The proliferation of available options and the increasing pressure on leisure time are reflected in a new report which shows that almost 70% of US consumers use various forms of media at the same time.
The latest Simultaneous Media Survey (SIMM) carried out by
BIGresearch, shows that over 68% of respondents say they regularly or occasionally simultaneously utilise more than one medium. When the survey was last carried out in November 2002 (see
US Turns On To Dual-Media Consumption), the comparative figure was around 50%.
“Today’s competitive but slow growing markets are forcing more marketers to do more with less,” said Dr Joe Pilotta, VP Research of BIGresearch and one of the study’s authors. “And when it comes to marketing/advertising, more executives expect higher returns on their expenditures. Unfortunately, the outdated media planning models developed for a mass marketing economy populated with few media options no longer work in today’s world. As a result, most marketing programs fail, and the average return on investment is about 1.5%,” he asserted.
Some activities combine more naturally with others and this should alert advertisers seeking to analyse the potenetial impact of a commercial message. For instance, nearly 24% of men and 29% of women regularly go online while they are watching TV but comparatively few listen to the radio or read newspapers/magazines. The findings show that women and those in the 25-34 age range are most inclined to use different media at once.
“Understanding simultaneous media usage will help marketers to understand the potential erosion of impact an advertisement may have as a result of the intermittent engagements that various consumer groups have with a particular medium at any point in time. SIMM usage, when not understood, creates much of the ‘slippage’ in marketing campaigns, which adversely affects return on investment,” said Pilotta.
| Percentage Of US Consumers Who Regularly Engage In Simultaneous Media Usage (%) |
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
Gender |
Age |
| |
Male |
Female |
18-24 |
25-34 |
35-44 |
45-54 |
55-64 |
65+ |
| Read Newspaper and: |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Listen To Radio |
13.8 |
13.5 |
15.6 |
14.6 |
12.7 |
13.7 |
11.9 |
13.5 |
| Watch TV |
21.4 |
26.1 |
18.8 |
24.0 |
25.7 |
26.3 |
25.4 |
21.1 |
| Go Online |
7.9 |
6.3 |
8.5 |
8.5 |
6.7 |
7.4 |
6.3 |
5.2 |
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Listen To Radio and: |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Read Newspaper |
10.4 |
10.1 |
8.5 |
10.9 |
10.1 |
10.5 |
9.8 |
11.0 |
| Watch TV |
7.4 |
7.2 |
6.7 |
8.5 |
8.7 |
7.8 |
4.7 |
5.9 |
| Go Online |
16.2 |
17.4 |
20.0 |
20.0 |
18.0 |
17.3 |
13.3 |
11.5 |
| Read Magazines |
5.9 |
6.6 |
9.4 |
8.0 |
6.2 |
5.4 |
4.7 |
4.3 |
| Read Mail |
8.3 |
9.5 |
10.7 |
10.7 |
8.0 |
8.7 |
6.9 |
8.5 |
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Watch TV and: |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Listen To Radio |
3.6 |
2.4 |
4.6 |
4.6 |
3.7 |
2.4 |
0.9 |
1.7 |
| Go Online |
23.8 |
29.1 |
29.0 |
29.0 |
28.5 |
29.1 |
26.4 |
20.8 |
| Read Magazines |
5.4 |
7.3 |
7.2 |
8.1 |
6.7 |
6.3 |
5.6 |
4.3 |
| Read Newspaper |
8.2 |
10.1 |
6.9 |
10.1 |
9.3 |
10.4 |
10.2 |
7.8 |
| Read Mail |
9.8 |
12.6 |
11.5 |
12.8 |
11.5 |
11.2 |
11.4 |
9.0 |
| Source: BIGresearch, April 2003 |
