While traditional and Internet coupon users are similar in some ways, Internet coupon users have bigger families, spend more on groceries and are more likely to buy brands they prefer in certain product categories, according to a study released today by CoolSavings.
Both groups of coupon users were found to be approximately 85 percent female and indicated two primary reasons for using coupons — to save on favorite brands and to try new products or brands.
However, differences between the groups were significant, according to the findings.
Internet coupon users were 110 percent more likely to have a large family, which the study defines as 4+ members, than traditional coupon users. They also claimed to spend over 30 percent more on groceries than their traditional coupon user counterparts in the study.
As for brand-buying behavior, Internet coupon respondents were more likely to buy their preferred brands of certain types of products even if they were more expensive.
According to the results, Internet coupon users were 30 percent more likely to be brand loyal in the beverages category, 21 percent more likely in health and beauty products and 50 percent more likely for salty snacks. Other categories were closer like pets products at 9 percent higher.
“Brand marketers should take note,” said Mathew Moog, president and chief executive officer of CoolSavings, Inc. in a statement. “Internet coupon users are valuable consumers who should be actively targeted.”
A panel of 265 traditional coupon users and 256 Internet coupon users was surveyed for the study.
For the purpose of the study, traditional coupon users were defined as consumers who used more than six coupons, promotions or rebates in the past four months, sourced from newspaper inserts, magazines, direct mail or other offline sources. Internet coupon users were defined as consumers who used more than two coupons, promotions or rebates in the past four months sourced through the Internet. The groups were defined this way to account for the higher frequency of offline coupon availability and use.
NFO WorldGroup conducted the U.S. Coupon Trends study in the first quarter of this year.
