Radio adverts increase online brand browsing by 50 per cent and is four times more effective then other advertising media according to the Radio Advertising Bureau (RAB).

A study measured the browsing behaviour of respondents who heard 23 live radio campaigns from the travel, telecoms, motors, insurance and high street sectors.

The radio ads drove on average 34 per cent of the total brand browsing, while they cost on average of 10 per cent of the media budget, which the research said means the radio spend was on average four times more effective.

The research compared a sample of 1,200 people who had listened to the ads with 600 people who had not. Mark Barber, planning director at the RAB, said the study was the "first ever study quantifying how offline media influences the actual behaviour of consumers online".

Simon Redican, RAB managing director, said: "The internet has become an incredibly important interface for customer marketing but the problem is that it also allows access to all your rival's brands which means the key challenge is to ensure that customers seek out your brand specifically - marketers are increasingly turning to offline media to direct consumers to their brands online."

Barber said the findings are highly significant for brands where the internet "provides the crucial final stage" of customer buying and radio advertising offers these brands the chance to "turbo charge" the marketing process.

The research was carried out by Dollywagon Media Science and Other Lines of Enquiry for the RAB and found the most effective radio campaigns clearly communicated a simple proposition, used strong brand linkage and directed listeners to go online to a straightforward and self-evident web address.