Introduction

The growth in recent years of non-metropolitan areas has led the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to redefine a rural area that meets certain criteria as a micropolis (OMB 2003). A micropolitan statistical area (MicroSA) is typically defined as an urban cluster with 10,000 to 50,000 people (Frey et. al 2004). There are currently 573 micros, encompassing nearly a fifth of all U.S. counties (690 counties). Micropolitan and metropolitan areas combined now account for 93% of the U.S. population and 46% of the land area. Over 28 million people now reside in micropolitan areas (Lang and Dhavale 2004) comprising 60% of the total non-metropolitan U.S. population. Many of these areas are experiencing population growth. Six of the nations 25 fastest growing counties lie in micropolitan areas (Belsie 2003). Many of the formerly rural areas are gaining prominence by their Census designation leading to increased economic development (Belsie 2003). The growth and economic development of micropolitan regions provides opportunities for the outdoor industry.

One major advantage of micropolitan areas is the composition of a typical micro. Most micropolitan areas lack the large central city required by OMB as a standard for a metro area. Commuting criteria is a key basis for an area to receive a micropolitan designation (Frey et al. 2004). Micros have a small central city that compares with many modest sized towns. An extensive periphery surrounds most micros with only 31.6 percent of micro residents living in their core (Lang and Dhavale 2004). This periphery presents an opportunity for outdoor advertising through increased traffic flows. Thus, both individuals traveling through the micropolis looking for services as well as those living in the micropolis can be effectively reached by billboards.

Consumers living in a micropolitan region are highly dependent on the automobile in order to obtain the goods and services they consume. These consumers generally must travel longer distances to get to the retail and service businesses they patronize. As a result, outdoor advertising, which appears in an uncluttered environment in these areas, provides a tremendous opportunity to reach consumers in a business’ trade area. Moreover, consumers can be exposed to the message frequently, providing an advantage that cannot be duplicated by most other media. In an increasingly fragmented media environment in which the consumer may have access to satellite radio, cable or satellite television, the internet and numerous print media outlets, the visibility of outdoor advertising allows the advertisers message to stand out.

As academic research has shown, outdoor advertising can be used both to provide directional information to a place of business and/or to provide a wide variety of types of information about a business, including information relating to product/services offered, prices, quality, variety, supply limitations, method of payment and many others (Taylor 1997). Both of these functions are particularly important for reaching consumers in extended trade areas. Consumers very frequently become aware of the existence of a business due to signs (Taylor, Claus and Claus 2005) and repeated exposure reinforces this awareness. Consumers also may learn about what the business has to offer at both the point in time they are considering a purchase as well as in geographic proximity to the business when exposed to a billboard.

The growth of the micropolis throughout the U.S. also provides opportunities for producers of manufactured products. With a market that is rapidly approaching 30 million consumers, advertisers can get their message out to a growing group that has been traditionally underserved by marketers for a very reasonable cost.