Polling firm Market Authority has come out with some new data specific to the San Francisco Bay Area, which shows 69% of residents are “still” using print directories. The survey polled 1,300 consumers in Daly City, Freemont, Heyward, Oakland, Palo Alto, San Francisco, San Jose, San Mateo, South San Francisco and Sunnyvale.
The data also show 31% of respondents use the Internet exclusively to find local business information. The survey was conducted by telephone between mid January and February 1, 2012.
Market Authority characterized print usage by the 69% as at least “occasional.” It added, however, that for older consumers the print directory is often or generally primary:
The most significant finding of the study is that Baby Boomers and seniors, who control the lion’s share of spending in the local market, turned to the printed directory FIRST 64% of the time.
As expected the survey found younger consumers “turned to the Internet far more than older consumers.”
One can spin these results as a big positive for print YP, undermining the false perception that “print is dead.” But print critics can also use the data to argue that “print is on the way out.”
I think the fair way to interpret these findings is to say that the market is fragmented and advertisers must be mindful of their target audiences. If they’re older than 35-40 and fall into certain categories (e.g., homeowners) then print makes sense. If they’re younger, print YP is going to be much less effective. However the perception that no one is using print is clearly incorrect.
These data also show the importance of a “consultative” sales approach by publishers. A “one size fits all” approach isn’t going to work for advertisers and most publishers at least pay lip service to that idea.
Market Authority added (based on Q4 2011 research) that 18% of Bay Area consumers don’t have any Internet access and 38% own smartphones. The latter number is at odds with Nielsen figures which put US smartphone ownership at 46% of the total mobile subscriber population.
Update: Market Authority CEO Steve Sitton clarified that the 38% smartphone number (and discrepancy with Nielsen) is likely a function of the fact that the survey sample is “all consumers” not just mobile users.
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February 15th, 2012 at 3:57 am
Here’s an interesting comment that a consumer made on our blog today about the Yellow Pages Printed Directory: “My age is 75, my eyesight has diminished, Soooo straight into the bin.”
It highlights that Yellow Pages are even doing the wrong thing by their core demographic (i.e. Old People).
YP if you’re going to continue to print your books, it seems like your demographic is asking for much much bigger font size.
February 15th, 2012 at 4:00 am
btw here’s a link to the article that went out today: http://www.servicecentral.com.au/resources/articles/The-yellow-pages-has-shrunk/1770
Its about how Sensis’ latest Yellow Pages book here in Melbourne, Australia, has shrunk from 2 volumes down to 1.
February 15th, 2012 at 4:14 am
It’s a bit like directory assistance/directory enquiry — a fading business but one that is degrading over a relatively long timeframe.
February 15th, 2012 at 2:20 pm
[...] companies, they were not raised on digital advertising.Survey: 69% Use Print YP in SF Bay Area (ScreenWerk) Polling firm Market Authority has come out with some new data specific to the San Francisco Bay [...]
August 21st, 2012 at 4:01 pm
[...] found local business information. And though print directories are still widely used — more than many people believe — the internet has become the primary source of information about local [...]
August 21st, 2012 at 4:14 pm
[...] consumers found local business information. And though print directories are still widely used — more than many people believe — the internet has become the primary source of information about local [...]
August 21st, 2012 at 4:35 pm
[...] consumers found local business information. And though print directories are still widely used — more than many people believe — the internet has become the primary source of information about local [...]
August 21st, 2012 at 6:42 pm
[...] consumers found local business information. And though print directories are still widely used — more than many people believe — the internet has become the primary source of information about local [...]
August 21st, 2012 at 8:12 pm
[...] consumers found local business information. And though print directories are still widely used — more than many people believe — the internet has become the primary source of information about local [...]
August 23rd, 2012 at 7:22 pm
I believe that we need to know a little about the people responding to the survey. My opinion is that older people tend to be more willing to take the time and do a survey than younger people, thus YP use would be rated higher.
August 24th, 2012 at 4:57 pm
It’s clear that older people (Boomers and beyond) tend to use print more than younger people, who are more inclined toward digital, but that’s an oversimplification on my part.
August 29th, 2012 at 6:05 am
If yellow pages did not exist and were invented today, they would be all the rage given the true amount of usage they get. It reminds me of “what have you done for me lately” whereby it is still solid, not what it used to be, but still solid.