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A major broadcast network sought to gain a deeper understanding of consumers’ ad perceptions and viewing habits when watching the network’s programming on different platforms: Live, VOD, desktop, or mobile.  To this end, E-Poll conducted online research to measure the perception and sentiment toward advertising and advertisers across each platform using the ADvance™ ad effectiveness solution.

METHODOLOGY

The online quantitative survey was administered among four separate groups who were recruited to watch one of the network’s popular crime dramas, referred to hereafter as [Program], on a specific date or timeframe.

1. LIVE TV VIEWERS – Recruited to watch [PROGRAM] on a TV screen- live
2. VOD STB VIEWERS – Recruited to watch [PROGRAM] via VOD on a TV screen
3. DESKTOP/LAPTOP VIEWERS – Recruited to watch [PROGRAM] on a  desktop/laptop computer
4. MOBILE VIEWERS – Recruited to watch [PROGRAM] on a mobile device

The episode of the program that each group was recruited to watch included the same advertisements for two car manufacturers and several movie trailers.

FINDINGS

Non-linear platforms, those outside of Live TV, generally performed as well or better than Live TV with regard to advertising recall, brand perceptions and intent to act.  This suggests that each platform or viewing experience strengthens the advertiser’s message, regardless of the platform(s) a viewer chooses to enjoy their selected content.  These findings were useful to the network to bolster cross-platform ad sales efforts.

Attentiveness to advertising was fairly consistent across the groups, with about two-thirds saying they were attentive to the commercials during [PROGRAM].  Viewers across all platforms generally felt the advertising they watched fit well with the program.

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Although advertising was effective across all platforms, several key distinctions between the groups emerged from the research:

• Live TV viewers seem to have the greatest overall advertising recall, as they recalled seeing more commercials during the course of the program than the Non-Linear groups.
• VOD viewers seem most accepting of advertising. Although the majority of viewers accept commercials as part of being able to watch [PROGRAM], this is most true for VOD Viewers.
• Mobile Viewers seem most favorable towards advertising, as they are most likely to have liked the ads and to have liked the message of most of the ads.
• Desktop/Laptop Viewers seem most attentive to advertising, with attentiveness was directionally highest for Desktop/Laptop Viewers.

There were also some interesting differences found in the reactions to specific advertising among the Non-Linear Groups:

• VOD Viewers and Mobile Viewers were most attentive to the car commercials and tended to rate all car brands more highly than the other platform viewers.
• VOD and Mobile viewers responded more positively to the foreign car maker commercials while Desktop and Laptop viewers responded more positively to the domestic car maker commercials.
• Although recall of the movie trailers was highest among Desktop/Laptop Viewers, followed by Live TV Viewers, VOD Viewers and Mobile Viewers rated most of the movie trailers more highly than the other groups, and indicated they were more likely consider going to see the movies advertised.

The platform chosen to watch TV content tends to dictate the environment and physical position of the viewer. Most Desktop and Mobile viewers chose to watch [PROGRAM] at home.  Over half of viewers (regardless of platform) watched [PROGRAM] sitting in a relaxed way.  Desktop/Laptop Viewers were more likely than others to sit in an alert way, and not surprisingly, Mobile Viewers were more apt than others to be in-motion while viewing [PROGRAM].

Conclusion

E-Poll has combined 20 years of best practices in research into ADvance, the new standard in ad effectiveness. Brand and marketing decision makers leverage ADvance to provide critical intelligence necessary to make adjustments to creative elements, strategies, sales projections, etc.

Click here for more information about E-Poll‘s ADvance ad effectiveness solution.

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Resources

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