New independent market research commissioned by the UK’s leading coupon and voucher services provider, Valassis Ltd, has found that promotional offers continue to have a significant impact on consumer spending habits.

The research also found a noticeable shift towards digital coupons and vouchers. According to the research, 28% of consumers are looking for promotional offers more than they were a year ago, with the price of food (26%), cost of living (22%) and having less money (17%) cited as the main reasons for this increase.

Promotional awareness is highest in 16-24 year olds, with 41% of consumers in this category looking for promotional offers more than they were a year ago and 25% using more coupons than a year ago.

Significantly, digital downloads are growing in popularity with 30% of internet households having printed a coupon or voucher found on the internet in the last 12 months. When Valassis asked the same question in June 2009, only 17% of households surveyed had done this.

Restaurant chains are the most popular type of coupons and vouchers printed or downloaded via the internet (57%), followed by supermarket food shopping (29%). Days out also featured heavily in people’s responses, including theme parks and the cinema.

However, mobile coupons are still in their infancy, with 3% of mobile owning households having downloaded a coupon or voucher from a mobile phone in the last 12 months. Encouragingly, 22% of consumers yet to do so said they would be willing or very willing to download a mobile coupon.

Commenting on the research findings, Charles D’Oyly, managing director of Valassis Europe, says: “Like consumers in the US, the UK is becoming a nation of ‘coupon clippers’ and digital coupons are now starting to make their trans-Atlantic voyage.

“The research shows a marked increase in the use of internet coupons that is reflected in the rise of internet shopping, especially on supermarket websites, and the volume of coupons that consumers are downloading or printing from the internet will continue to grow. Conversely, mobile couponing technology is far less advanced in the UK, but consumers spend a significant amount of time on their handheld devices and we expect to see a rise in mobile coupons as brands seek to take advantage of this.”