This paper examines how WGBH and Applied Research and Consulting LLC conducted collaborative research that identified strategies for transforming ZOOM, a highly successful 1970s children's educational television show, into one of the most exciting 1990s children's educational destinations in the world. This paper illustrates how a variety of qualitative research methodologies (designed to uncover specific concerns, attitudes and preferences of the target audience and the ways these concerns, attitudes and preferences had changed since the 1970s) resulted in the merger of new and existing technologies into an integrated, interactive educational media platform that would provide additional learning opportunities through the initial integration and ongoing enhancement of the integrated media offering.
This paper introduces several new methods aimed at improving ad testing. The power of interactive television and scientific statistical techniques are leveraged to create a unified methodology to test ads. The methodology makes three specific improvements, including the utilization of a random probability sample, the development of a system that allows for self-administered ad experiments given in a respondentâs own home, and the employment of a fully randomized, panel experimental research design. The paper draws on empirical evidence from the Yale Advertising Study, focusing on measuring the effect of political ads on voter attitudes and behavior. The study included 12,350 interviews.
The paper describes people meter systems that are used for measuring television ratings and looks at the alternative measurement systems that are given by new media. The Internet is very much in the picture, but does not seem to be able to threaten television for many years to come. A more promising system is interactive television: television mediated by decoders or set top boxes (stb's). For the general public this new medium will be much more important than the Internet. Interactive television will also be more important for some advertising companies than passiveâ television. In this study results are given of a pilot in the Netherlands. Although no random sample was available, it seems to indicate that people like interactive programmes and commercials and that they generate very high response and conversion rates. But a warning is given as well: set top boxes that deliver only one kind of service can attract only small target groups. A multiple service set top box will have a much better chance of succeeding.
I would urge you to become as proficient in information technology as your sons and daughters. Learn the meaning of Complex Instruction Set Computing, Reduced Instruction Set Computing, RAM, ROM, WORM, Baud, bits, bytes, graphical user interface, Power PC, Windows NT, Chicago, MPEG, JPEG, SCSI, PCM-CIA, OCR, flash memory and all the other language of the new era. You have to do it. Buy a laptop. Subscribe to Info-World, Wired, PC Magazine and MacUser. Sign up for America Online or Prodigy. Get an Internet address. I believe that the excitement we will have in the next decade will be comparable to the profound changes Western society experienced in the early 13th century. The world came out of a thousand years of stagnation that was the dark ages and experienced anew empirical science, secular debate, art, music, literature and freedom. It is a time for a modem Copernicus or da Vinci to astound us and pique our senses in ways we have yet to imagine. We are entering a glorious time.
In this paper, we discuss the use of interactive media in the new product development process. The paper is divided into three parts. In Part I, we discuss a market research approach to new product development which is enhanced by the use of interactive media. This approach integrates lead user analysis, discrete choice analysis, and simulated test market modeling within the context of the Information Acceleration® interactive multimedia market research technology. In Part II, we present a case study which uses this approach to evaluate market response to a mobile communication service. In particular, we focus on the use of lead user analysis to develop a service concept that satisfies the needs that customers will face in the future. Within the context of the case, we present an application which demonstrates the benefits of using interactive media as a market research tool. The focus of the paper is to present the benefits of using interactive media computing technology for conducting market research early in the design process of innovative products and services. We conclude in Part III with a discussion of new frontiers in interactive media applications to market demand research.
Currently, many companies are designing and testing multi-channel interactive television systems. In many of these designs, the research systems are envisioned to be integrated as part of the medium itself. Such integrated research systems could dramatically alter the way in which television advertising is used, bought and sold. In this paper, we propose a formal theoretical framework. First, we show how this framework encompasses the traditional research systems for television program ratings as well as television commercial ratings. Typically, the traditional research systems are represented by simple structures, for which some of the information content is traditionally summarized in the form of 'ratings'. Next, we show how the proposed interactive television systems would fit under this framework. Typically, the new systems are represented by information-rich complex structures. Many different types of services (such as video on demand, home shopping services, on-line information services, video-games, etc.) are likely to be offered on these interactive systems. Because of the disparate natures of these services, it may be necessary to have a number of summary statistics above and beyond the traditional 'rating'. The new interactive systems will not replace the traditional broadcast systems immediately or entirely. Instead, there will be an a long period of ten to fifteen years or longer in which the old and the new will co-exist side by side. Some of the anticipated problems and frictions in the interregnum will be discussed. We believe that it is important and feasible to set research standards for intermedia comparisons, and we will describe some of our current work in this area.
This paper will review a long term Canadian research programme which has tested consumer interest in and demand for what might be termed the first generation of new communication services-teletext services, cable TV specialty channels, repeat channels and a direct-to-home satellite service. These early new services, which have their counterparts around the globe, represent only the very beginning of the convergence of conventional TV/radio broadcasting with telecommunication systems, which will offer features such as improved picture and sound, data as well as audio-video retrieval and, most importantly, interactivity (virtually instant two-way communication between content suppliers and subscribers and, potentially, even among subscribers on the system.) The paper will begin with a review of pertinent research studies, explore the effects of research design on results, discuss some key findings about consumer reaction to communication services introduced in recent years and conclude with some hypotheses about consumer acceptance of future new services. The paper concentrates on TV and video services but many findings will be applicable to other future communication services. Similarly, the focus is on consumer entertainment services but much of what is discussed applies to business, education, government services, etc.
New communications technologies are promising an array of new interactive services that will be available in the near future to consumers. In assessing the market for interactive television, our research focused on these objectives: 1. What is the general level of interest in interactive TV? (a) What proportion of the U.S. adult population is currently interested in interactive TV? (b) What are the demographics of those who express interest in interactive TV? (c) How much are consumers willing to pay for access to interactive TV services? 2. What specific services are of most interest to U.S. consumers? (a) What are the demographics of those most interested in nine specific types of interactive TV services? (b) What is the key service that is likely to stimulate consumer demand? 3. How can interactive TV be packaged for most effective marketing to consumers?