A study of college students conducted by Yahoo Search Marketing amazingly found that students rated search as the best source of information.
Yahoo’s “The Life Series,” is defined by the portal’s Search Marketing unit as a study of “ways in which advertisers and consumers can benefit from one another throughout the dynamics of life events.” The company discussed their early findings in a press release:
“The initial key findings in this research revealed that people experiencing such events share certain common characteristics, including a desire for trusted information sources, heavy reliance on research prior to making decisions and increased time spent on research during their life event.”
To better understand how people use search, Yahoo and a couple of firms have been conducting research studies. The information will help Yahoo develop strategies based on those findings.
One of their early studies focused on college students. Working with Compete, Greenberg Brand Strategy, and Hall & Partners, Yahoo surveyed over 450 students in August about what they considered their best sources of information.
Respondents rated sources of information on a five points scale; rating a source first or second was counted as a “best” vote. They selected search engines by a vast margin (81 percent) over family & friends (64%), newspapers (34%), and television (24%).
Also, college students were more likely to make purchases online than other groups, larger investments like cars being an exception where offline was preferred to online, Yahoo said in a statement.
David Utter is a staff writer for Murdok covering technology and business. Email him here.
