GfK unveils new Media 1-up study
Our latest GfK research report, written by Susannah Palmer, looks at the company’s new qualitative study “Media 1-up”…
The idea
This year marked the launch of a new study by GfK NOP Media. Researchers were inspired by the idea behind the TV programme launched in 1964 ‘seven-up’, which visited the same individuals every seven years creating a unique real-life narrative on their lives. The media landscape moves fast, so GfK have begun a process where they will contact the same respondents every year, spending time with them in their homes and observing how their media habits, technology and consumption have changed over the previous year, and their expectations for the year ahead.
The research
The interviews and observations take place with 20 respondents from all parts of the UK. They were selected to represent and reflect different life stages, demographics and have varying interests in technology as well as access to different platforms. All together the respondents represent a wide cross-section of the population and have become part of a unique longitudinal media qualitative research project.
Phase 1 took place in Summer 2009, and as well as including a tour of the home observing how and where media technology fitted in to each room, the extended depth interview included a focus on time shifted content.
The findings
The findings of the first wave of this study are broad and detailed – the interviews covered a whole host of topics – here are just a couple of highlights from the time shifted focus of this wave.
Time shifted viewing was often used on occasions where there were two or more programmes the viewer wanted to watch, screening simultaneously. In choosing which programme to watch live and which to watch later, the programme type was the deciding factor. Highly topical programmes which are likely to be talked about (e.g. The Apprentice) were usually chosen as the programme to watch live over other programmes. These programmes were chosen for live viewing as they were programmes that the viewers were more likely to discuss with friends. They therefore felt that they could not delay viewing (particularly if they were relying on online catch up services).
Those who time shift generally believed that it had improved their television viewing experiences. Amongst those with access to both a PVR and the internet, use of a PVR was the preferred mode of time shifting, with use of online services seen more as a back-up plan. However, those without a PVR were reliant on online services for time shifted viewing. These individuals were interested in getting a PVR in the future. PC-based time-shifting is seen as inferior to those based on the traditional TV screen, primarily because respondents feel more in control (no waiting for it to appear online), have a higher quality viewing experience and can store programmes for when they want to watch them without the worry of the programmes being removed.
The future
Wave 2 of Media 1-up is planned for Spring 2010, when we will be visiting respondents for a second time – seeing if their expectations have been realised, what changes or developments (or not) have happened for them over the past year, and how this has changed their media behaviour and consumption. One of the themes for next wave (in addition to the full media usage discussion) will be music, but we will also be including any key themes relevant to subscribers.
If you are interested in knowing more about the findings from wave 1 or being involved in shaping the content for wave 2, please get in touch with Susannah Palmer