Abstract:

We are facing a dilemma: more information is wanted about as many target groups as possible and the quality of media contacts. We know from a number of field experiments that exact figures regarding media coverage largely depend on the design of the questionnaire. In tracing the influence of the questionnaire on the results the debate concerning the two widely used German intermedia analyses: "Arbeitsgemeinschaft fur Media-Analyse" and "Allensbacher Werbetrager-Analyse", proved particularly productive. The general design of the questionnaire and particularly the wording of questions and response alternatives has a greater influence on the coverage results than the type and quality of the sample. In the following we analyse the influence of different reading behaviour, using the figures of a representative survey conducted by the Allensbach Institut. We will check the correlation between the characteristics of reading behaviour and the reader's contact with editorial text as well as advertisements. In accordance with the findings of other studies the thesis is confirmed: reading frequency can well be considered (and used) as a predictor for advertisement contact, most likely it will even prove more reliable than other characteristics of reading behaviour.