Results: Big Picture Reader Survey
As promised, here are the results of the survey we did on Monday.
Thank you again to everyone who participated in this survey: Over 2000 of you responded, and the results are quite intriguing. Kudos to Survey Gizmo for putting together a nice product -- very simple and easy to use. (I am sure I could have done a better job if I actually read the instructions)
In many cases, I did not show the full set of answers -- too many one offs to fit neatly on a web page . . . but where possible, I gave the top few answers, down to ~1%.
When someone asked me "Who are your readers," I could only answer in the most general of terms. Michelle over at Footnoted suggested doing a survey, and hence, here we are.
~~~
This was quite an interesting experiment; Please feel free to make suggestions for other ideas/questions/quiz ideas/concepts in the comments.
>
Long ass page continues after the jump . . .
Report: Final Summary Report
Survey: Big Picture Reader Survey Compiled: 10/30/2007
1. How frequently do you read The Big Picture?
| Value | Count | Percent % |
|---|---|---|
| Daily | 1484 | 72% |
| Several times per week | 518 | 25% |
| Once a week | 43 | 2% |
| Less frequently | 24 | 1% |
2. How do you access The Big Picture?
| Value | Count | Percent % |
|---|---|---|
| Directly from the site | 1743 | 84% |
| via RSS feed/news aggregator | 247 | 12% |
| Calculated Risk:Other | 8 | 0% |
| 6 | 0% | |
| Real Money | 4 | 0% |
| Other:Other | 3 | 0% |
| cunning realist:Other | 2 | 0% |
| calculatedrisk:Other | 2 | 0% |
| ml-implode:Other | 2 | 0% |
3. What time of day do you generally check the site?
| Value | Count | Percent % |
|---|---|---|
| During U.S. market hours | 1254 | 61% |
| Later in the evening | 312 | 15% |
| Pre-market | 260 | 13% |
| After the U.S. close | 224 | 11% |
4. What are your primary reasons for using The Big Picture?
| Value | Count | Percent % |
|---|---|---|
| Macro-economic commentary | 1181 | 57% |
| General financial education | 603 | 29% |
| Get investing ideas | 93 | 5% |
| Monitor risk for specific stocks or sectors | 69 | 3% |
| Entertainment / gossip | 29 | 1% |
| all of the above:Other | 15 | 1% |
| Participate in comments discussions | 6 | 0% |
5. Have you ever made an investment decision based on anything you've read on The Big Picture?
| Value | Count | Percent % |
|---|---|---|
| No | 1493 | 73% |
| Yes | 559 | 27% |
6. Which of the following changes/additions to the site would you most like to see?
| Value | Count | Percent % |
|---|---|---|
| More Macro-economic commentary | 569 | 30% |
| None of the above | 412 | 22% |
| More Market specific commentary | 271 | 14% |
| More company/sector specific discussions | 219 | 12% |
| Site updated more frequently with shorter posts | 177 | 9% |
| Less frequent but more detailed posts | 121 | 6% |
| More entertainment features like Friday Night Jazz | 22 | 1% |
| H:Other | 6 | 0% |
Considering all of the financial information you read, what percentage comes from each of the following sources?
Please enter the percentages (up to 100%) that indicate how you use your annual research budget:
| Item | Low | High | # Responses | Line Average | Overall Average |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Daily newspapers (WSJ, NYT) | 0 | 100 | 1514 | 22.10 | 17.9 |
| Business magazines (e.g. Barron's, Fortune) | 0 | 100 | 1256 | 13.13 | 8.8 |
| Financial websites (Marketwatch, TheStreet.com) | 0 | 100 | 1508 | 25.26 | 20.4 |
| Financial blogs | 0 | 100 | 1682 | 33.82 | 30.4 |
| Proprietary / subscription based service (e.g. Bloomberg) | 0 | 100 | 868 | 23.52 | 10.9 |
| Radio / TV | 0 | 100 | 912 | 12.48 | 6.1 |
| Other | 0 | 100 | 491 | 17.68 | 4.6 |
7. How would you compare The Big Picture with other financial blogs you read on a regular basis?
| Value | Count | Percent % |
|---|---|---|
| Much better | 1145 | 58% |
| A little better | 554 | 28% |
| About the same | 220 | 11% |
| Not quite as good | 38 | 2% |
| Not nearly as good | 1 | 0% |
8. Is your profession directly related to money management or
financial oversight?
| Value | Count | Percent % |
|---|---|---|
| No | 1308 | 67% |
| Yes | 658 | 33% |
9. Which of the following best describes your profession?
| Value | Count | Percent % |
|---|---|---|
| Individual Investor | 566 | 34% |
| Analyst/Strategist/Economist | 174 | 10% |
| Fund/Money Manager | 140 | 8% |
| Trader | 132 | 8% |
| H:Other | 110 | 7% |
| Financial advisor/broker | 102 | 6% |
| CPA/Attorney | 85 | 5% |
| CEO, CFO or other corporate officer | 67 | 4% |
| engineer:Other | 38 | 2% |
| IT:Other | 17 | 1% |
10. What other subscription-based services do you currently subscribe to?
| Value | Count | Percent % |
|---|---|---|
| WSJ | 393 | 29% |
| Investment newsletters | 195 | 14% |
| Bloomberg | 162 | 12% |
| NYT | 130 | 10% |
| none:Other | 93 | 7% |
| Real Money/TheStreet.com | 66 | 5% |
| Other | 61 | 4% |
| Morningstar | 52 | 4% |
| Thomson/Reuters | 30 | 2% |
| IBD: | 15 | 1% |
| Barrons | 15 | 1% |
| The Economist | 9 | 1% |
| F | 7 | 1% |
| Financial Times:Other | 7 | 1% |
| All of the above:Other | 6 | 0% |
11. In terms of investable assets, I control or provide advice for
| Value | Count | Percent % |
|---|---|---|
| Under $250,000 | 694 | 39% |
| Under $1 million | 439 | 25% |
| Over $10 million | 298 | 17% |
| $1 million to $5 million | 290 | 16% |
| $5 million to $10 million | 57 | 3% |
12. Do you reside in ...
| Value | Count | Percent % |
|---|---|---|
| United States | 1691 | 86% |
| Europe | 109 | 6% |
| Canada | 88 | 4% |
| Asia | 26 | 1% |
| Australia:Other | 10 | 1% |
Friday, November 02, 2007 | 11:00 AM | Permalink
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Comments
The most interesting item in this survey is the extremely low number of subsribers to the WSJ. Given the interests and professions of the survey population I would have expected something closer to an 80% subscription rate, certainly above 60%. I believe that would have been true in the past.
Fully 57% of Barry's audience value TBP for insights on macro-economic trends. Isn't his something the WSJ used to be counted on to provide? What happened? Is the Journal's time past? Would Murdoch be better off cancelling his purchase of the WSJ and buying into THE BIG PICTURE instead?
Posted by: ken | Nov 2, 2007 11:53:35 AM
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