GSN Study Finds Viewers Like Interacting With Ads

Interactive television produces higher viewer involvement not just in programs but ads as well, according to a new study from Ball State University's Center for Media Design in Muncie, Indiana, commissioned by interactive TV cable provider GSN. The study, titled "The Power of Play: Exploring the Impact of the iTV 2-Screen Gaming Experience," found that interactive TV programs drove higher levels of consumer engagement with interactive TV commercials, leading to more recall and longer retention of brand awareness.

According to Chris Raleigh, senior vice president of ad sales for GSN, the Ball State study found that one type of TV programming in particular--game shows--was most successful in pushing higher viewer involvement with commercials that also had a "quiz show" theme. Raleigh explained that "the same motivations driving people who play along with the shows also drive their interaction with the commercials: the sense of competition, the sense of challenge, and the fact that you're rewarded."

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"Rewards" refers to a points system that allows GSN users who "play along" with commercials to participate in raffles and buy gift cards. Vanity also plays a role in program participation, according to Raleigh: "For 'Who Wants to be a Millionaire' we have a leader board that shows the top 10 viewers [who answered questions correctly], and some people really want to get up there." The competitive environment created by social viewing of game shows--for example, vying with family or friends to answer questions correctly--also fits well with interactive programming.

Overall, among viewers participating in game show programming, Raleigh said that 68 to 92 percent also interacted with quiz-style ads, with a 76 percent average participation rate. Of this group, Raleigh claimed almost "100 percent recall of all the interactive ads," as well as "more retention than usual." A high percentage "remembered interacting with a commercial three or four days before."

As advertisers strive to avoid creating a feeling of "intrusion" or content disjuncture in viewers, with the introduction of a competitive, interactive element, according to Raleigh, "all of a sudden, [advertising] becomes non-intrusive."

Furthermore, interactive TV ads provide a higher a level of measurability for consumer engagement than is generally available for ordinary TV. "We get third-party reporting on it from GoldPocket," the nuts-and-bolts digital infrastructure provider behind GSN's service," Raleigh said. "The advertiser gets a report, almost like a post-buy, on demographic information for people who participated in the ads. It will tell you the number of people who interacted with it, and the number of people who got it right." Later, Raleigh boasted that "no one else can put a deck in front of somebody with data from a third party."

With "engagement" the new advertising buzzword, the implications of interactive TV advertising are clear, Raleigh said: "It's a win-win situation. The viewers win because they want more interactivity. And the advertisers win because they're trying to find a way to get through all the ad clutter and reach their consumers."

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