A recent Compete survey on segment-driven marketing found that marketers are focusing their segmentation efforts in online and search engine marketing activities, and while only 39% of US marketers surveyed believe segment-driven marketing is very important in their organization today, 84% indicate that it will be more important three years from now.

Following up on politics following yesterday’s Research Brief, a new PEW study reported by Aaron Smith and Lee Rainie, “The Internet and the 2008 Election,” shows that a record-breaking 46% of Americans have used the internet, email or cell phone text messaging to get news about the campaign, share their views and mobilize others.

A new BYU/Harris Poll of 2,602 U.S. adults surveyed in May by Harris Interactive shows that small individual contributions which may limit the “corrupting” influence of large contributions, especially from PACs and lobbyists, could have a lasting impact with the voters.

This latest study looks at candidates who raise most of their money from small donors ($200 or less) versus large donors ($2000 or more). Ultimately, Americans are more likely to respond positively to a candidate who raises campaign funds from small donors, concludes the report.

Before starting the work day, says the report, C-Level executives prefer to access the Web rather than read the newspaper. The number of C-Level executives who prefer the Internet first thing in the morning has increased 22% since 2004, while those who prefer to read the newspaper first thing in the morning has declined 11% over the same time period.

Before starting the work day, says the report, C-Level executives prefer to access the Web rather than read the newspaper. The number of C-Level executives who prefer the Internet first thing in the morning has increased 22% since 2004, while those who prefer to read the newspaper first thing in the morning has declined 11% over the same time period.

According to a study from Information Resources, Inc., the lagging economy is driving a dramatic move back to basics and a reversal of decades-long trends for convenient and healthier foods. Roughly half of all consumers with incomes less than $55,000 per year say they have trouble affording the groceries they need, while nearly a quarter of those earning between $55,000 and $99,000 also say so.

According to the Travel Industry Association (TIA), deep frustration among air travelers caused them to avoid an estimated 41 million trips over the past 12 months at a cost of more than $26 billion to the U.S. economy.

The study, conducted by the polling firms of Peter D. Hart Research Associates and The Winston Group, demonstrated that air travelers express little optimism for positive change, with nearly 50 percent saying that the air travel system is not likely to improve in the near future.

The recently released PricewaterhouseCoopers’ Global Entertainment and Media Outlook: 2008-2012, underscores the importance of continuing to extract revenues from traditional business segments while emerging technologies continue to solidify their consumer position. The report shows global compound annual growth rate (CAGR) at 6.6% for the sector, anticipating it reaching $2.2 trillion in 2012.

The results of a new study, conducted by consumer intelligence firm BIGresearch, into the media and shopping behavior of consumers at work, finds that Americans are spending 60% of their waking hours at work, more than ever before. Marketing chiefs are rethinking their ad budgets and advertisers are preparing to meet a new, highly coveted, yet entirely untapped demographic on their own beige-carpeted turf.

With a little extra data behind the release, the Interactive Advertising Bureau announced that Internet advertising revenues reached $5.8 billion for the first quarter of 2008, an 18.2 percent increase over the same period in 2007, and represent the second highest quarter ever recorded, after the 4th Q 2007