• by Erik Sass  @eriksass1, April 12, 2012

Consumers who read digital newspaper content respond to digital advertising as well, according to a new survey commissioned by the Newspaper Association of America and performed by Frank N. Magid Associates.

Newspapers have a wide digital reach, with 60% of respondents saying they looked at an online version from a laptop or desktop in the last week, while 26% said they looked at an online version using a smartphone, and 12% looked at an online version using a tablet. (There was overlap between these categories; overall, 67% of respondents fell into one or more of them.)

The survey, conducted from Jan. 20 to Feb. 1, 2012, consisted of 2,518 online interviews among adults 18+ who use the Internet, followed by another round of 1,179 online surveys for statistical balance, as well as nine focus groups conducted across the U.S.

Among digital newspaper media consumers, the NAA-Magid survey found that 66% said they act on digital ads displayed with the newspaper content, while 61% of tablet users said they act on newspaper tablet ads, and 59% of smartphone users respond to ads with newspaper content viewed on those devices.

While print ad revenues may be declining, newspapers’ print products are also still reaching large audiences, with 66% of respondents saying they looked at the Sunday print edition of a local newspaper in the last seven days, and 64% saying they looked at the weekday edition in the same period.

Overall, 80% of respondents fell into one or both of these categories. 73% of respondents said they have used printed circulars included in newspapers in the past 30 days, and 74% said they make a point of looking at printed Sunday circulars.

The preferred means of consumption varied considerably by age cohort, with 65% of adults ages 18-34 saying they read the newspaper on a computer in the last week, compared to 48% of adults 65+. Likewise, 41% of adults ages 18-34 read the newspaper on a smartphone, versus just 11% of adults 65+.