At A Glance
Noteworthy Characteristics
- Provides extensive data on online purchasing and browsing behavior. Covers primarily home, but also computers at some worksites and universities.
- Collects household data on grocery shopping and eating-out behaviors.
- Tracks household Internet usage, including online purchases.
- Only continuous panel that passively captures all Web-wide behavioral and transaction data.
- About half the population tracked is from the U.S.
Website
Purpose
To collect data about online behavior and demographic characteristics, attitudes, lifestyles, and offline activities for consumers worldwide, including the United States (U.S.).
Target Population
Individuals and households worldwide, including the U.S.
Conducted
Began in 1999. Conducted on an ongoing basis.
Sponsor
comScore, Inc.
Special Note(s)
comScore maintains a panel of users who agree to have monitoring software installed on their computers. comScore is able to validate the demographic characteristics of online consumers in its panel.
Contact:
Website: http://www.comscore.com/Contact_Us
Phone: +1 (866) 276-6972
Sampling
Sample Design
Panel survey, random sampling (uses Random Digit Dialing for recruitment).
Sample Size
Approximately 177,600 individual Internet users in 2010.
Special Note(s)
In May 2009, comScore implemented a digital audience measurement tool that combines panel and census-based measurement approaches into a single methodology.
Participants are self-selected and therefore may not represent the U.S. population.
Key Variables
Demographic
| Name | Methods of Assessment |
|---|---|
| Age (head of household) | Interview/questionnaire and tracking software |
| Household size | Interview/questionnaire and tracking software |
| Income | Interview/questionnaire and tracking software |
| Sex | Interview/questionnaire and tracking software |
Diet-Related
| Name | Methods of Assessment |
|---|---|
| Frequency of eating out | Interview/questionnaire |
| Household supermarket purchases | Loyalty card data |
| Supermarket shopping behaviors (time spent shopping, amount spent on groceries, whether shopper uses grocery list, whether shopper has grocery budget and adheres to it) | Interview/questionnaire |
Physical Activity-Related
| Name | Methods of Assessment |
|---|---|
| Frequency of exercising | Interview/questionnaire |
Other
| Name | Methods of Assessment |
|---|---|
| Consumer spending patterns by retail segment/product category (e.g., groceries, exercise equipment) online and in stores | Interview/questionnaire |
| Exposure to various types of online advertising | Tracking software |
| Use of specific Web sites and categories of Web sites (e.g., health information, weight loss, nutrition) | Tracking software |
Data Access and Cost
Data Availability
Obtain data from comScore. Learn more about comScore products and contact information.
Cost
Fee-based.
Geocode/Linkage
Geocode Variable(s)
City (metropolitan area), state, zip code.
Existing Linkages
comScore has linked various types of data collected from its online participants with data on consumer preferences and television viewing collected by other companies using confidential matching procedures.
comScore data on online behavior and product usage has been linked to Canada’s Print Measurement Bureau data on print product usage (e.g., readership of a specific magazine) using a confidential “split weight congruent fusion” methodology that does not match personally identifiable consumer information.
Selected Publications
General
Wood FB, Benson D, LaCroix E, Siegel ER, Fariss S. Use of Internet audience measurement data to gauge market share for online health information services. Journal of Medical Internet Research 2005;7(3):e31
Resources
None noted.
