Abstract:

The increasing complexities of the media environment are well documented. Greater channel choice continues to fragment audiences. The growth in the number of multi- set households and video recorders has led to more personalised viewing. More importantly, the increase in usage of remote controls means that the opportunity for viewers to miss TV commercials has never been greater. The combination of these factors means that television planners and buyers must pay greater attention to the quality, as well the quantity of advertising communications. In 1993 and again in 1994 The Media Partnership UK conducted research under the title of Quality of Viewing. From representative adult samples of over 2 in each case, each study gathered data on over 400 television programmes under the following topics : - whether the programme was ever watched - how often - who usually decides to watch - level of attention - programme involvement. As part of the first study, research was carried out to identify whether there was a relationship between levels of programme involvement and commercial recall. It was found that when viewers are highly involved in a programme, the incidence of watching the commercial break is 49% higher than by those viewers claiming low involvement. In addition, highly involved viewers demonstrated correct commercial recall up to 30% greater. In both studies, respondents were selected from the Target Group Index. This provides the facility to analyse programme involvement levels not only by a full range of demographic groups, but also by product purchasing characteristics. This information helps place an added value judgement on programmes, differentiation between programmes where there are no cost or coverage advantages and a hierarchy of programme requirements for individual products.