MEC Australia has revealed the results of a pioneering neuroscience study of social TV viewing – with figures that suggest interaction with social media while watching TV drives a nine per cent increase in program engagement.
The research was conducted in partnership with Australia’s Seven Network and Neuro-Insight, in a bid to discover the true impact of social media channels on engagement levels with first and second screens. Those recruited were typical social TV participants and were monitored though hidden cameras as they watched a live X-Factor broadcast on the Seven Network late last year – with all interaction occurring naturally.
According to the results of the study:
- Social media interaction while watching TV drives a 9 per cent increase in engagement
- Respondents interact with programming during a broadcast four times on average
- Such interactions act as ‘reset moments’, after which engagement levels return higher
- Throughout the program, cumulative increase in engagement is 26 per cent
- Second-screen interaction positively impacts Detailed Memory Encoding – the ability to remember specific elements of the broadcast.
In addition, the findings disprove the theory that second-screen usage negatively impacts audience engagement, instead substantiating the value of TV sponsorship and social media extensions.
James Hier, MEC Australia’s chief strategy officer, said: “Engagement is impossible for people to articulate through crude measures of recall, attitudinal research or even eye-tracking. The only way to measure engagement is neurologically.”
“This study teaches us that advertising messages should capitalise on viewers’ heightened receptivity to details, and that we should optimise the type and timing of advertising messages within a TV program.”