1. Online
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by Burst Media
Women Depend on the Internet to Spend and to Save
March 2009
Copyright 2009

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Women Depend on the Internet to Spend and to Save
Coupons are a very powerful and flexible marketing tool. They benefit manufacturers by
increasing sales, retailers by bringing in more customers, and consumers by offering great
bargains. To better understand consumers’ use of coupons, Burst recently surveyed more
than 4,500 women 18 years or older about their current use of the Internet for household
purchases and their penchant for web coupons.
• The Internet is now the primary resource for women to manage their
households
• Households are using coupons more frequently than six months ago
• The use of Internet coupons has increased tremendously since 2002 study; it
is now the second most popular source after Sunday newspapers.
Insight #1: Women Use the Internet to Manage Their Households
The Internet Helps Households Run Smoothly
The Internet is the primary means by which women conduct many daily activities. In
fact, 69.4% of women cite the Internet as the primary source for information to keep
their household running with information on family activities, recipes, health news, and
entertainment listings. The Internet is also the primary vehicle (62.3%) that women use to
research products or services they may purchase. Half (51.7%) of the women surveyed cite
the Internet as the primary way to keep in contact with family and friends. Interestingly,
70.8% of women 65 years or older say the Internet is the primary way they keep in touch
with family and friends (see Table 1).
Internet is Primary Method to Accomplish Task
Respondent’s Age
18-34 35-54 55-64 65+ All
Search for information to
help run your household 70.0% 71.1% 65.5% 62.5% 69.4%
Search for information about
61.2% 66.6% 58.8% 43.3% 62.3%
products you might purchase
Stay in contact with family
54.0% 46.8% 53.7% 70.8% 51.7%
and friends
Pay bills/manage nances 46.2% 47.4% 40.5% 40.0% 44.6%
Search for bargains 39.8% 42.4% 36.2% 30.4% 40.0%
Purchase products 20.3% 20.3% 21.3% 23.3% 20.6%
Table 1: Internet is Primary Method to Accomplish Task
Burst Media, March 2009, n=4,559
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Women Depend on In-Store Displays and the Internet for Product Information; Internet
Top Source for Travel
Consumers turn to a number of information sources before making a product or service
purchase, such as in-store displays, newspapers, magazines, and the Internet. The
information resource they consider the best depends on the product category being
researched.
The Internet is cited by three out of four (74.1%) women as the best place to research travel
information such as airline tickets and hotel reservations. This finding is consistent among
all age segments. The Internet and in-store displays are the top source for information on
health and beauty products – 29.2% and 28.2%, respectively. In-store displays are cited
as the top information source for adult apparel (38.2%) – followed closely by the Internet
(30.4%). In-store displays are also cited as the top source of information for children’s
apparel (45.7%) – again followed by the Internet (22.1%). The top three information
sources for food and groceries are in-store displays (35.3%), newspapers and magazines
(30.7%) and the Internet (13.2%).
Insight #2: Coupon Use - Online and Offline - Is On the Rise
Most Households Use Coupons at Least Occasionally
Survey respondents were asked about their use of coupons (online or offline) when
shopping. Respondents were segmented into frequent coupon users, occasional coupon
users, and non-users of coupons. One-third (32.4%) of women are frequent coupon users,
54.3% are occasional coupon users, and 13.3% are non-users of coupons. Groceries are
the most popular items to redeem coupons for when purchasing – 77.9% of respondents
who use coupons say they have done so. Coupon use for other product categories varies;
beauty products (57.7%), health care products (57.3%), fast food (47.7%), clothing/
shoes (41.4%), non-fast food restaurants (39.6%), books and music (33.4%), toys (23.8%),
electronic equipment (23.0%), and computer equipment/software (22.5%).
Online Insights Women Depend on the Internet to Spend and to Save March 2009

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Use of Coupons increases with Age and Household Size
All age segments use coupons – however, the frequency of use increases with respondent’s
age. The percentage that frequently use coupons while shopping increases from 21.2% of
respondents 18-24 years to 40.6% of respondents 65 years and older (see Chart 1). A
surprising finding was the consistent frequency of coupon use by household size (HHS)
segments. Nearly one-third (30.7%) of household with one or two members are frequent
users of coupons while shopping – compared to 33.8% with a HHS of three or four
members, and 35.7% of five or more.
Frequency of Coupon Use When Shopping
Frequent Coupon
21.2% User
18-24 53.8%
Occasional Coupon
25.0% User
Non-User of
28.9% Coupons
25-34 57.0%
Respondent’s Age
14.1%
35.3%
35-44 54.4%
10.3%
36.9%
45-54 53.0%
10.0%
33.0%
55-64 57.8%
9.2%
40.6%
65+ 43.8%
15.7%
% of Respondents
Chart 1 – Frequency of Coupon Use
Burst Media, March 2009, n =4,559
The Economy is Adding To The Use of Coupons
One-third (34.0%) of respondents are using coupons more frequently today than they
were six months ago. This finding is consistent among age, household size, and income
segments. Among frequent coupon users, more than one-half (54.9%) say they have
increased their use of coupons, and among occasional coupon users, one-fifth (21.6%) are
using coupons more frequently.
Online Insights Women Depend on the Internet to Spend and to Save March 2009

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The Use of the Internet As a Source For Coupons Has Soared
The Internet has seen significant growth as the primary source of coupons – increasing
from a 3.8% reading in 2002 to 16.0% today. The Sunday newspaper is still the primary
source of coupons for 29.2% of respondents – but that is down from a 35.3% reading in
2002. Other media cited as a respondents’ primary source of coupons include in-store
circulars (14.9%), mail packs/direct mail (13.5%), weekday newspapers (8.3%), in-store
dispensers (5.4%) and magazines (2.2%).
Internet Coupons Get Consumer’s Attention
More than two-thirds of respondents (69.4%) say they would print and redeem an Internet
coupon for a product they would be interested in purchasing. Three-quarters (75.2%) of
women 35-54 years would print and redeem an Internet coupon – this compares to 62.2%
of women 18-34 years and 67.7% of women 55 years and older. Among all respondents,
43.0% say they are more likely to redeem and print an Internet coupon today then they
were six months ago.
How You Can Use This Information
Impact on Advertisers: Target Coupons To The Most Likely Buyers and Switchers
The advantage of Internet coupons over their paper counterparts is that advertisers can
more finely target their offers – whether through content, geographic or even behavioral
targeting. Additionally, the immediacy and targeting capabilities of the Internet allow
marketers to run last minute promotions, react to changing market conditions, and target
consumers who have shown a previous interest in their product.
Impact on Advertisers and Publishers: Make Use of New Creative Options
Use rich media and other delivery options that provide consumers with a hassle-free
experience of printing coupons and promotions directly from a banner ad or sending
special promotional offers to their email addresses for future use. Also consider creative
that can launch mini-sites where consumers can learn about other products and services,
receive helpful advice or obtain additional discounts, helping to create strong brand
identity and company loyalty. Publishers should adopt ways to print coupons with recipes,
reviews, or other articles for consumer to use when they head to the store to buy.
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Uncluttered Quality Sites in Burst’s Networks
All sites added to Burst’s networks are subject to a rigorous screening process. Burst also
audits network sites several times a year to ensure they continue to meet our standards.
Our continuous review guarantees your advertising message is placed in a high quality
content environment, and receives the maximum exposure it deserves. Here are three
sites from Burst’s Shopping channel that attract a predominantly female audience in a
quality branding environment:
Slickdeals.net is a free, user-driven deal sharing site with
a mission to provide consumers an avenue to collaborate
and share information in order to make the best shopping
decisions. Slickdeals achieves this by providing a forum for communication and various
shopping tools. Slickdeals.net prides itself on being user and community focused. Browse
around and you’re bound to save more than a few bucks!
FrugalLiving.com examines smart, easy ways to save money. Being
frugal doesn’t mean you have to settle. FrugalLiving.com emphasizes
simplicity, family values and eco-frugality, inspiring women with ways
to cut down the food bill to finding alternative uses for everyday items.
The GasBuddy.com web site was developed as an initiative
to provide all residents and visitors to an area access to
local current gas prices. By having access to the most
recent prices at GasBuddy.com, consumers are now able to locate the most inexpensive
fuel price in the city and fill up on a budget.
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About Burst Media
An online media and technology company founded in 1995, Burst Media (www.BurstMedia.
com) is a leading provider of advertising representation, services and technology to
independent Web Publishers. Burst Media enables advertisers to reach finely segmented,
engaged consumers as they visit Burst’s extensive number of interest-based sub-channels.
Through its Burst Network and Burst Direct units, the company represents one of the
broadest and deepest offerings of interest-based websites online. Burst also markets its
ad management platform, adConductorTM, which empowers content websites, online
ad networks, and web portals to manage the complete process of ad sales and service.
Burst Media is headquartered in Burlington, Massachusetts, with offices throughout the
United States and in London, UK. For more information, visit www.BurstMedia.com or call
781.272.5544.
About Online Insights
Trends in Internet use and consumers’ online purchasing behaviors are constantly evolving
and often difficult to detect. That’s why Burst Media publishes Online Insights – our monthly
newsletter that highlights emerging trends in online media and eCommerce. Findings
reported in Online Insights are based on an online survey fielded across its Network of
more than 4,700 web sites. Data from the survey is weighted based on age and gender to
ensure findings are representative of the US internet audience.
Online Insights Women Depend on the Internet to Spend and to Save March 2009