Statewide Readership Study

Newspapers Key to NJ Consumers’ Decision Making

More than 1.2 million NJ adults make a newspaper-influenced purchase every week

Click the icon for more info

WEST TRENTON, NJ – As the Internet and other digital media continue to gain in popularity and usage, one recent study suggests that newspapers still lead the way in the marketplace when it comes to influencing consumers. Dallas-based research and consulting firm Belden Associates interviewed more than 1,200 New Jersey adults during the spring of 2006 and asked them about their media usage and its effects on their buying habits. According to the study, 73% of New Jersey adults list newspapers as their primary source of local shopping information as compared to 9% for both television and Internet. In addition, the study concludes that 1,269,000 New Jersey adults made a newspaper-influenced purchase in a given week; that number is nearly 5 times greater than purchases generated by the Internet and more than 8 times greater than direct mail.

                                                   Other key findings include:

• Two-thirds of NJ adults report that newspapers have the most believable advertising.
• Newspapers are the #1 source for information related to big ticket items such as real estate, automobiles, furniture, and consumer electronics.
• Half of NJ adults report that they usually read ad supplements and circulars delivered with the newspaper.

“It’s gratifying to know New Jerseyans are avid consumers of news and advertising and that newspapers continue to set the pace in this critical market,” said John O’Brien, executive director of the New Jersey Press Association. “This study proves what we in the industry have been touting for years, that New Jersey is The Newspaper State.”

The Belden Associates study also showed that the vast majority of New Jersey adults read a newspaper, and that newspaper readership in New Jersey is higher than across the nation. Forty-eight percent of New Jersey adults read a newspaper everyday, with 77% picking up a Daily/Sunday edition in a given week. The average 7-day readership across Belden markets nationwide is 66%.

Even with state-focused electronic outlets such as CN-8, News-12 New Jersey, NJ-101.5, and local Internet initiatives in the picture, New Jerseyans confirmed they count on New Jersey’s daily and weekly newspapers as their preferred source for local information. “Since New Jerseyans’ electronic media mostly originates from someplace other than New Jersey (New York and Philadelphia), newspapers here play an even more critical role in providing the citizens of this state with information they need and desire,” O’Brien added. 

The study, conducted by Belden Associates for the New Jersey Press Association, has a margin of error of plus or minus three percentage points. For more information or to request a copy of Newspapers Deliver New Jersey, a summary of the study's highlights, call Brian Critchley at (609) 406-0600 x18 or email bcritchley@njpa.org.

# # #

New Jersey Press Association (NJPA) is a non-profit membership association formed in 1857 to advance the interests of newspapers and to increase awareness of the benefits of newspaper readership. NJPA has over 200 members consisting of the state’s daily, weekly, and specialty newspapers.

Belden Associates is a leading market research and consulting firm with 65 years of successful newspaper partnerships.  In addition to traditional audience measures which quantify and guide opportunity, Belden has pioneered web measurement and is regularly deploying new technologies to meet evolving industry needs.

New Jersey Newspaper Network
840 Bear Tavern Road, Suite 305
West Trenton, NJ 08628-1019
609-406-0600 / fax 609-406-0399