The Urban vs Rural Divide: How does geography influence media consumption habits?

New research from AdCanada Media confirms that media plans should be taking into account that a universally applied strategy will not result in universal access to a message.  In smaller markets across the prairies media habits are different, particularly when it comes to readership of newspapers.  Printed community newspapers are read by almost 80% of those who live in prairie community under 100,000 population indicating that the transition from print to online has not happened in rural areas like it has in urban markets.

Building on a 2017 study, this new research thoroughly examines how the community a person lives influences the types of news they follow, trust in media, impact of variable internet access, media preferences for specific types of media as well as the media most likely to inspire action across a number of different business sectors.

The study was conducted by random sample with adults 18+ living exclusively in communities of less than 100,000 population in Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba and NWT/NU. The survey of 900 interviews was administered using Computer Assisted Telephone Interview (CATI) methodology. The study has a margin of error of +/- 3.3% at the 95% confidence level.  More information can be found on the AdCanada Media site by clicking here.