In autumn 2021, Goldbach Media and the Swiss Interest Group for Electronic Media (IGEM) conducted a study in cooperation with WEMF AG für Werbemedienforschung on the media usage of marketing and media professionals (Ad People) compared to the general population. Over 650 people took part in the Online survey. The study is intended to use concrete figures to show Ad People whether their assumptions about general media usage differ from the actual usage of the population and to what extent they use the media differently.

Zurich, 9 November 2021 – In August and September 2021, Goldbach Media and the Swiss Interest Group for Electronic Media (IGEM) conducted the study «Media Bias: Media Usage of Marketing and Media Professionals Compared to the Swiss Population» with over 650 media professionals (Ad People). The participants were asked about their media usage behavior and their assumptions about general media usage. The questions on electronic media came from the questionnaire of the IGEM-Digimonitor, so that comparability with the survey of media usage of the general population was given. The MA Strategy was chosen as a comparison study for the use of Print.

Background and objective of the study

With the help of the study, IGEM and Goldbach Media want to use concrete figures to show whether and to what extent the media usage behavior of Ad People and their assumptions about general media usage differ from the actual usage of the population. The aim is to start a discourse in the industry in order to become aware of the possibly distorted perception and its consequences in media planning.

Conclusion: Ad People are on average 10 percentage points off in their estimation

The media usage behavior of Ad People differs in some cases significantly from that of the general population, with Ad People using media more on average. While both groups use the classic media (Print, TV & Radio) very heavily, the newer media (streaming services, social media, messenger services, etc.) are used significantly more by Ad People. Depending on age, professional experience and hierarchical level, however, the usage behavior of Ad People differs. The greater the professional experience and the higher the hierarchical level, the more they use the classic media – the opposite is true for most newer media. A central finding of the study is that Ad People are on average 10 percentage points off in their assessment of the media usage of the general population: Underestimation of the classic media and overestimation of the newer media. These results underline once again why it is worthwhile to conduct media usage research and to use the data for marketing decisions.

Most important results and findings

Different usage patterns lead to distorted estimates, whereby classic media tend to be underestimated and newer media tend to be overestimated. It is all the more important that decisions in media planning are made on a fact-based basis by drawing on research data.

• When estimating usage, Ad People are on average around 10 percentage points off across all media offerings. There are significant differences depending on the medium.
• Thus, the use of classic media is generally underestimated.
• The biggest difference between estimation and effective usage is in the Print sector. Here, the professionals are off by 35 percentage points (newspapers) and 39 percentage points (magazines). Translated to the total population, they underestimate 2.6 million users. For Radio, it is 25 percentage points or 1.7 million users and for TV 18 percentage points or 1.1 million.
• The opposite is true for the newer media offerings (especially social media platforms). Here, the professionals overestimate the effective usage: TikTok by 19 percentage points (1.3 million users), Instagram by 15 percentage points (1 million users) and LinkedIn by 9 percentage points (approx. 600,000 users).

Ad People use significantly more media compared to the Swiss population as a whole. Classic media are still used heavily overall. However, Ad People use these media less frequently than the population.

• Ad People use significantly more media compared to the Swiss population as a whole. Classic media such as Print (newspapers and magazines), TV and Radio are used very heavily by both groups (Ad People & general population). The user shares of these media are mostly far ahead compared to newer media offerings.
• 94% of both groups use TV at least occasionally. However, the frequency of use (65% daily use) is significantly higher in the population than among Ad People (42%). Ad People, on the other hand, use more time-shifted TV (85% at least occasional use) than the general population (72%).
• The at least occasional Radio usage is again at a similar level in the general population (91%) and among Ad People (89%). However, here too, the frequency is significantly lower among Ad People (45% daily use) than among the general population (62%).
• 100% of Ad People use the Internet daily, compared to 83% of the general population.
• The clearest user differences are in Print: Newspapers and magazines reach significantly higher user shares in the general population (newspapers: 75%, magazines: 77%) than among Ad People (newspapers: 38%, magazines: 48%).

Ad People use newer media offerings and technologies significantly more than the general population.

• Classic Radio has significantly higher user shares among the general population and Ad People than music streaming services. However, these are used at least occasionally significantly more by Ad People than by the general population: 35% of the general population uses YouTube Music at least occasionally, while Spotify is still 33%. Significantly more Spotify (75%) and YouTube Music (48%) are used by Ad People.
• The same picture for moving image streaming services: The at least occasional use of YouTube is 68% among the general population and 93% among Ad People. The difference is even greater for Netflix: General population: 42%, Ad People: 81%. However, even in the moving image sector, the classic medium TV has higher user shares among Ad People than the streaming services.
• Ad People use social media platforms very heavily. In practically all channels, they have higher values for at least occasional use than the general population: LinkedIn (Ad People: 88%, general population: 26%); Instagram (85% / 37%); Facebook (84% / 45%); Pinterest (43% / 23%). Twitter, Tiktok and Snapchat also have higher user values among Ad People.
• Ad People use messenger services somewhat more than the general population. The main messenger service is WhatsApp (at least occasional use Ad People: 98%, general population: 84%). Alternative messenger services such as Telegram, Signal and Threema reach user values of just under 20% among Ad People.
• The video conferencing tools also show that a significantly larger proportion of Ad People use these tools: Microsoft Teams (Ad People: 89%, general population: 37%), Zoom (75% / 39%) and Google Meet (52% / 10%).
• While the smartwatch (12%) and the smart speaker (4%) are hardly used in the general population, 29% of Ad People use a smartwatch and 11% a smart speaker.