2013 How Geography Impacts Lifestyle, Shopping Habits and Media Usage
Do people react to media differently depending on where they live? Do geographic factors influence the types of information people seek out and where they go for that information?
This new study examines how the community a person lives in ultimately defines the types of news they follow and how access to that information varies, often significantly, from community to community. More importantly how does the access to the information a person follows shape the habits that lead to engagement with some media and not others.
Markets served by local media vs Local Media Markets
The results of the survey show some distinct differences between communities of varying sizes. Starting with the length of time people have lived in their hometown right through to the amount of time spent with the local community newspaper each week. It’s clear that on the prairies, once you get outside the city limits things change. The pace slows and people are far more likely to settle in to a traditional lifestyle. People are far less likely to be ‘connected’ and have interests that are tightly woven into the fabric of the community. The information they look for is specific and the sources of that information limited. In many ways, the results of this study reveal these communities are more Local Media Markets than simply markets served by local media:
• Respondents in small cities are 25% more likely to be receiving a community newspaper than those in large cities.
• 68% of respondents in communities 5-10K have lived in the community for more than 20 years
• People living in rural areas and villages were nearly 30% more likely to know the names of their neighbours than those living in medium-sized cities
• People living in rural areas and smaller communities are more likely to be spending at least the same amount of time with the news as they did 2 years ago.
• Over one-third of respondents living in rural areas and communities under 5,000 population have at best, a dial-up internet connection at home. 16% have no internet connection at all.
•80% of respondents in cities over 100K said they follow local news Most of the Time. Just over half follow International News Most of the Time.
• Information on Community or Neighbourhood Events was the most sought after news in communities of 5,000 and less.
•Restaurant reviews were regularly sourced in large cities, yet they were amongst the least sought after information in communities under 10K.
• The single biggest use of a mobile device outside of making and receiving calls across all community sizes was checking weather forecasts.
Community Size Fact Sheets: (Click on the icons below to view/download PDFs)
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Complete Study Results Breakdown: (Click on link to view/download PDF)
2. Sources of Local News Used at Least Once Per Week by Community Size and Type
3. Sources Relied on for Information About Local Topics of Interest
4. Sources Relied on for Information About Government Services and Programs
5. Advertising Recall, Actions, Preferences by Media Type and Community
6. Online/Mobile Access and Usage by Community Size and Type (Total Sample)
7. Community Living, Engagement and Interaction
8. Community Newspaper Penetration, Integration and Importance by Community Size and Type
View Survey Executive Report Here
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