Consumer Attitudes & Behavior

A proliferation in the ways shoppers engage with retailers and consume content across platforms has transformed traditional marketing and spawned new approaches to measuring advertising effectiveness.

This week digital measurement leader comScore said it had joined with the Coalition for Innovative Media Measurement (CIMM) to expand a cross-platform measurement service that provides a continuous view and measurement of media suage across TV, radio, desktop, smartphone and mobile.

Facebook just reported record levels of user engagement along with fourth quarter sales and profits that blew away forecasts, but a new study offers a more measured view of the social media network’s longer term prospects.

The director of the USC Annenberg Center for the Digital Future Jeffrey Coles and the research firm Bovitz conducted a survey last fall in which one third of respondents said they will be using Facebook less in five years.

Jacksonville, Fla. - Shoppers are increasing eating out by actually eating in as they take advantage of ready-to-eat foods and meal solution offerings from grocery stores, quick-serve restaurants, food delivery and take away. A new study from AMG Strategic Advisors, “The Why? Behind the Buy,” shows that Millennials are most likely to use prepared food for meal solutions, but overall, 77% of total U.S. shoppers reported eating out in the past month.

Washington, D.C. - As a result of softer same-store sales and customer traffic levels, the National Restaurant Association's Restaurant Performance Index (RPI) registered a moderate decline in December 2013. The RPI, a monthly composite index that tracks the health of and outlook for the U.S. restaurant industry, stood at 100.5 in December, down 0.6% from November and the first decline in three months.  

New York -- In a study of the returns and refunds performance of the 25 largest online retailers, StellaService found that the majority of retailers evaluated aren’t meeting consumer expectations.

StellaService analysts ordered the same product from each retailer to be delivered to the three separate regions of East, West and Midwest. They then returned the product, tracking metrics such as the presence of a prepaid, adhesive return label, total time to receive a return authorization and refund speed. The average refund speed of was 10.7 days.

In a study of the returns and refunds performance of the 25 largest online retailers, StellaService found that the majority of retailers evaluated aren’t meeting consumer expectations.

StellaService analysts ordered the same product from each retailer to be delivered to the three separate regions of East, West and Midwest. They then returned the product, tracking metrics such as the presence of a prepaid, adhesive return label, total time to receive a return authorization and refund speed. The average refund speed of was 10.7 days.

New York – Almost eight-in-10 (77%) of consumers report that having a poor or unsatisfying experience while trying to use a website on their tablet will affect their willingness to purchase from that brand. Other tablet research from omni-channel commerce technology provider Useablenet shows that 70% of consumers say that the quality of photography and design of a tablet site influences their decision on whether to purchase

Sacramento, Calif. – Wal-Mart supercenters in California benefit communities by supporting additional job creation, small business growth and more robust sales tax revenues. According to a new economic impact report conducted by economist Lon Hatamiya of the Hatamiya Group, on average, California communities with Wal-Mart supercenters fared far better on taxable retail sales than those communities without Wal-Mart supercenters.