New Generation Doesn’t Get It
I know we are in the age of the “I” generation – iPhones, iPods, I-have-a-blog. Many of the negative comments I respond to on blogs to people who say they never use a print phone book, is simply why? I have long argued that it is far quicker to grab a print Yellow Pages to find what you are looking for than to be clicking and surfing away thru myriads of websites. When you use a book you also get a quick visual indication (subjective as it is) about the viability of the business you are looking at – those print ads aren’t free and if that company has bought a half page ad this is probably not some fly-by-night, Johnny come lately company.
Sure, those online products can be good sources, especially if you are in a more mobile situation and may be away from where the books are. But they are still not to a point where they provide the same kinds of information that the books do.
I noticed this quote in a Calgary Herald online article. While the article had nothing to do with assessing the value of print vs. online, I thought the comment was very telling :
“… This is 2008, and there’s a whole generation of people who will spend two minutes looking up a phone number on their computer before they’ll take five seconds to find it in a phone book…”
Which leads me to the question – are the Gen X/Y folks who seem to be rejecting the print product more so than their parent’s generation missing a real opportunity with their totally inflexible view that if it isn’t online/digital we won’t use it????
on September 21, 2008 on 9:53 pm
Gen Y also doesn’t get 8-tracks, land line phones, paying by the minute for long distance, or watching TV commercials. Good luck steering them toward dated technology.
on September 24, 2008 on 2:09 pm
Ed:
Thank you for that truly insightful, deep commentary.
I assume you are always this bright and bubbly towards those less snobby non-technology Cretans that prefer to just find the answer they want, and aren’t hung up on whether it is “dated technology” or not. they only want the answer.
The simple point you missed was that in the time it took you to create and send your warm loving response, you could have opened a print Yellow Pages and found the anger management services you need.
on September 25, 2008 on 1:39 pm
I believe the Gen X/Y information use is based on convenience and laziness. The laptop or cell phone is always within reach. They are probably already using the laptop or pda when they need to look up a number so why switch or hunt down a phone book. The printed phone book is probably convenient to one location in the home but not everywhere.
Note: They are missing pertinent information if they are not consulting the yellow pages (online or printed).
on September 25, 2008 on 2:15 pm
I can understand your frustration with the spiraling use of phone books in recent years, I too was a yellow pages book publisher until Jan 2008 and I am also of the age range that would categorize me into generation Y. I stopped printing for several reasons but mainly because of overhead, the huge carbon footprint involved and the lack of use of all phonebooks in general. My accompanying online version of the book was getting more hits in one month then I printed in an entire year. I now have 3 online directories throughout the US and expansion is borderline ramped as another benefit to Online Only is everything can be done from one central location. As for your comments on “clicking and surfing away thru myriads of websites”, I can completely understand your point-of-view however, and maybe it’s an age difference, but if it isn’t on the first page of Google for my results it doesn’t get my attention. I only use Google for searching the web which is why I work daily to ensure my clients land where I would personally find them. I only have two adults in my medium size family who use an actual phone book, one is 67 and doesn’t use a computer and the other lives in a town with a population of 1,500.
on September 26, 2008 on 8:42 pm
Stephen:
Please tell me how you measured the “huge carbon footprint involved” in printed phone books???
So you are advising your clients to not use an advertising media that is still used by over 75% of shoppers who are ready to make a buying decision, many of whom may have also used the Internet for information, but have now turned to the print books to make that final local choice??? Makes sense to me.
on October 14, 2008 on 1:06 pm
KenC,
The Carbon Footprint we were causing was mainly caused by the use of Chinese printers even though no matter how you cut it, even the energy used to recycle is laughable when compared to an online directory.
I’d like to know where you get your numbers. 75% of shoppers still use an actual phone book? I would believe it if this were 1999 or even 2004 but that number, if true, is just joke to me and the manner in which you used the statistic seemed quite vague. Are you including all directories, magazines, flyers etc?
on October 14, 2008 on 6:20 pm
Stephen:
Numbers come from third party research conducted on just Yellow Pages, not those other media. Go to Association for more info: http://www.ypassociation.org
And in case you think the numbers are being made up, the research is conducted by KNI/SRI, Forrester, and other respected industry groups.
Yellow Pages are not something you read or browse. They are resource you go to when you need specific information. Hence, many people who claim they “never use them” do find they have actually referenced them several times in the past year.