Council for Research Excellence Establishes Comprehensive Database
for Study of Video-User Experience
Project Led by BIA/Kelsey and the George Washington University
School of Media & Public Affairs
NEW YORK, N.Y. (June 15, 2011) -
The Council for Research Excellence (CRE),
a diverse group of senior research professionals from throughout the
media and advertising industries dedicated to advancing the knowledge
and practice of audience measurement methodology, announced today that
it has compiled a substantial citation database of available research
relating to the video consumer’s experience across multiple platforms
and screens.
The database was produced as part of the initial phase of CRE’s
Study of User Experience on Multiple Video Screens and Formats, known
as the “UX” – for “user experience” – Study.
The database will archive citations of more than 150 industry and academic
studies, many of which are provided in full. The archive, along with
the findings of the initial phase of the UX study, is available at
the CRE website, http://www.researchexcellence.com/.
The CRE is planning a series of discussions within various sectors
of the audience-research industry to explore the implications of the
collected findings.
This initial phase of the study, designed to gather and review significant
research insightful to the video-user experience on various devices, was announced
in February 2011 and undertaken on CRE’s behalf by a team led by BIA/Kelsey
Chief Strategy Officer Rick Ducey with the assistance of Patricia Phalen, Associate
Professor at the George Washington University School of Media & Public
Affairs. It opens the door to a broader CRE effort to delve deeply into the
video-user experience to develop greater understanding of video consumers’ influences
and motivations. Following a further review of the material gathered as part
of the initial phase, CRE members will formulate questions to be addressed
and will issue RFPs for the next phase of the study.
In this initial phase, the research team sought to address the following questions:
What drives the choice of screen for the consumer?
How does viewing
vary with chosen screen?
What is an appropriate vocabulary and methodology
for understanding viewing styles?
What is the context of use across various
screens – is the use complementary, additive or zero-sum?
What methodologies
are best to understand these uses?
Initial findings for each research question will help in guiding the next
phase of study. For example, the researchers found that screen choice is driven
by both best screen available and best function available; the bigger screen
is not necessarily the “best” screen; multi-screen use is clearly
complementary rather than cannibalistic; and researching cross-platform video
media requires multiple methodologies.
“The CRE’s Video Consumer Mapping (VCM) Study, the results of
which were first announced in 2009, explored consumers’ video-use habits,” noted
Jack Wakshlag, chief research officer, Turner Broadcasting, and chairman of
the CRE’s Media Consumption & Engagement Committee. “This
just-completed research effort, and the resulting database, is a major step
in helping the CRE undertake the next phase of study of video consumption – providing
integrated studies of the user experience across screens. Something we’ve
learned from this initial phase is that we can forget conventional wisdom about
multi-screen behavior; no one yet has definitive answers.”
“Our next step at CRE is to share these findings, and those of the major
second phase of this project, with the entire research community to help advance
the dialogue and understanding of video use,” added Greg Ross, Director,
North American Media & Marketing, for Procter & Gamble, who serves
on the CRE’s Media Consumption & Engagement Committee.
“As video content becomes increasingly available across TV, mobile and
Internet platforms, it is clear that users are accessing more video overall,” Ducey
said. “They are seeking both familiar and new types of content and experiences
on these new platforms. The ‘User Experience’ with linear, on-demand
and interactive video is associated with different viewing styles and types
of engagement. It is critical for both advertisers and media to understand
these relationships to develop more effective campaigns and richer audience
experiences.”
To date, the CRE has completed several major studies, including the Video
Consumer Mapping Study, conducted in 2008, involving in-person, computer-assisted
observation of media consumption; a Set-Top Box Study, examining the state
of set-top box-based audience research; a landmark Non-Response Bias Study,
exploring the impact and correlates of non-response to Nielsen surveys; a study
of Media-related Universe Estimates; and “data-mining” from the
Video Consumer Mapping Study, revealing consumers’ habits immediately
before, during and after TV commercials, and their media consumption habits
immediately prior to shopping, among other topics.
About the Council for Research Excellence
The Council for Research Excellence (CRE) is an independent research group
created (in 2005) and funded by The Nielsen Company. CRE is dedicated to advancing
the knowledge and practice of audience measurement methodology and is comprised
of senior-level industry researchers representing advertisers, agencies, broadcast
networks, cable, syndicators, local stations, and industry associations.
CRE members represent advertising agencies and media-buying firms including
Bromley Communications, Carat, Deutsch, GroupM, Horizon Media, Magna, Riester,
Starcom MediaVest and TargetCast tcm; media companies including CBS, Comcast,
Cox, Discovery, Disney, Hearst Television, NBC Universal, News Corporation,
Raycom Media, Scripps Networks, Time Warner, Univision and Viacom; advertisers
including Kimberly-Clark, Microsoft, Procter & Gamble and Unilever; industry
organizations including the Media Rating Council, the Syndicated Network Television
Association; and The Nielsen Company; and the investment bank Nomura Securities.
BIA/Kelsey advises companies in the local media space through consulting
and valuation services, research, Continuous Advisory Services and
conferences. Since 1983 BIA/Kelsey has been a resource to the media,
mobile advertising, telecommunications, Yellow Pages and electronic
directory markets, as well as to government agencies, law firms and
investment companies looking to understand trends and revenue drivers.
BIA/Kelsey’s annual conferences draw executives from across industries
seeking expert guidance on how companies are finding innovative ways
to grow. Additional information is available at www.biakelsey.com,
on the company’s Local
Media Watch blog, Twitter at http://twitter.com/BIAKelsey and
Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/biakelsey).
Council for Research Excellence Establishes Comprehensive Database
for Study of Video-User Experience
