Over 12 million Australians say Catalogues are the most useful media for providing information on what to buy in one or more product categories. In fact, Catalogues remain the number one go-to media source for groceries, clothes, toys, alcohol and cosmetics, the latest media data from Roy Morgan Research shows.

Almost half of Australians 14+ (49%) cite Catalogues as the Media Most Useful when purchasing groceries—more than double the number saying the Internet is handiest (20%). Catalogues also have a strong advantage when it comes to consumers wanting to buy alcoholic beverages (42% vs 22% for Internet), children’s wear (40% vs 25%), toys (39% vs 31%), cosmetics and toiletries (36% vs 26%) and clothing and fashion (35% vs 28%).

% of Australians who say Media is the most useful one for… 

Source: Roy Morgan Single Source, January 2014 – December 2014, sample n = 51,969 Australians 14+.

Across every one of the 28 product categories, either Catalogues or Internet rank as the most-cited Media Most Useful. In categories where Catalogues win, the Internet comes second; in all other categories, the Internet wins.

Aside from the six product categories above where Catalogues are the media more Australians deem useful than any other, there are a further nine where Catalogues rank second: appliances large and small, CDs/DVDs and books, car parts/accessories, home interiors/furnishings and entertainment/electronics, computers/computer supplies and mobile phones/providers.

Categories where catalogues rank 1st or 2nd by % who say it’s the Media Most Useful

Source: Roy Morgan Single Source, January 2014 – December 2014, sample n = 51,969 Australians 14+.

Tim Martin, General Manager – Media, Roy Morgan Research, says:

“In a media landscape that often just assumes people are turning to the internet for information when purchasing or selecting any product, catalogues in fact lead the way for more than 12 million Australians.  

“This high regard for catalogues resonates with the increase we’ve seen in overall catalogue readership over the last 12 months: 54% of Australians now read at least one catalogue during the week– up from 50% in 2013.

“This actually now puts catalogues just ahead of hard copy newspapers which, excluding community newspapers, are read by 53% of us in an average seven day period.

“Roy Morgan’s market research insights into how Australians use catalogues are used by media agencies, advertisers and leading direct marketing firms”