Tej Kohli business blog brings to you a recent study featured in Pew Internet and American Life .  Here are the prime highlights:

The latest Pew Internet and American Life featured report says that while Americans do product research online, the information they find doesn’t actually affect purchase decisions.

It means that while Americans do product research online in the specific areas of music, cell phones and real estate, they don’t like to think that the information they find online affects their purchase decisions.

Without that little qualifier, the stats are sobering:

* 56% said that they used the Internet to “research” music before buying, but only 7% said that the Internet’s information was a major influence in their decision.
* 39% researched cell phones online, but only 10% said that information was a major influence in their decision.
* 49% researched real estate online, but only 11% said that information was a major influence in their decision.
logically this is like saying “56% of people paid for and read Consumer Reports, but only 7% actually paid attention to what they read” or “only 7% later recognized that Consumer Reports introduced them to new products, gave objective reviews of their features, warned of potential problems with the product or the company and gave recommendations.”

As you dig deeper into the study, you see the real statistics come out. 11% of the general population said the Internet was a major influence in their real estate purchase decision—but 23% of those who used the Internet for research on their real estate decision said it was a major influence. 10% of the general population said the Internet was a major influence in their cell phone purchase decision—but of those who actually used the Internet, 27% said it was a major influence.

Also interesting: the survey found that, while few people go online to comment on the products after purchases, many music consumers (44%) actually go online to connect with the artist, review the music, share it or tell people about it after a purchase.