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Apparently, Morning E-mailers More Likely to Bargain Hunt

by Amar Toor on June 11, 2010 at 07:20 AM

morning emailWhether you begin your day in front of the TV, your coffee machine, or a medicine cabinet, chances are that there's some element of regularity to whatever you do before going out to face the world. But what about our early morning forays online? Is there some sort of meaning behind which sites we choose to visit first thing in the morning? One study says yes. But we're not so sure.

According to a study from digital marketing research firm ExactTarget, 58-percent of all Americans begin their day by checking their e-mail, 20-percent by going directly to a search engine, and 11-percent by logging on to Facebook. Only 5-percent go to a news site before anywhere else, while 3-percent immediately visit their company's website. The report also delves a bit into online behavioral trends, and, as AdWeek reports, claims that young adults are the demographic most likely to become a fan of a product or brand on Facebook, or to follow a company on Twitter.

The numbers get interesting, though, when researchers draw parallels between peoples' morning routines and the ways in which they interact with companies online. Those who flock to their e-mail accounts, the report says, "tend to be more task-oriented online than people who start their day on Facebook or Twitter." For this reason, then, researchers argue that eager e-mailers "are more likely to approach online interactions with the goal of finding deals, promotions or new product information." Those who wake up to Facebook, on the other hand, "are more likely to have socially oriented motivations when interacting online," and are more likely to prefer the medium for supporting brands, rather than actually purchasing anything.

While we certainly find these kinds of morning trends interesting, we're not sure they hold much weight when it comes to consumer behavior. Even if most people start their day burrowing through their inbox, there's no telling how many new e-mails will immediately direct them to Facebook, Twitter or some other platform. We don't doubt that there's some correlation between our morning habits and our consumer habits, but correlation, as everyone knows, doesn't always imply causality. [From: AdWeek]

Tags: behavior, consumerspending, email, facebook, marketing, SocialNetworking, study, top, twitter, web

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