Consumers widely exposed to media prior to shopping

This, according to additional findings from the Video Consumer Mapping (VCM) study sponsored by the Council for Research Excellence (CRE).  The VCM study, conducted throughout 2008 by researchers from Ball State University and Sequent Partners, was a groundbreaking event in video-audience research. 

General findings from the VCM study were first announced in March 2009.  In May 2010, CRE released the initial results of an exhaustive “data-mining” effort extracting deeper information from the study.  Findings from this initial data mining indicated that consumers of live television do not change channels or leave the room as frequently upon the onset of commercials as conventional wisdom has suggested.

The additional data just-announced address these questions long explored by media research professionals:
What other activities are people engaged in when they are consuming media?
What, if any, other media are in play concurrently?
Who else is in the room and when?
 
Among the new findings that reflected consumers’ exposure to media before and during shopping:
62% of shoppers were listening to the radio an average of 14 minutes prior to shopping; 90% of shoppers were in cars 5 minutes and 40 seconds, on average, before shopping.
 
48% of shoppers viewed TV – and 36% were exposed to a TV commercial – in the 42 minutes prior to shopping; On average, 75% were in their homes 30 minutes prior to shopping.
 
The data also indicate that shoppers devote most of their attention to the task at hand – shopping – once they arrive at the stores: 
At the time of the study, only 17% engaged in mobile-phone talk while shopping; only 16% viewed live TV; and only 7% viewed some other form of video; 
No other single “screen-media” activity – including DVD viewing, web usage, mobile messaging, game playing, or any other software use – occupied more than 3% of a consumer’s time while shopping;

However, these particular findings would need to be balanced today against the significant advances in mobile-phone technology since the study’s completion.
 
Among the new “data-mining” findings that reflected consumers’ habits generally during media exposure:

86% of adults consume media while eating meals; 62% consume media while preparing meals;
 
Adult women are far busier than men during prime evening hours; women represent 56% of those adults who were working during the prime daypart;
The same patterns apply to simultaneous conduct of household chores (57%), meal preparation (66%), and exercise/sports/hobbies (54%).
 
Among the findings reflecting solitary vs. social TV viewing:
* More than two-thirds (69%) of all TV viewing is “solitary” –  occurring without the presence of anyone else in the room at the same time – leaving 31% of participants’ observed viewing behavior to be in a social setting;

* Not surprisingly, the highest concentrations of social viewing are during primetime and weekend afternoon viewing hours, at 37% and 39%, respectively;

* Overall, solitary and social viewing during commercials followed the same pattern.

“This process has allowed us to gain new insight to the value of observational research, enabling us to delve more deeply into how consumers adopt media as a part of their lives,” said Laura Cowan, vice president and media director of RJC Advertising and chairperson of the CRE’s Media Consumption & Engagement (MC&E) Committee.  “Learning more about how people combine activities and multiple media has great value not only in how advertisers communicate with consumers, but even providing considerations to content providers.”

“The findings from this research serve to reinforce the significant role media –  television in particular –  continue to play in people’s daily activities, as well as the importance of reaching them through advertising,” added Joanne Burns, executive vice president, marketing, research and new media, 20th Television and MyNetworkTV, and MC&E Committee member.

Data from the study – which was presented at the Nielsen national client meeting in Las Vegas – can be found here

RBR-TVBR observation: 62% of shoppers were listening to the radio an average of 14 minutes prior to shopping. Wow—talk about immediacy. This is a particularly good local sell to smaller retailers located near larger shopping destinations—like a Safeway, Kohl’s, Target, etc. A spot for an oil change garage or tire store, for example, will often remind that Kohl’s consumer that they need to cross a few more things off of their list, and “since they are already on the road,” they can get that done on the way home.

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