known as webcasts. The Company is developing the Portable
People Meter, a new technology for radio, television and cable ratings.
Arbitron's marketing and business units are supported by a world-renowned research and technology organization located in Columbia, Maryland. Arbitron has approximately 825 full-time employees; its executive offices are located in New York City.
Through its Scarborough Research joint venture with VNU, Inc., Arbitron also provides media and marketing research services to the broadcast television, magazine, newspaper, outdoor and online industries.
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