• by Joe Mandese  @mp_joemandese, March 9, 2010

Numerous research studies have shown that industry pros often have different perceived views about media than average consumers do, but are they actually wired any differently? According to an unusual study conducted by biometric research firm Innerscope and Havas' MPG unit, they answer may be - sort of.

Findings of the test, which will be released March 15th during one of MPG's regularly scheduled Collaborative Alliance meetings in New York, conducted a series of biometric studies on a group of a dozen industry pros, including this reporter, and a group of average consumers, to see how their bodies and brains reacted to the same, pre-programmed media content.

Fourteen media executives including people such as AT&T's Frank Foster, comScore's Tania Yuki, Simulmedia's Dave Morgan, the Television Bureau of Advertising's Steve Lanzano, and American Association of Advertising Agencies' Mike Donahue, each of whom sat in front of a computer watching a series of audio and video content while hooked up to equipment measuring their body's biometric and neurological responses to what they were being exposed to.

The audio and video content included an edited mix of programming designed to provoke a range of human emotions, including Apple's long-form iPad infomercial and the well-circulated YouTube video "Social Media Revolution."

A simultaneous panel of 14 consumers were exposed to the exact same content, with the exception that the industry pros were also exposed to video segments featuring themselves, just to see how they would react to it.

Mitch Oscar, the head of televisual applications at MPG, and the ringmaster behind its Collaborative Alliance meetings, said the research was designed to "test the theory that media professionals are in tune with consumers and therefore making the right marketing decisions when creating and implementing a plan. Or are they biased?"

Various attitudinal research studies have shown biases between industry pros and consumers in terms of the perceived importance and relevance of various media. (Industry pros generally have a higher regard for big, national media such as network TV, consumer magazines, and the Internet, while consumers tend to have a stronger regard for local media such as newspapers and local radio and TV outlets.)

"In some ways, we saw fewer divides than we might have expected to see in our regular studies," said Brian Levine, president of Boston-based Innerscope.

Noting that the test was conducted on a "relatively small sample" that might not be indicative of the overall population, Levine said Innerscope and MPG went into the project "expecting to see huge divides between people in marketing and media and general consumers," because past research studies have shown that industry professionals tend to be "more jaded" about their businesses than the average consumer, even if the industry happens to be media.

He cited an eye-tracking study Innerscope did with the cartoon editors of The New Yorker magazine to see if there was a difference in how they reacted when exposed to cartoons. There was, he said, noting, "Once you've seen 6,000 cartoon submissions, you become jaded, and you start responding only to things that exceed your expectations."

Levine would not reveal detailed findings of the Collaborative Alliance test, but he said there was a similar pattern, but less than he would have expected.