MULTI-TASKING MEDIA Consumers are merging the Internet with other media.

Internet users, more than ever before, are multitasking and incorporating different and new media types into an interconnected experience, according to a recent survey by Burst Media. The study found that over four-fifths (82.4%) of respondents are involved with another media, activity, or device while online. Among these multi-taskers, nearly one-quarter (23.6%) are “super-taskers” juggling four or more tasks while online. Watching television (58.3%) is the most common offline activity connected with Internet consumption.

In this hectic, multi-tasking environment, the consumer’s attention span is fragmented. Whether doing work, talking on the phone, listening to the radio or playing video games, consumers are simultaneously pulling information from an array of sources. The implication for marketers will be to simultaneously direct ad dollars into an array of media choices to capture this fragmented attention.

In October 2007, Burst Media, a leading provider of advertising representation, services and technology to independent Web Publishers, conducted an online study of 2,700 web users 18 and older about activities they engage in while online. This web-based survey also examined how media fragmentation impacts the ability to market to people online.

The survey also revealed several interesting findings about how consumers’ online habits are changing television viewing patterns. Some of these findings include:

– Online Content and Television Programming is Often Complementary: Burst Media found that three out of four (75.6%) respondents who watch television while online visit websites directly related to the program they are watching; and 6.2% of respondents combine online and offline “all the time”. The segment most likely to view web and related television content are men between the ages of 18-24.

– Series TV Drives Consumers to the Web: Entertainment programming drives respondents to the web. Three-quarters (75.5%) of the survey respondents who visit websites about programming they are viewing have done so while watching a TV comedy or drama. Women are more likely than men to do this – 79.2% versus 72.1%, respectively. Sports programming on television drives one-third (37.1%) of respondents to the web. Men are twice as likely (49.5% vs. 24.5%) to visit websites about sports programming they are viewing than women; and one-quarter of both men and women visit websites about music/music video programming they are viewing.

– Time watching television is flat at best: A plurality (42.4%) of respondents indicates they watch less television today than one year ago. Of all respondents, one-third (36.9%) watch “about the same amount.” The decrease in TV viewership is most pronounced among respondents 18-24 years. Among this group, half watch less television today than one year ago. Additionally, nearly one-half of women 25-34 years (48.3%) and 35-44 years (46.7%) watch less television today than they did one year ago.

“The shortening attention span of consumers poses a challenge to marketers,” said Jarvis Coffin, CEO and co-founder of Burst Media. “But, expanding media diversity can solve the problem for advertisers. It provides them with countless combinations to deliver coordinated messages across different platforms and get consumers attention. This is particularly true between television and the Internet –it’s a tactic that has been used by many marketers to great success, and is a cost-effective way to reach target audiences.”
About Burst Media

For more information at http://www.burstmedia.com

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