• by Masha Geller , November 22, 2002

A new study of over 7,800 consumers from BIGresearch found 50% of the population is engaging in simultaneous media usage. What does that mean? BIG says the findings “undermine traditional media planning which tends to view media usage in silos” and that for large national advertisers, this information could be the silver bullet for increasing effectiveness of media allocations and brand communication ROI.

"With the economy and corporate profits sagging and no end in sight, the SIM study could provide a real world view for increasing the return on ad expenditures," says Dr. Joe Pilotta, VP research for BIGresearch and a co-author of the study along with Dr. Don Schultz of Agora Inc. "The implications of the research bring into question media planning concepts which assume the individuals or households making up the audience are absorbed by or at least are attending to individual media forms during time of exposure. As a result, untold millions of ad dollars may be wasted and ad ROI diminished greatly," Pilotta says.

The study found that 59.8% of males and 67.2% of females watch TV when they go online. Conversely, 69.3% of males & 76.0% of females while online have the TV on.

Additionally, half the population (50.7% of males & 52.0% of females) read magazines when they have the radio on, and a slightly higher percentage (50.4% of males & 60.0% of females) watch TV when they read magazines.

Newspapers get a little more attention, as 66.7% of males and 74.3% of females read the newspaper while they have the TV on and 53.4% of males & 58.7% of females watch TV when they read the newspaper.

Big Research also says that on an average day, 135% of the population watches TV, goes online, and reads magazines from 7pm-11pm. In determining food purchases, the media of choice are:(a) 69% of population are from word of mouth, (b) 53.1% are from in-store promotions, and (c) 52.5% are from reading an article.

Schultz says that "Media allocation, to be effective, must recognize that simultaneous media usage by day parts creates a situation of foreground and background exposure and thus results in some type of combination message effect. Media allocation must recognize this pattern and accommodate it. It is not enough to view impact based upon old measures of reach and frequency because they don't account for simultaneity. Our media planning concepts are out of date and need to be rethought, reorganized, and redesigned."