Wednesday, September 12, 2007

How People Sense Media

The use—and limitations—of eyeballs and ears

Erwin Ephron

The following ray of sunlight is from a copy- testing company (name delicately withheld): "There is an open battle for the eyes and ears of consumers... and a silent battle for their hearts and minds."

I think they got it right the first time. Checking eyes and ears can make our media dollars smarter. Hearts and minds I leave to Beth Israel.

Clark Gable had big ears when small ones would have done. He learned his movie roles by listening while he slept. The often overlooked point is that eyes can close, but ears cannot. Which brings us to the subject: our different media senses—how they work and how well we measure them.

The Media Senses

Media exposure is defined by our senses, not by research. The key media senses are seeing (TV, print, Internet, out-of-home) and hearing (radio, TV, Internet). Print also has an underrated touch dimension, which allows us to skim the pages.

When the Advertising Research Foundation was a frisky five years younger, it constructed a model for measuring media. The critical behavior for TV audience is eyes on the screen. This is worth some thought.

Seeing is a voluntary or conscious sense. We turn or point the head to see things (some frogs don't have to). And we close our eyes not to see things and to sleep (some fish can't do that either).

Hearing is involuntary in that we may not be listening, but we cannot shut our ears.

A Peeping TV

The words "viewing," "seeing" and "watching" all have slightly different shadings, but that's smoke. When the words are used in TV research, they should mean seeing, or eyes are on the screen.

The people meter is coy. It claims to report watching, but it doesn't measure seeing, although the technology is available. The short explanation is people think having a peeping TV in the bedroom taking pictures is an invasion of privacy.

To report TV exposure, the people meter asks respondents to push a button when they start and stop watching TV. Watching is a vague term. They don't push the button when they turn their head, or close their eyes or multitask or leave the room briefly. In those cases they are continuously recorded as watching, even though they do not see the screen.

This minor malfeasance—widespread during commercial breaks—significantly inflates commercial minute audience. It makes advertisers pay for viewers who do not see the screen.

Radio's Value Is Hearing

Just as an ideal TV currency measures seeing, an ideal radio currency measures hearing. The difference, is hearing is involuntary (or unconscious).

A noisy neighbor is annoying because we cannot close our ears. When sound is present, we may not focus on it, but we are aware of it. All of us can hear without listening.

The radio portable people meter is a passive system that measures hearing. When respondents carry a PPM, they hear any carrier signal the PPM records since the PPM registers a radio exposure only when it is audible to the human ear.

That is the key sensory and measurement difference between TV and radio. Even when listeners are not listening, they still hear radio. But when viewers are not viewing, they do not see television. Why is this important?

The Basement of the Brain

Brand awareness is the hard currency of advertising, but a second kind of awareness has bubbled up from the basement of the brain. It's the kind that Gable used when he learned his lines while sleeping.

Neuroscience shows the brain processes things unconsciously as well as consciously. Advertisers see value in this unconscious, or "low-involvement" processing of advertising. They find it helps consumers remember brands and can influence their brand decisions.

Hearing, as distinct from listening, is a good example of low-involvement processing.

The Surround of Sound

What does this mean to radio advertisers? In addition to conscious awareness (listening), radio is the poster child for low-involvement awareness (hearing). This combination gives radio the most complete attentiveness package of any medium.

Listeners when not listening still hear radio. But when viewers don't see television, viewers don't see television.

Is that why we call both audience?



Erwin Ephron is a partner of Ephron, Papazian & Ephron, a leading consultancy to advertisers and the media industry. He can be reached at ephronny@aol.com or at ephrononmedia.com.