Survey says newspapers #1 shopping medium

Of course it does ... the survey was sponsored by the Newspaper Association of America.

Okay -- that's a bit too cynical. Actually, I think it's probably true, regardless of who the sponsor is. And there are some really interesting nuggets (I got these from a write-up by the Center for Media Research -- I haven't had a chance yet to digest the full 41-page report), for example:

53 percent of adults used newspapers to make a shopping or purchase decision in the previous 30 days, while 27 percent used the Internet, which now is the second-leading source.

However, there's also this: "A plurality among those age 18-24 consider the Internet to be their primary advertising source ..."

Another interesting point:

Sunday is by far the most likely day for about one half of shoppers to consult advertising, while Saturday is a distant second, noted by one-fifth of consumers. The only other days in double figures are Wednesday and Friday, at 13 percent each.

Since weekday rates are typically 75% or so of Sunday rates, it would seem weekday advertisers are overpaying by outrageous margins. If I were a media buyer, I'd show this report (which is from the NAA, remember) and say, "If your Wednesday edition gets one-fourth the shoppers of Sunday, then I'm only going to pay one-fourth as much."