The project - looking at retail sectors including food and groceries; entertainment, leisure and sports; household products, and furniture – will be conducted in the summer.
Tim Barber, research director, BDRC Continental, said: “It’s great to have the opportunity to work on this project and provide a detailed understanding of the lifestyle and buying behaviour of consumers in their local area.
“It should prove to be a fascinating and powerful piece of research, that will help to highlight the important role that local media plays when making purchase decisions across a range of categories in the retail sector. We look forward to getting the results.”
It will look at consumer trends such as how far people travel to do their shopping, and in which sectors, if any, they are cutting back in difficult economic times. The research will also look at consumer loyalty to different shops.
The project will examine the effects of advertising in different media – such as national and local newspapers, review websites, price comparison sites, commercial radio and online stores – on influencing consumer decision-making.
The research findings will be made available to member publishers and used by the Newspaper Society in presentations to media agencies and advertisers.
