SOURCE: Yellow Pages Association

 

BERKELEY HEIGHTS, NJ--(Marketwire - April 14, 2008) - The Yellow Pages Association™ (YPA™) today announced that residents and businesses in many of the top U.S. Designated Market Areas (DMAs*) rely heavily on the Yellow Pages. Out of the top U.S. DMAs, more people in tech-savvy cities including Portland, Ore., Seattle, Columbus, Ohio and Charlotte, N.C. reference the Yellow Pages per week than the national average. The findings were gathered from the 2008 Yellow Pages Association Industry Usage Study: National Results, conducted by Knowledge Networks/Statistical Research, Inc. (KN/SRI).

The usage study results also show that the Yellow Pages reach consumers who are ready and able to make purchases. Nationally, 86 percent of those surveyed made a purchase or were likely to do so after making a print Yellow Pages reference.

Additional key findings of the study include:

-- 87 percent of those surveyed have used the Yellow Pages at least once in the past year.

-- The overall demographic profile of Yellow Pages users shows:

    --  51 percent are younger than age 50
    --  63 percent have some level of college education
    --  44 percent earn $60,000 or more annually
    --  57 percent live in counties with a population of 150,000 or more
    --  66 percent are married
    --  82 percent own a home

-- Among those making a purchase after referencing the print Yellow Pages, 39 percent were new customers to the business they chose. Internet Yellow Pages usage shows that 51 percent of purchasers were new customers to the business.

-- Total annual print Yellow Pages references amounted to 13.4 billion, or approximately 60 times per year per adult, which is consistent with last year's results.

"This study confirms that there is a large base of highly sophisticated consumers with proven buying power that relies heavily upon the Yellow Pages as a go-to resource," said Neg Norton, president of YPA. "Any business interested in driving traffic to its storefront should consider the Yellow Pages -- Internet, print and mobile -- an active and integral part of a sound media mix."

Of the top U.S. DMAs, the number of people referencing the Yellow Pages per week exceeded the national average in the following cities: Charlotte, N.C.; Cincinnati; Cleveland; Columbus, Ohio; Denver; Greenville, S.C.; Indianapolis; Milwaukee; Portland, Ore.; Salt Lake City; Seattle and St. Louis.

The 2008 Yellow Pages Association Industry Usage Study was based on 9,008 telephone interviews conducted in 2007 by KN/SRI. The research methods include use of a random digit dial sample with one adult selected at random in each contacted household.

For more information about YPA research, please visit http://www.ypassociation.org.

* DMA designation provided by Survey Sampling, Inc.

About The Yellow Pages Association

The Yellow Pages Association (YPA) is the largest trade organization of a print and digital media industry valued at more than $31 billion worldwide. Association members include Yellow Pages publishers, certified marketing representatives (CMRs) and associate members, a group of industry stakeholders that include Yellow Pages advertisers, vendors and suppliers.