More than 48% of U.S. adults believe that a lack of advertising by a retail store, bank or auto dealership during a recession indicates the business must be struggling. Likewise, a vast majority perceives businesses that continue to advertise as being competitive or committed to doing business.

The Ad-ology Research study, “Advertising’s Impact in a Soft Economy,” analyzes consumer perception about businesses that continue to advertise, and those that do not, in the current economy.

The study finds advertising appears to play a key role in consumers’ view of how a business is doing, and by not advertising, businesses may be sending a warning signal to current and potential customers.

Other key findings:

• TV, newspaper, direct mail, and Internet are the top four media from which consumers saw/heard an ad within the last 30 days that led them to take action.

• 40% of consumers use coupons more now than a year ago.

• Most consumers are as willing or more willing to pay more for ‘healthy’ or ‘organic’ products than they were a year ago.

• A ‘deeply discounted price’ was the number-one factor that would make consumers more likely to purchase a big-ticket item (+$1,000>).

• Store websites ranked second only to search engines as the way consumers research products and shop online.

Methodology:  Ad-ology Research surveyed an online consumer panel of 1,225 adults in a manner that is 98% representative of the adult population of the United States from April 24-29, 2009. The margin of error for this survey is +/- 2.2 percentage points.

Source:  Ad-ology news release, New Ad-ology Study: Reduced Advertising During Recession Negatively Impacts Consumer Perception, May 13, 2009.