Three-quarters of recent television, audio, and home theater equipment purchasers ranked online product reviews and comments from other shoppers as having some or significant influence on their buying decision, according to the Fall 2008 Ad-ology Media Influence on Consumer Choice survey.

Consumers were also influenced by information from blogs, manufacturer, and store Web sites prior to buying.

The Ad-ology survey also indicates consumers consider quality, price, and availability the most important factors when purchasing TV, audio, or home theater equipment.

“Considering the importance consumers place on quality, it’s no surprise that product-review Web sites are a major influence on their purchases,” said C. Lee Smith, president and CEO of Ad-ology Research. “Manufacturer Web sites list technical specs, but consumer reviews give real-world experiences — what happens when you get the set home — that consumers feel they can trust.”

Despite doing online research for these products, the study shows 80.3 percent of consumers still prefer to purchase TV, audio, and home theater equipment in-person at a store.

Online consumers are planning on emptying their pockets this year and spending $10 billion on home audio products, according to the Consumer Electronics Association. The $10 billion covers speakers, receivers, media servers and other home audio products.

The projections are based on the Consumer Electronics Association’s “2007 Audio Purchasing Study” which was designed to evaluate online consumers habits in purchasing home audio products such as Home-Theater-In-A Box (HTIB) systems, component A/V receivers and speakers.

Results indicate that consumers were more likely to make a purchase from a store that provided a product demonstration. Survey respondents said that demonstrations were so influential that it caused them to spend more money or purchase more products than they had originally planned.

“The data clearly shows that retailers who offer demonstrations have a greater chance of capturing the sale,” said Steve Koenig, CEA’s senior manager of industry analysis. “Home audio products sell best when they are heard-just as TVs sell best when they display compelling content.”

Audio sales have been lagging in recent years while sales of other consumer electronics segments have increased, including flat-panel HDTV displays. However the results of the study indicate that consumer interest in home theater and an overall trend toward more realism may be factors that help improve sales of home audio products in the future.

The “2007 Audio Purchasing Study” was conducted between November 27 and December 5, 2006. The study was designed and formulated by CEA Market Research using sales data, forecasts, consumer research and historical trends for the consumer electronics industry.