WALKING THE PATH Exploring the drivers of the expression David Ernst, Stacey Lynn Koerner, Henry Jenkins, Sangita Shresthova, Brian Theisen and Alex Chisholm At the ARF/ESOMAR WAM Conference 2002, Initiative Media and MIT introduced the expression as a conceptual model of understanding the complex relationship between advertising message delivery, media channels, and audience engagement. In a dynamic landscape in which consumers are acquiring greater choice and control over their media environment, the expression was developed as a means of factoring the myriad ways that audiences consume and relate to media, and how such insights can be translated into more effective media measurement techniques. This paper summarizes the results of our second phase of research in which we begin to move from a purely conceptual framework to a more pragmatic system of media evaluation. Through quantitative and qualitative research, our study focused on exploring viewers’ potential uses and gratifications of media texts, the context of viewing experiences, the appeal and usage of ancillary media properties (e.g. websites, cell phone voting, merchandising), and the relationship between program enjoyment and advertising recall. D. Ernst, S.L. Koerner, H. Jenkins, S. Shresthova, B. Theisen, A. Chisholm “American Cheese. The overwrought ballads! The corny dialogue! Trenyce! Help — we can't stop watching American Idol.” Entertainment Weekly, 28 March 2003 The American Idol franchise, imported to the United States after its popular launch and success in the United Kingdom as Pop Idol, has rapidly become a global and media phenomenon, weaving together talent show competitiveness with audience participation through multiple media channels, including cellular phone-based instant messaging, original content found only on the web, concerts, merchandising, and a place in the pop culture news machine. Abundant product placement, commercials that feature show contestants, and a raft of spotlighted sponsorships are only some of the elements that have brought American Idol into a larger public and industry-based discourse around advertising at a time when fundamental beliefs about advertising and its effectiveness are coming under significant debate. As proliferation of media tools and technologies such as TiVo and other PVRs provide consumers with increased control over what they see, as well as when and how they see it, advertisers are having to re-think the underlying assumptions of advertising metrics that situate audiences as more or less passive media consumers rather than active participants who engage with media in complex and creative ways. As a result, the way that consumers process ideas and meaning has facilitated a change in their relationship to brands and media programs. This change has already begun and will continue to impact how audiences engage with advertising and will in turn affect the creation, management and measurement of the advertisements themselves. It is apparent that advertising will need to respond to a changing “mediascape” (Appadurai 2000) and audiences in ways that allow messages to be delivered in more non-linear, on-demand, and negotiable fashions. Available media and advertising research methods do not adequately stand up to the challenge of aiding this process. Today, most advertising professionals realize the impression, a standard measure of advertising effectiveness, is no longer a sufficient metric to assess the value of an individual’s exposure to advertising. Furthermore, as audiences increasingly move across media channels, interactive program components and digital platforms become integral elements of media-based communication. With these additional variables, the impression becomes less useful. This methodological conundrum presents obstacles to media planners and buyers who navigate an increasingly challenging media environment with tools equipped to evaluate a much more simplistic “mediascape” (Appadurai 2000). The complex relationship between media environments, programming, and audience behavior calls for new tools that will more adequately describe, model, and ultimately simulate the complex connections that exist between Walking the path audiences, media channels, programming, and advertising messages. The ongoing collaboration between MIT Comparative Media Studies (MIT) and Initiative Media (IM) begins to address this need. Using the American Idol 2 television program as an entry point, the MIT-IM project explores the breadth and depth of audience engagement with advertising across different media delivery channels. The research strives to identify, isolate, and quantify key attributes of this engagement to: 1. Reveal media value in a multidimensional manner; 2. Provide a more accurate account of audience engagement with advertising messages and branding efforts across media; and 3. Develop evaluative tools that layer these insights onto existing standard advertising metrics and eventually lead to a framework for future tools. Informed by advertising and audience research, as well as reception theory, the MIT-IM research project integrates qualitative insight and quantitative measures to explore existing and potentially applicable connections between audiences as consumers of media and advertising in specific contexts. Measures and insights capture key aspects of consumers’ engagement in various media environments and are part of an emerging multidimensional model to assess the potential of media-context-specific advertising. The ultimate objective of this research is to build a predictive tool for assessing advertising value across different media platforms. The American Idol research builds on earlier foundational work done by MIT and Initiative Media in 2001-2002. Initiative Media and MIT Comparative Media Studies previously explored new approaches to determining media value through an examination of the television program, Survivor (CBS). The results of this study, summarized in “Pathways to Measuring Consumer Behavior in an Age of Media Convergence,” introduced the notion of the expression as a conceptual approach to audience engagement with advertising beyond the limited scope of existing advertising metrics, such as standard rating points. To assess and predict advertising effectiveness, it is not enough to know whether or not audiences have “seen” the advertisement. Rather, understanding how, where, and under what viewing circumstances this encounter occurs – captured in the expression concept – is critical to ensuring success for any advertising endeavor. In our previous research, loyal Survivor fans exhibited greater awareness of brand contact and engagement than did casual viewers. This core audience group was also more likely to extend their program experience to the Survivor website and other potential contact points. Among the loyal/cross-platform D. Ernst, S.L. Koerner, H. Jenkins, S. Shresthova, B. Theisen, A. Chisholm respondent subset, there was 140% greater brand recognition when compared to typical viewers to typical programming. The concluding vision of this phase of research imagined the expression, once quantified, as a bridge between and supplement to both currently accepted forms of media evaluation (i.e., impressions) and more descriptive accounts of the multi-dimensional aspects of media exposures or audience behavior. The key concepts of expression, audience, and media identified and defined through the Survivor research findings, provided a critical starting point for the next phase of research on American Idol 2 summarized in this document. We preface our findings with a brief definition of these key terms. THE AMERICAN IDOL 2 RESEARCH CONTEXT: Defining the Expression, Audience, and Media The term ‘expression’ embodies our efforts to build a set of informational metrics or scaling factors to more accurately define audience engagement, moving our understanding from a purely conceptual framework to a more pragmatic system of media evaluation. From the standpoint of audiences (as consumers of media), the expression can take many forms ranging from offline, face to face or telephone conversations, fan material creation and circulation, voting, to online discussion participation (chat, fan-sites, newsgroups) before, during, or after the show. Where a show is watched may affect how it and the advertising associated with it will be perceived. As such the expression measure contains components that address more complicated dimensions of advertising beyond simplified binary exposure/no exposure assessment of advertising as a means of communicating brand value and identity. In our previous work we discussed these areas as: creative unit, media environment, viewer involvement, attentiveness, message communication values, and targeting affinity. From the branding standpoint, successful brands are built by exploiting numerous touch-points that occur between the brand and the consumer. It may be said that the strength of the connection is directly proportional to the ability to touch the consumer in personally meaningful ways. To realize the potential of expression, advertisers need better metrics to assess the absolute and relative value of consumers’ engagement with advertising messages. As current media evaluation tools strain to cope with the dynamic evolution of media forms – and perhaps even more so with changing audience behavior patterns – it becomes imperative to develop a new set of metrics and evaluative measures that more adequately represent and model the complex relationship between media and audiences. As a concept and emerging metric, our expression framework directly addresses this need. Walking the path As we have suggested previously, the expression describes the complex relationship between advertising message delivery, media channels, and audience engagement. Last year’s Survivor research findings suggest – and preliminary analysis of this year’s American Idol 2 data supports the claim – that the degree of audience engagement with a program may significantly influence the likelihood that audiences will encounter related advertising, pay attention, become involved with and ultimately comprehend the message. For the purposes of our studies, audiences are defined in the broadest possible sense, according to the discourse around reception theory and audience research studies. Audiences represent an important variable in framing the concept of expression and are defined as “active rather than passive (participants) … to be engaged in a process of making, rather than simply absorbing, meanings”. (Jenkins 2003) Jenkins has also argued that one important strand of reception studies has examined advertisements, film trailers, newspaper reviews, and other “textual activators” that shape audience expectations around specific properties. Studies around reception seek empirical evidence, through historical or ethnographic research, that documents the production and circulation of meaning. Indeed, audience research has increasingly rejected large-scale generalizations about spectatorship, demanding a more contingent “case study” approach. Audience interaction with media is more than deciding if and when to tune in, switch channels, or time shift viewing; it encompasses a larger set of behaviors whereby audiences appropriate, manipulate, and re-circulate content across media channels. Whether they choose to participate through pre-programmed PVR use, phone calls to discuss the latest episode of a favorite show, or internet surfing for information on favorite American Idol contestants, audience behavior plays a critical part in assessing advertising effectiveness. Additional audience behaviors might range from face-to-face discussions with friends before, during, or after a show to active participation in show-related on-line chats and bulletin boards, to voter participation in shows like American Idol, to “appropriation” or creative “poaching” of show related “fan” material (Jenkins 1992). While audiences have always moved freely across media channels, the main consideration for advertising today is how to negotiate a media environment in which social and cultural spaces provide a larger array of audience experience and context, and technologies, such as PVRs and VOD, potentially undermine advertiser flow of messages and put control in the hands of the audience. For the purposes of this paper, media (derived from Appadurai’s definition of mediascapes) refers “to both the distribution of the electronic capabilities to produce and disseminate information (newspapers, magazines, television stations, and film-production studios … and the images of the world created by D. Ernst, S.L. Koerner, H. Jenkins, S. Shresthova, B. Theisen, A. Chisholm these media” (Appadurai 2000). As such, audiences encounter and “experience the media themselves as a complicated and interconnected repertoire of print, celluloid, electronic screens and billboards” (Appadurai 2000, 35). Expression then describes the audience relationship with advertising as individuals engage and move across these different media forms. Our research on expression represents a first step toward developing an additional media valuation measure as a methodology to inform and complement standard media ratings. Our research uses a current quantitative evaluative framework, as it exists today, in conjunction with qualitative research methodologies to investigate audience receptivity, responsiveness, and engagement. Specifically, we explore how quantitative and qualitative research can be used to identify a method for framing a methodology that more systematically defines the expression and that can be applied to existing audience metrics to provide a more comprehensive assessment of advertising efficacy in specific audience contexts and across different media forms. Once framed, this methodology could lead to a tool that helps us track and measure how ad placements in specific programs, venues, and vehicles deliver an advantage over alternative media mixes, keeping creative execution and marketing elements constant. Using the weekly telecasts of American Idol 2, the second phase of our research focused on television as a point of entry to understand audience behavior around a single property and across multiple channels. Our approach builds on previous learning, strives to further our understanding of these phenomena, and suggests a process for valuing components of media placement to increase the potential of an advertising exposure to build brand affinity and message acceptance. At this stage, this research does not provide a comprehensive explanation for the multi-faceted, dynamic relationships that exist between the audience, the media, and advertising messages. WHY AMERICAN IDOL 2? As we began discussions around what television property to study this year, we focused on several obvious series, including Survivor (CBS) and Alias (ABC), and specific events that annually draw large television audiences, including the Super Bowl (ABC) and the Academy Awards (ABC). We wanted to identify a property that would provide insights into the types of relations consumers develop with content across multiple media venues and the impact those relationships have on awareness, perception, and purchase intent of advertised goods. Walking the path Ultimately, we argued that American Idol 2 (Fox) was the property to study because, in its second outing, it was likely to ride a wave that began last summer when the series catapulted Fox into the ratings stratosphere during a finale that attracted more than 26.3 million viewers and delivered the network’s highest-rated night ever among adults aged 18 - 49 years. Because the show encourages viewers to move across multiple media channels – television, web, telephone and SMS, music recordings, and concert events – there is a unique opportunity to study new modes of viewer and consumer behavior and the relationships they develop with one specific property. In fact, Broadcast, an industry paper published in the United Kingdom, reported in mid-March that 19TV, the show’s producer, had won the Indie of the Year Award, proclaiming that 19TV is “a new kind of producer which has learnt (sic) how to turn a UK TV series into an international cross-media hit. The TV show was just a ‘window’ for the Pop Idol brand – the real money is made from premium phone lines, record sales, concerts, merchandise, and format sales abroad. 19TV doesn’t create television programmes, it creates brands that are slickly packaged and sold across almost every platform.” Since the second run of the American Idol series debuted in late January, it has attracted an average of 22 million viewers a week. Through countless magazine and television features, even larger audiences across the country have come to recognize the different personalities of the show’s three judges: Simon Cowell, Paula Abdul, and Randy Jackson. And, as with last year’s favorites Kelly Clarkson, Justin Guarini, and Nikki McKibbin, this year’s audiences see potential winners in Ruben Studdard, Clay Aiken, and Joshua Grayson. Another incentive to study American Idol 2 in relation to our larger research questions was Fox’s highly developed and well publicized decision to prominently feature sponsors – Coca Cola, Ford, and AT&T Wireless among a select few – and integrate product placements throughout the series. The appeal of the series to an important marketing demographic – adults aged 18 49 years – also played to our research interests. Finally, the level for potential audience interaction with the series vis-à-vis weekly voting and web-content availability provided a rich set of variables to explore. Quantitative Aspects of Study: American Idol and Favorite Program Research To build our Phase I research, it was necessary to dimension how highly involved fans of complex texts such as Idol and Survivor may behave differently from fans of more passive texts such as Friends (NBC) or CSI (CBS), and further, how fans of each may indeed respond differently to texts D. Ernst, S.L. Koerner, H. Jenkins, S. Shresthova, B. Theisen, A. Chisholm that make up occasional entertainment selections. To this end, we developed three quantitative studies that focused separately on “American Idol Fans,” “Fans of Other Favorite Shows (non-Idol),” and “Occasional Program Viewers.” Three proprietary online questionnaires were fielded between 3 March 2003 and 14 April 2003. The two fan surveys (American Idol 2, Favorite Shows) each yielded 500 respondents, 13+ years of age. The third survey of “Occasional Program Viewers” yielded 250 respondents, 13+ years of age. In each case the surveys were conducted online to geographically and demographically diverse respondents. While Phase I research on Survivor focused on capturing two-box convergent behavior patterns, Phase II research focused on exploring viewers’ potential uses and gratifications of the program. Respondents were asked to qualify their viewing experience across twenty attitudinal statements on a 5-point agreement scale. In addition, respondents were asked about the context of their viewing experience and web usage, the relationship of advertising and program enjoyment, and advertising recall. The data sets were then processed through factor analysis to obtain clusters of uses and gratifications that define and prioritize core concepts of our study such as relevance, resonance, affinity and comfort. In this way, we began to explore how these drivers of the expression could be dimensioned and eventually scaled. It should be noted that the quantitative aspect of our study was designed to converge and add data points to observations made through qualitative studies that were conducted concurrently by MIT. Ethnographic and Qualitative Aspects of Study While quantitative research methodology provides useful and readily applicable insights into media consumption behavior, qualitative and ethnographic approaches, with their in-depth, context specific probing, are more adept at accounting for the “how” and “why” of audiences’ engagement with specific media. Audience viewing context may affect how it and the advertising associated with it will be perceived. This is why qualitative and ethnographically grounded research of audiences has been a critical tool in fine-tuning more quantitative approaches. The guiding research question for the qualitative and quasi-ethnographic research portion of our investigation was: Using television as an entry point, how do audiences relate to content and advertising that moves across different media channels? Walking the path We were particularly interested in exploring how audiences engage with advertising and product placement, whether and how this engagement changes for specific shows over a period of time, and how audience loyalty to a show (in this case American Idol 2) affects their attitudes and affinity to advertising and product placement. Our aim was not to exhaustively answer these broad questions, but rather to explore possible tools that will allow us to qualitatively approach these questions in a way that would allow for their standardization and ultimate quantification. Our qualitative research was carried out in tandem with our more quantitative assessment of expression and drew on several ethnographic and qualitative research methodologies. Most of the research was conducted in the Boston area and many of the respondents were directly or indirectly affiliated with MIT, including students and employees. While this respondent base introduces a demographic skew to our findings, it does not undermine the validity of our qualitative research in exploring the how and why of the range and depth of audience engagement with a program. A brief description of our qualitative instruments follows: One-on-One Depth Interviews (in homes or central locations) One-on-one interviews were conducted to further investigate attitudes toward television shows and advertising, with a particular focus on the ways in which consumers express these attitudes. Using “shows such as American Idol” as an entry point, the interviews used visual aids, which the respondents brought with them, as stimuli to explore their conceptual and subconscious associations between the show(s) and advertising/product placement. This technique allowed us to move beyond the “top-of-mind” recall-based format of most surveys to investigate a complicated network of themes, symbols, and emotional affiliations. Some of the themes, concepts and links that emerged from this portion of the research have been further substantiated through more quantitative testing. Others will be further explored in the next wave of research in the development of the expression. Participant Observations This technique involved weekly observations of groups of research subjects watching American Idol 2. Though the results of this research were not quantifiable, they allowed us to explore a particular aspect of offline audience involvement with the program, as well as the significance of the context in which the show was being consumed. Observations were carried out among groups of MIT students who had independently organized to watch the show in dormitory lounges each week. 10 D. Ernst, S.L. Koerner, H. Jenkins, S. Shresthova, B. Theisen, A. Chisholm Participant observations have also been carried out with a family of five living in one of Boston’s suburban neighborhoods. The context of their living environment is background to the observations collected by the MIT researchers. The family’s neighborhood includes both family groups that have lived there for several generations to new families and young professionals seeking the benefits of suburban living without giving up the conveniences of urban life. The neighborhood is predominantly Roman Catholic (there are four parish churches within a two-mile radius of the center of town) and has a relatively low minority population. There is a strong sense of local community, built and supported by a strong community center, small businesses, markets, restaurants, and taverns. Our research family included two parents, both professionals (ages 40 -45), and three children (two girls, ages 9 and 14; and one boy, age 7). The family owns a large home on a fashionable street off the neighborhood’s main business avenue. Each of the children has their own rooms. There is a large kitchen with a center counter that is often piled with schoolbooks and homework papers; stools surround the counter. Off the kitchen is the living room, intended for formal entertaining, and a family room, with an entertainment center that includes a 19" television, VCR, and DVD player. Until 2002, the family did not have cable; they were recently given a TiVo unit but returned it because they did not feel they watched enough television to warrant it. During the course of an average week, based on media diaries the family was asked to complete during one week (March 5 - 11, 2003) of the observation period, the kids spend little time watching television (less than one hour a day, on average), instead focusing on school- or education-related media or listening to music, surfing the web, or playing games (two to three hours). The mother tunes in and out of programming during the day and in between her household activities. The father consumes almost no media outside of his professional needs, reading newspapers, magazines, and watching news programs on television. The parents are loyal viewers of 24 (Fox), the one show they seem to watch together. The participant-observation research design was informed by Mark Ritson’s published results of “How Consumers View Adverts” (LBS, July 2002) in which eight households’ television viewing habits were ‘observed’ (through use of a micro-camera) over a two-week period of time1) (Ritson 2002). David Morley’s Family Television also plays in our construction of these observations. The participant observation portion of this research allowed us to track behavioral engagement that may not surface in a survey. Walking the path Complementary Data Surveys To complement and support our participant observations, 59 surveys were distributed among MIT students who watched during the first three weeks of American Idol 2. The data gave us further insight into what we had observed. Quantitative and Qualitative Survey Armed with the results of parallel quantitative and ethnographic research, we designed a unique instrument for testing the patterns of behavior that began to emerge. In conjunction with Fox, IM and MIT fielded a quantitative and qualitative web study of American Idol Fans – self-defined devotees who were highly engaged with the American Idol text. Over the last five weeks of the television series, fans were invited weekly to keep a personal diary-of-sorts called “Your Shout Out”. Recruited through the official IdolonFOX website, these motivated fans were directed to a devoted web environment where they responded to key research questions and described, in-depth, their relationship with the show through a combination of language and imagery. Participants were incentivized to keep the diary on a weekly basis through an opportunity to win a cash prize and American Idol 2 paraphernalia. This weekly commitment allowed for longitudinal analysis of the data. The results of this study were evaluated through a variety of analysis tools that link ideas and codes expressed in the creative texts into semantic relationship networks and provide visual models of concept connections. This study was launched the week of 21 April 2003, and therefore, the results were not completed in time for inclusion in this paper. This last study was critical in allowing us to merge the findings from our quantitative and qualitative research. EXPRESSION PATHWAYS: FINDING THE BUILDING BLOCKS TO AUDIENCE RELATIONSHIPS Viewing Contexts Among the critical criteria in our search for a suitable research subject was a program’s ability to generate large, highly-involved audiences. Intuitively, we might surmise that this level of engagement may be fostered by a number of factors – level of promotional support, variety of available related media texts (magazines, chat rooms, websites and the like), as well as the opportunity to experience the program within group viewing contexts. Audiences interpret texts and make meaning through all of these channels, and an examination of expression drivers would be incomplete without understanding how each may contribute to the underlying composite relationship. 12 D. Ernst, S.L. Koerner, H. Jenkins, S. Shresthova, B. Theisen, A. Chisholm In particular, group viewing proved to be a variable that was readily examinable through both the quantitative and qualitative instruments of our study. Generally, our surveys indicate that the majority of television viewing is done with others (either family or friends), but there are variations according to genre. Figure 1 indicates that Drama viewers are more likely to view alone, Comedy viewers are more likely to view with family members and Reality viewers are more likely to view with friends. Figure 1 FAVORITE PROGRAM VIEWING CONTEXTS BY GENRE % VIEWERS OF GENRES WHO WATCH IN VARIOUS CONTEXTS 31.7 61.4 6.9 37.5 58.3 4.2 29.1 54.6 15.6 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 View Alone View w/Family View w/Friends Comedy Drama Reality Source: Initiative Media Favorite Program Study; March 2003 Demographically, 18 -34 year-old viewers have the most varied habits depending on program genre. Adults over 50 either view alone or with family, but rarely with friends, while 35 - 49 year-olds are most consistent, viewing all genres primarily with family members. Figure 2 FAVORITE PROGRAM VIEWING CONTEXTS BY DEMOGRAPHICS WITHIN GENRES: % VIEWERS OF GENRES WHO WATCH IN VARIOUS CONTEXTS 100% 80% 60% 40% 20% 0% 44.4 52.6 31.6 48.1 48.1 61.8 66.0 62.5 76.3 50.0 39.5 26.3 A18-34 A18-34 A18-34 A35-49 A35-49 A35-49 A50+ A50+ A50+ Comedy Drama Reality Comedy Drama Reality Comedy Drama Reality Alone w/Family w/Friends Source: Initiative Media Favorite Program Study; March 2003 Walking the path One-on-one depth interviews with respondents echoed these findings. In general, the ability to discuss programs and associated advertising emerged as a driving factor in selecting shows to watch. Several respondents in interviews indicated that even if they don’t watch American Idol 2, they make a conscious effort to keep up with the show developments in order to participate in casual conversations with peers and co-workers. Dissecting the viewing contexts of favorite show viewing, we also note that Family Viewing emerges as the most important subset of group viewing. Independent of demographics, this viewing context dominates all others, accounting for well more than half of all adult 35 - 49 favorite show viewing experiences. A number of depth interview respondents perceived that American Idol 2 was “harmless” entertainment that even children can watch, remarking that the show represents an opportunity for children and parents to have a shared viewing experience. Our observation of a Boston family brings greater color to this respondent data: On the nights when American Idol 2 airs, the two youngest children (girl, 9; boy, 7) are generally the first ones in the family room for the start of American Idol; they generally watch the last few minutes of Lizzie McGuire (Disney) before turning the channel to Fox. As the program starts, they both routinely raise their voices to announce to those throughout the house that “It’s starting!” As the opening segments begin, they recall last week’s performances and make comments about what the judges are wearing or how their hair looks. By the end of the first segment, the mother has usually arrived and stands at the door; typically, she will come and go for the first 30 minutes of the program, working in the kitchen or running up and down the stairs. At the first commercial break, the kids and mother generally pay attention to the advertising and talk about the various products. During the first few weeks of the series they focused on ads for Nike (“Shox Streaker”) and Coke (“Real”). While the kids complained about the commercial breaks (“I wish we had a TiVo.” Girl 9), they had a remarkable sense of the creative content and recalled ads they had either commented on, complained about, or sang along to (Tide ran a spot with “Anything you can do, I can do better” that the kids knew by heart). During subsequent breaks, however, the conversation focused more on contestants and who was still left. In later weeks, the young boy began turning the channel to either Nickelodeon or Disney during commercial breaks. In fact, as the daughter and mother – and sometimes the older daughter, who watches only sporadically – talk about the program and contestants and turn their 14 D. Ernst, S.L. Koerner, H. Jenkins, S. Shresthova, B. Theisen, A. Chisholm attention from the television, they often do not notice that the boy has changed the channel, and continue conversing for longer than they realize; as they turn their attention back to the television, they fear they have missed a contestant and demand that the youngster change the channel back to Fox. This account is a window to our quantitative research, exhibiting ways in which group viewing may impact interaction with the program as well as general reception of advertising. In almost all cases, the quantitative data suggests that the recognition of advertising and product placement is much higher among viewers in groups than those viewing alone. Similarly, we observed a variation in attentiveness and engagement with advertising depending on thematic relevance (song and performance), narrative interest (comedy), and product (some food and personal hygiene ads got very little response). Advertising sequences that tended to get people’s attention included Coca-Cola, whose spots were admired for the high quality singing, and AT&T, whose instant messaging ads triggered questions about “how it works.” The streaker in the Nike Shox spot was also a good attention grabber because of its unexpected creative approach (i.e., seemingly realistic game footage) and humor (i.e., a naked man running across the playing field). Show previews generated discussions about whether the show or the movie is worth watching. This may at first seem counter-intuitive, as multiple viewers may be perceived as distractions to understanding content. The presence of other individuals in a viewing environment, however is much more dynamic, allowing for multiple viewer responses to content – both within and outside of the actual program. As is evidenced through our family observation, this often results in a wider variety of discourse, thus offering group viewers a range of interpretation with which to make meaning. (See figure 3.) Walking the path Figure 3 ATTITUDES TOWARD ADVERTISING BY FAVORITE PROGRAM VIEWING CONTEXTS: % RESPONDENTS WHO AGREE 70 61.4 58.6 60 50 40 30 17.9 17.6 16.3 20 13.7 12.2 11.7 9.1 6.1 10 0 Remember Remember Pay Attention to Switch Channels Notice Product Product Specific Ads Ads During Placement Categories Commercial Advertised Breaks View Alone View w/Others Source: Initiative Media Favorite Program Study; March 2003 Whether viewing alone or in groups, respondents were much more likely to notice regular advertising and product placement while watching reality programs. Advertising during reality programs was also considered to be the least intrusive to overall program enjoyment. Figure 4 ATTITUDES TOWARD ADVERTISING BY FAVORITE PROGRAM VIEWING CONTEXTS: % RESPONDENTS WHO AGREE – “ADVERTISING INTERFERES WITH MY PROGRAM ENJOYMENT” 57.8 60 46.9 44.4 46.4 50 38.5 34.1 40 30 20 10 0 View Alone View w/Others Comedy Drama Reality Source: Initiative Media Favorite Program Study; March 2003 16 D. Ernst, S.L. Koerner, H. Jenkins, S. Shresthova, B. Theisen, A. Chisholm Fans who watch in groups are also more highly engaged in the program. They are more attentive to the entire show while it airs, are more likely to visit show-related websites and more inclined to seek out ancillary products and content related to the primary show. Figure 5 FAVORITE PROGRAM VIEWING CONTEXTS RELATIONSHIP TO INDICATORS OF HEIGHTENED INVOLVEMENT % RESPONDENTS WHO AGREE 100 86.3 80.2 80 65.1 58.4 60 34.2 34.9 31.5 36.8 40 11.2 14.7 20 0 Usually watch Usually pay full Got to related Read magazine Vote for entire show attention web sites articles related to Contestants show View Alone View w/Others Source: Initiative Media Favorite Program Study; March 2003 The group-viewing context further heightens involvement for fans of reality programming. Note that group viewing significantly increases the propensity of audiences to actively engage with content by voting for contestants in reality shows. Again, our Boston family observations offer further illumination: Finally, as the entire family finds itself sitting in front of the television during American Idol’s recap in the last five minutes of the program, there is an active debate on which contestant mom will call to vote for (she represents the delegation on AT&T’s toll-free voting line). The conversation never ends in disagreement, although in later weeks the young girl became more vocal in who she expected to win, waffling between Ruben and Clay. The father takes it all in and endorses the family’s choice based on the snippets of performance he’s seen in the recap. Walking the path Figure 6 REALITY PROGRAM VIEWING CONTEXTS RELATIONSHIP TO INDICATORS OF HEIGHTENED INVOLVEMENT % RESPONDENTS WHO AGREE 100 76.9 81.0 80 61.9 57.1 61.9 60 46.2 38.5 38.5 40 23.8 20 7.7 0 Usually watch Usually pay full Got to related Watch Vote for entire show attention web sites entertainment Contestants news segments about show View Alone View w/Others Source: Initiative Media Favorite Program Study; March 2003 Dynamics of Loyal Viewing In many ways, a favorite program is like an old friend. Initially, we communicate through universally accepted modes of conversation. But over time, understanding deepens and interaction blossoms into a complex set of short-cuts, phrases and symbols that are unique to the relationship we have forged. This commitment of time is an expression of loyalty, and much like our relationships with old friends, loyalty to media texts exhibits elements of involvement, engagement, and greater understanding. The tandem quantitative and qualitative research efforts of our Phase II study revealed interesting and consistent patterns of attitudes that were related to high viewer loyalty or those having strong relationships/bonds with American Idol 2. These loyal viewers, in turn, were found to pay greater attention to the program content and have much greater involvement and engagement with the advertising, which translated into much stronger abilities to recall advertising and program sponsors. This is evidenced in the results from an initial battery of questions related to viewing patterns for American Idol 2. In this phase of analysis, we developed a series of diagnostic questions aimed at decomposing and distilling the core attributes most associated with program and advertising engagement. What emerged was essentially the equivalent of a CAT-Scan or MRI of specific program values and attributes that were related to the intensity of the viewer’s relationship with the program and characters. 18 D. Ernst, S.L. Koerner, H. Jenkins, S. Shresthova, B. Theisen, A. Chisholm Our analysis also revealed a critical differentiation between loyal or committed program viewers and those who were viewing but did not have a higher order relationship with the show. From these analyses, we can begin to build a schematic to move down the pathway of understanding how program relationships build and ultimately decline throughout their personal experience and exposure with the program. For instance, a viewer who makes the initial choice to view a program might find their emotional connections deepen (usually as a component of entertainment seeking vs. information gathering as their duration of viewing expands/increases). If they continue to become more immersed and have positive/pleasurable experiences, they may find that their viewing becomes more relaxed and open to the dialogue (obviously there are parallels in the development of personal relationships from first meeting a person to getting to know them better). A phenomenon of being more receptive to messaging may emanate from a sense of ‘knowing the show’ or building of trust, ‘letting one’s guard down’ and knowing what to expect. In this context, the viewer migrates from an initial state of deciding what to make of the program to consciously and subconsciously making a commitment to view, thereby letting a greater stream of content wash over them in a less filtered fashion. These more receptive viewers, who continually reinforce their commitment to the program by choosing to view it, are soaking up a greater amount of the experience with the medium as they become more engaged with content. Within our participant-observation sessions, loyalty to viewing American Idol 2 each week manifested itself in stronger identification with contestants over the course of the series. Viewers formed strong opinions on contestants based on personality, dress, showmanship, responses to judges, etc. – all in addition to singing ability. In addition, contestant performances were judged on the basis of current and previous performances. As the number of contestants dwindled, face time for those remaining increased, as did their familiarity – and seeming strength of feeling and opinion – toward them. People referred to contestants more often by name with each passing week (as opposed to “That guy who sang…”) and began to align themselves with favorites: Walking the path Girl 1 to Guy: “It’s going to come down to between you and me, Clay and Ruben” (talking about the people they support. The Guy was cheering for Ruben.) “I voted for him for you last week.” Guy to Girl 1: “I know, thank you.” Girl 2: “You guys actually call and vote?” Girl 1: “One of my friends from high school – we talk online and call in and vote. Between the two of us last week we voted like 20 times.” (While chatting, they call in and vote). Our study also shows strong indications that this engagement/commitment to view is also transformed into many other elements/extensions of the program, including the advertising. Once the relationship is established, it is enhanced with every occasion and interaction. The program diagnostics that we studied revealed a distinct set of attributes that were most highly related to a positive program experience and strong content and ad/messaging connections. We were also able to detect signs that these attributes can be used to reveal an intensity of a bond or relationship with a program that is highly related to a viewer’s receptivity to messaging. In other words a stronger relationship with the program provides a better environment for an advertising exposure and leads to an enhancement of the power of the message. This is illustrated in some of the following charts, as we asked American Idol 2 viewers to rate many of these program attributes on a five-point scale. We then compared the diagnostics of loyal/committed viewers to the occasional program audience. As shown in the first chart, there are some very important aspects in the differential relationships of loyal viewers vs. the wider program audience. (See figure 7.) Entertainment value is a critical element in developing loyal and committed viewers to the program. The overwhelming majority (nearly 70%) of American Idol Loyals strongly agree that the show “entertains me,” which is nearly seven times that of more casual viewers. We can also see that the entertainment aspects of the program have a much higher registration than any informational drivers that were probed in the study. Obviously, this show is designed to be entertaining and all viewers in general are nearly six times more likely to point out entertainment vs. information as an important program diagnostic. But these findings also provide indications that we will need to assess in comparison to other shows to truly understand the role of entertainment as a driver to build loyalty and commitment among viewers. 20 D. Ernst, S.L. Koerner, H. Jenkins, S. Shresthova, B. Theisen, A. Chisholm Figure 7 PERCEIVED ENTERTAINMENT VALUE IS A CRITICAL COMPONENT OF LOYALTY/COMMITTED VIEWING Program Entertains Me 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0 Strongly Agree Strongly Disagree Idol Loyals Occasional Idol Viewers Program Informs Me 50 40 30 20 10 0 Strongly Agree Strongly Disagree Source: Initiative Media American Idol 2 Study: March 2003 While entertainment value was clearly the leading factor associated with loyal American Idol viewers, several other attributes appear to be linked to loyal viewing when compared to the occasional viewing audience. Attributes such as the show being ‘a Pleasurable or Relaxing experience’ and one that ‘holds the viewers’ Interest for the entire episode’ and allows them to get ‘Very Involved in the Program’, were dramatically higher for Idol Loyals vs. Occasional Idol viewers. All of these factors taken together potentially have some degree of responsibility for creating a show environment that fosters loyal viewing patterns. More than 50% of the Idol Loyals said they make a concerted ‘Effort to Watch’ every show, more than 50 times the rate of occasional show viewers. (See figure 8.) Walking the path Figure 8 PROGRAM ATTRIBUTES LINKED TO LOYAL VIEWING % RESPONDENTS WHO STRONGLY AGREE 80 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0 Entertains Make Effort to Watch Discuss With Others HoldsInterest PleasurableExperience Escape Get Very Involved Relaxed Keeps Me Company Trust Idol Loyals Occasional Idol Viewers Source: Initiative Media American Idol 2 Study; March 2003 We can also compare these positive factors with others that are not acknowledged by the Idol Loyals. Attributes such as ‘Making me feel with- it/up-to-date’, ‘Helping the Viewer Cope’, ‘Providing Comfort’, ‘Exhibiting Similar Values to My Own’ or ‘Challenging My World View’ were not selected by a sizable number of Idol viewers of either type. It may be said that the attributes listed in the chart above are viewer elements of attraction that we can use as diagnostics for evaluating viewing and program relationships. These Attraction elements are indicative of richer context for the viewer to become more involved and attentive. The program elements that attract and cultivate loyal and committed viewers also seem to translate into an environment of greater advertising receptivity and cognition. According to our study, these loyal/committed American Idol viewers: • Are likely to watch a greater portion of the program (duration) • Are less likely to switch channels during the program or advertising • Pay greater attention to the ads • Are able to remember specific ads and sponsors • Notice specific brands being used by characters within the show (placement) We can see how the unique manner in which loyal Idol viewers approach the show begins a progression of linked attitudes and perceptions that ultimately leads to this core audience group being more receptive to advertising 22 D. Ernst, S.L. Koerner, H. Jenkins, S. Shresthova, B. Theisen, A. Chisholm messaging. As we can see in the chart below, four out of five Idol Loyals try to watch the entire episode of each airing. Figure 9 LOYAL/COMMITTED IDOL VIEWERS ARE MORE LIKELY TO WATCH AND PAY ATTENTION TO ENTIRE SHOW 100 80 60 40 20 0 Watch Entire Show Flip Channels Full Attention to Program Some or No Attention Idol Loyals Occasional Idol Viewers Source: Initiative Media American Idol 2 Study; March 2003 This is more than four times the rate of the occasional viewer of the program. Additionally, the diagnostic elements described above (high interest and entertainment value) tend to keep Idol Loyals from switching channels during the program. As the chart demonstrates, these high involvement factors also translate into a greater level of attention being paid to the program content. While the learnings derived from a thorough analysis of American Idol 2 are useful to provide a deeper understanding of dynamics of program loyalty, the results coming from a single show are certainly not sufficient to create a new knowledge platform. In order to begin to build a framework to use within a real world marketplace context, the next step in our analysis was to further probe these viewer relationships within a broader set of program environments. Since our initial studies pointed to the importance of the intensity of the viewer relationship with the program we wanted to pursue this area for further examination. The factors we would consider to help scale an expression value were highly connected to a notion of viewer loyalty and commitment of viewing, which may be aspects of show ‘likeability’. We therefore wanted to see if these differentiating factors, which described the intensity of engagement among American Idol 2 audience members, would also be relevant as diagnostic program measures within a ‘Favorite and Occasional Program Survey.’ Walking the path The broader surveys aimed to unravel the similarities and differences of attitudes toward favorite vs. occasionally-viewed programs. The surveys mimicked the American Idol 2 study, asking the same battery of questions for both favorite programs and occasionally-viewed ones. We purposely selected a cross-section of popular primetime programs across comedy, drama and reality genres on a variety of broadcast networks and allowed respondents to write-in additional choices. Table 1 SELECTED PROGRAM CHOICES AMONG RESPONDENTS’ FAVORITE AND OCCASIONAL PROGRAM STUDIES Program Name Net % Selected Favorites % Selected Occasional American Idol Survivor CSI Friends Other Alias FOX CBS CBS NBC VAR ABC 5% 5% 21% 11% 45% 5% 10% 8% 15% 18% 25% 4% Everybody Loves Ray. CBS 9% 20% Total 100% 100% Source: Initiative Media Favorite Program Study; March 2003; Favorite vs. Occasional Program Study; April 2003 The results show a very similar pattern of a deep commitment among Favorite Show viewers when compared to American Idol Loyals. (See figure 10.) 24 D. Ernst, S.L. Koerner, H. Jenkins, S. Shresthova, B. Theisen, A. Chisholm Figure 10 VIEWERS WATCHING THEIR FAVORITE PROGRAMS HAVE STRONG CONNECTIONS TO SHOW 0 20 40 60 80 100 Favorite Program Idol Loyals Occasional Show Viewers Watch Entire Pay Full Attention Go to Show Show Website Source: Initiative Media American Idol 2 Study, Favorite Program Study; March 2003; Favorite vs. Occasional Program Study; April 2003 The pattern of the most important program attributes are much the same as the patterns we found when looking at committed/loyal American Idol 2 viewers. Recall that there were very significant differences in these levels when we examined these attributes among. Idol Loyals vs. Occasional American Idol viewers. That we were able to derive such similar attribute profiles for viewers of favorite shows (and such dissimilar patterns vs. less engaged viewers) reinforces the idea that these factors have a strong responsibility for creating show loyalty in the first place. Figure 11 ‘FAVORITE SHOW’ PROGRAM ATTRIBUTES HIGHLY CORRELATED WITH IDOL LOYAL VIEWING PATTERNS (% STRONGLY AGREE) 80 60 40 20 0 Occasional Show Viewers Idol Loyals Favorite Show Entertains Make Effort to Watch Holds Interest Escape Get Very Involved Relaxed Source: Initiative Media American Idol 2 Study, Favorite Program Study; March 2003; Favorite v. Occasional Program Study; April 2003 Walking the path None of these findings is surprising, since we are essentially comparing groups of very committed viewers (program fans) to more casual or occasional viewers of the program. One would expect to see high levels of attention and engagement with the program content from a viewer who invests a great deal of their time and emotional capital into a show that they would call one of their favorites. What may be surprising, however, is the dramatically high rate at which these levels of program engagement translate into advertising attention and receptivity. As the next chart highlights, engaged viewers are twice as likely (in the case of American Idol 2) to pay attention to advertising. It is therefore not surprising that they are two to three times more likely to remember product categories advertised. Likewise, it follows that engaged, loyal viewers are less inclined to switch channels during commercial breaks. Note also how American Idol 2 fans are more highly attentive than viewers of other favorite shows. Certain qualities of the American Idol series make it a particularly powerful demonstration of the ability of select television series to create distinctive forms of viewer loyalty. At its core, the show appears to be more of a cultural phenomenon than the standard drama or sitcom series. This arises from its live reality television format and its ability to effectively link content with advertising and product placement, paying dividends in advertising recall. Figure 12 HIGH ENGAGEMENT FACTORS PRODUCE A MORE RECEPTIVE AUDIENCE FOR ADVERTISING 64.1 70 59.3 58.5 60 44.9 50 40 27.9 30 19.9 20 10.2 9.6 15.1 11.8 10.2 7.7 10 0 Remember Categories Advertised Pay Attention to Ads Switch Channels During Commercials Idol Loyals Favorite Show Viewers Occasional Show Viewers Occasional Idol Viewers Source: Initiative Media American Idol 2 Study; March 2003; Favorite v. Occasional Program Study; April 2003 This begins to lay the foundation for assessing the driving factors for understanding the most important attributes that foster loyal/favorite show viewers. The significance of unraveling and diagnosing these relationships is elevated by the indications that loyal viewers translate into stronger bonds with content, greater attention to advertising, and overall better message understanding and recall. 26 D. Ernst, S.L. Koerner, H. Jenkins, S. Shresthova, B. Theisen, A. Chisholm Understanding the Building Blocks of Media Relationships Attitudinal/Behavioral Constructs A necessary dimension of study within the expression concept is therefore to better understand the building blocks that form the relationship between audiences and media texts. Uncovering the constructs that build relationships with audiences moves us closer to predicting the efficacy of media texts beyond a blanket exposure measure of Gross Rating Points. A more concrete understanding of these relationships can lead to the ability to leverage deeper commitment among viewers for enhancing brand messaging. Of course we will need further details within each dimension on specific program environments and other venues/vehicles. We would thereby develop a greater understanding of the Relational Media Equity inherent among the most critical elements of audiences. A deeper exploration of this premise could lead to substantiation for the expression being articulated as a unit of media value that reveals how these relationship constructs translate into greater brand saliency and message retention. A first step toward dimensioning these relationships was through an assessment of attitudinal responses to program viewing experiences. Factor analysis was used as a data reduction technique on 20 items associated with the question “Thinking about your favorite show, please use the following scale to rate how much you agree or disagree” with each item. Respondents ranked each item on a 5-point “Agree/Disagree” scale. While all items measured specifically different behaviors or attitudes, they appeared to tap into only a few theoretical constructs. There were four factors – or themes – that emerged in the analysis: Relevance, Affinity, Comfort, and Resonance. Most of the 20 original items loaded onto two themes – Relevance and Affinity. That is, most of the attitudes and behaviors being measured in this question tapped into some aspect of how relevant the show is to the respondent, or how fond of the show the respondent is. Fewer items made up the two constructs Comfort and Resonance. Table 2 illustrates the factor loadings of all 20 items onto the four constructs. The numbers in each cell represent the strength of the items, or the degree to which the individual indicators capture the underlying construct. Indicators with a stronger correlation are consequently the stronger measures of the construct. For example, “It entertains me” (.845) and “Usually holds my interest for an entire episode” (.840) are stronger measures of Affinity than the item “I discuss show with others” (.452). Furthermore, results of this factor analysis reveal patterns in the respondent data. Within each construct, respondents who answered “strongly agree” to a specific item most likely answered similarly to the other items within that factor, and the same is true Walking the path for the converse. It should be noted that only one of the original 20 items (“I look for other shows similar to my favorite”) did not significantly load onto any of the four constructs. Table 2 FAVORITE SHOW RELATIONSHIP FACTORS ROTATED COMPONENT MATRIX Relevance Affinity Comfort Resonance 0.755 I get information 0.751 0.660 I trust the show and characters 0.646 0.637 Challenges my worldview 0.636 0.468 It entertains me 0.845 0.840 0.682 I discuss show with others 0.452 0.768 Lets me escape and/or forget troubles 0.761 0.606 I feel relaxed during/after viewing 0.570 0.801 This show exhibits values that I believe in The show and characters are relevant to me and my life Teaches me how to cope Makes me feel “with-it” and “up-todate” Usually holds my interest for entire episode I make an effort to watch each episode Keeps me company when I’m alone Provides me with a sense of comfort I record the show if I know I’m going to miss it Spending time w/my favorite show is pleasurable experience 0.780 I think about what happened in the show days following it 0.554 0.449 I get very involved w/the character/ participants Source: Initiative Media Favorite Program Study; March 2003. Extraction Method: Principal Component Analysis; Rotation Method: Varimax with Kaiser Normalization 28 D. Ernst, S.L. Koerner, H. Jenkins, S. Shresthova, B. Theisen, A. Chisholm Now that there are only four constructs, albeit comprised of 19 measures, it becomes easier to assess any relationships among the overall data in the survey. If the overall viewer relationship with favorite programs can be clustered in this way, what can we learn about the individual drivers and their propensity to describe relationships across demographics? If we dissect the respondents who agreed with the principal factors within each construct, we begin to see a pattern emerge. Affinity, Comfort and Resonance all decline in importance to viewers as they age, but Relevance increases. Intuitively, this makes sense as adults become more cognizant of their values as they age and likely are more able to readily identify it in the media texts that they encounter. Figure 13 FAVORITE SHOW RELATIONSHIP CLUSTERS % AGREE WITH HIGHEST CORRELATED FACTOR 120% 100% 80% 60% 40% 20% 0% Relevance Affinity Comfort Resonance P<18 P18-34 P35-49 P50+ Source: Initiative Media Favorite Program Study; March 2003 Turning toward advertising, the defined data clusters now make it manageable to identify the nuances between the relationship respondents have for a show and their attitudes toward the advertising within the show. There were several questions in the survey measuring recall of and attitudes toward advertising, as well as degree of involvement respondents have with their favorite show’s website, etc. Hypotheses and research questions (e.g., “Are people who answered “Strongly Agree” to Affinity indicators more likely to recall and/or respond positively to advertisements aired within the program?” and “Do these same respondents trust the products being used by characters within the show?”) were addressed. Results indicate that Affinity has a stronger association with attitudes toward traditional advertising, than the other three constructs do. Specifically, while all four constructs relate to how a viewer regards advertising and product placement, Affinity has a higher correlation with several of the measures for Walking the path positive attitudes about traditional advertising. The following table illustrates the relationships between Affinity and respondents’ attitudes toward advertising and product placement. Respondents with a high affinity toward their favorite show pay attention to advertising during the show, and remember product categories, and even specific ads/sponsors being advertised. Furthermore, they not only notice and enjoy product placements in the show, they also trust the brands being used by characters. Viewers with a high affinity toward a show tend to “strongly disagree” or “disagree” with the negative perceptions of advertising as well. These viewers are comfortable with the level of advertising exposure they receive while watching their favorite program and they tend not to switch channels or leave the room when ads appear. Figure 14 CORRELATION OF ADVERTISING ATTITUDES WITH AFFINITY CLUSTER FAVORITE SHOW Ads interfere with my enjoyment Too many ads per break Too many ads per episode Switch Channels Like Advertising Too Much Product Placement Trust Product Placement Brands Like Product Placement Notice Product Placement Remember Specific Ads Remember Product Categories Pay Attention to Ads -0.15 -0.1 -0.05 0 0.05 0.1 0.15 Source: Initiative Media Favorite Program Study; March 2003 Again, intuitively, this makes sense. Affinity is an emotional construct and when there is a fondness for a show, it is assumed that this fondness is for the show in its overall “viewing context”. Viewers tend to not isolate the content of the show from the overall viewing environment and experience they have while viewing. This includes the show, the ads, the product placements, the physical environment where the viewer is, etc. While Relevance (a cognitive construct), for example, is related to a viewer’s attitudes about advertising during a show, they can still feel a show is important/relevant to their lives but not enjoy – or remember – the ads aired during the show. Interestingly, results 30 D. Ernst, S.L. Koerner, H. Jenkins, S. Shresthova, B. Theisen, A. Chisholm indicate that Relevance is more positively associated with product placement than with advertising; “characters using brands” strikes a positive chord with viewers who say the show is “relevant” to their lives. This supports the ideas in Festinger’s Theory of Cognitive Dissonance. These viewers are gravitating toward content that has significant meaning to them, and therefore, they interpret all elements of that experience as contributions toward constructing that relevant space. Again we can look to the ethnographic research conducted at MIT for more concrete examples of how relevance is operationalized in the audience relationship. Through one-on-one depth interviews, the following indications of relevance became evident. Whether or not respondents watched American Idol 2 regularly or occasionally, they sensed an emerging association between shows like American Idol 2 and “aspirations” communicated through related advertising. For example, one respondent felt that the way the female contestants were presented (their clothes, make-up and persona) corresponded directly to the images portrayed in cosmetic and clothing ads. As a consequence, they did not react negatively to product placement in a show as ‘commercial as American Idol 2’ and perceived it as “just another part in this whole system.” Several respondents believed that there is a relationship between what is being advertised and the type of show being aired. For example, they said they would expect to see a lot of beer ads in a sports show. Some even said that when they channel surf they could identify the type of show they tuned into from the advertising. Product Placement evoked more of an ambiguous attitude, as respondents saw it as part of a larger structure of ‘how TV works’. Several conveyed anecdotes about how they viewed product placement in different shows: “I find myself trying to pick out products placed in shows and get an ‘ah-ha’ moment when I find one.” We should note that although we performed the same factor analyses on occasional viewers (with a fairly robust sample size), there were not enough respondents to strongly agree with any of the attitudinal statements to form reliable clusters of data. Walking the path Figure 15 CORRELATION OF ADVERTISING ATTITUDES WITH RELEVANCE CLUSTER FAVORITE SHOW Too Much Product Placement Too m any ads per break Too m any ads per episode Ads interfere w ith m y enjoym ent Sw itch Channels Notice Product Placem ent Remember Specific Ads Rem em ber Product Categories Pay Attention to Ads Like Product Placem ent Trust Product Placem ent Brands Like Advertising -0.08 -0.06 -0.04 -0.02 0.00 0.02 0.04 0.06 0.08 0.10 0.12 Source: Initiative Media Favorite Program Study; March 2003 The Impact of Genres If we perform the same exercise on the data by genre we again see new patterns emerge. The correlation of attitudinal factors within the relevance construct, for example, varies by genre. This suggests that viewers who find relevance in selected media texts have different perceptions of advertising. For example, the likeability of advertising is most highly correlated with reality programming, whereas viewers trust product placement within dramas the most. Interestingly, while viewers trust the brands used within dramas, they like it the least of all genres we measured. Respondents within our one-on-one interviews expressed this sentiment succinctly. Overall, they felt that product placements “can be annoying, but I guess that’s how it works.” The type of show had significant impact on tolerance of brands incorporated into the story lines. For the respondents, a show like American Idol 2 lends itself to product placement more readily than a narrative like crime-and- justice drama, Law & Order. 32 D. Ernst, S.L. Koerner, H. Jenkins, S. Shresthova, B. Theisen, A. Chisholm Figure 16 CORRELATION OF ADVERTISING ATTITUDES WITH RELEVANCE CONSTRUCT – FAVORITE SHOWS -0.2 -0.1 0 0.1 0.2 0.3 Like Ads Like Product Placement Trust Product Placement Brands Switch Channels Ads Interfere w/Enjoyment Comedy Drama Reality Source: Initiative Media Favorite Program Study; March 2003 AMERICAN IDOL 3? ALIAS: SEASON 3? FRIENDS: SEASON 10? CONTINUING TO WALK THE PATH TOWARD EXPRESSION Last year, we defined the expression to include both quantitative and qualitative measures for creative unit, media environment, viewer involvement, attentiveness, message communication values, and targeting affinity. Since then, we have looked critically at two major television properties, Survivor and American Idol, in our attempts to construct a theoretical framework and develop applications to help us better evaluate the challenges in determining advertising value in this profound period of media convergence and evolution. As our preliminary results demonstrate, we have identified several legitimate approaches to observing, measuring and evaluating media environment, viewer involvement, and targeting affinity. We need to push further in identifying methodologies and metrics that better situate the creative unit within this framework, recognizing that genre types and media channels play important roles in providing natural points of audience engagement. While our research has thus far focused on reality television, we would like to explore other genres, including drama and comedy, to determine additional approaches and relevant metrics. Some of what we have learned through research of reality television may apply to other properties, while some may not. Ultimately the expression should represent a single value or consistent measure across both genres and media channels. As our research methodology shows, the variables are complex and the experiments a case of trial and error, some of which take us in productive and thought-provoking directions while others lead us to dead ends. Walking the path To better understand how our expression components translate into consumer effects, parallel research studies are necessary to dig deeper into more qualitative aspects of media value and multi-media comparisons. These should have the capacity to be directly linked to pure audience studies so that very detailed information about the audience can be integrated with the most accurate estimates of viewership, readership, and consumer behavior. Our ultimate goal is to balance the need for quality and fill in the tremendous information gaps we now encounter trying to understand advertising effectiveness. From an agency perspective, a major goal for media professionals should be to find the best venues to energize advertising messages through media context. In addition, the potential of interactivity to change the nature of audience exposure and participation in many existing and emerging media forms demands a broader set of tools to measure value, solutions not solely tied to the decades-old notion of watching a specific channel at a specific time or having a respondent recall their behavior over a week or a month. Audience interactions with all types of media need to be captured and reported to fully depict anticipated consumer behavior. The advertising/media industry, as well as colleagues in media and cultural studies, has much work to do as technology platforms proliferate and audiences mediate and personalize their experiences. The audience’s ability to dictate choice to participate in the content and dialogue – either actively or passively – is a critical factor in determining effective program and brand message exposures. With the consumer exerting more control over their experience, the media value equation is transposed, necessitating an entirely new method of developing strategic platforms and building brand value. While we have only just begun, we believe we are on a productive path to developing better tools to assess value. ACKNOWLEDGEMENT Pamela Marsh, of Initiative Media North America, contributed critical design and analysis of Initiative’s quantitative research. FOOTNOTES 1. Ritson’s research was premised on the problematic assumption of “exposure” that assumes that audiences actually watch ads. The key findings of the research included: 1) ad breaks are a welcome chance to do other things, 2) viewers alone invariably change channels during ad breaks, and 3) as the number of people watching increases, the probability of ads being zapped decreases but attention also decreases as people turn to talk to each other. 34 D. Ernst, S.L. Koerner, H. Jenkins, S. Shresthova, B. Theisen, A. Chisholm REFERENCES Appadurai, Arjun. (2000, original 1996): Modernity at Large: Cultural Dimensions of Globalization. Minneapolis, Minn.: University of Minnesota Press. Jenkins, Henry. (1992). Textual Poachers. London: Routledge. Jenkins, Henry. (2003): Reception Theory and Audience Research: The Mystery of the Vampire’s Kiss. Online article: web.mit.edu/21fms/www/faculty/henry3/vampkiss.html. Morley, David. (1980). Family Television: Cultural Power and Domestic Leisure. London: Comedia Pub. Group. Ritson, Mark. (2002). How Viewers Interact with Adverts. Future Media Monthly News. July, Issue 64 published by Future Media, London Business School. (2003). Broadcast. 14 March. UK. pp.13. THE AUTHORS David D. Ernst is ExecutiveVice President Director of Futures and Technologies, Initiative Media North America, United States. Stacey Lynn Koerner is Executive Vice President, Director of Global Research Integration, Initiative Media North America, United States. Henry Jenkins is Director, Comparative Media Studies, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), United States. Sangita Shresthova is a graduate student, Comparative Media Studies, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), United States. Brian Theisen is a Research Manager, Comparative Media Studies, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), United States. Alex Chisholm is Director, Development and External Relations, Comparative Media Studies, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), United States.