US local broadcast television industry trade body TVB has released the findings of the 2024 Purchase Funnel Study which seeks to identify the importance of media platforms in influencing consumers during the purchase decision process.

TVB commissioned GfK to conduct this study, which looked at consumers exposed to advertising across eight categories through ANY of 20+ media platforms.

As new media platforms proliferate and become more widely adopted by consumers, it is critical to ascertain their impact. While this study recognises the role of a variety of different media platforms, it confirms that TV remains the most important influence by far, through all stages of the purchase decision process.

Key findings:

• TV is the most important influencer at all stages of the purchase funnel. This is true for all categories, key demos, and ethnic groups. It is also true of streamers.
• Among those who cited TV as the most important for awareness, two-thirds of respondents chose broadcast TV versus cable.
• At 67 per cent, TV is the top platform for exposure to advertising.
• Exposure to a media platform is not a guarantee of consumer importance, except for TV.
• The highest proportion of those exposed to a media platform that felt it had any importance (most, second or third important) in influencing the awareness of a product/service, was linear TV.
• Local broadcast TV news is #1 for trust among media platforms.
• Local broadcast TV station websites/apps are the most trusted among digital platforms. Social media is the least trusted.
• Exposure to TV ads motivated consumers to act and influenced their online search selections.
• Streamers are more exposed to advertisements on linear TV than the average adult 18+.