For 18-34s, Social Media Can Jump-Start TV Viewing

Mobile-TV-AA4A new study says social media "disproportionately impacts the viewing behaviors of younger consumers," according to  Horowitz Associates.

The study says 24% of 18- to-34-year-old adults and 30% of 15- to-17-year-olds have started watching a show on TV because of something they saw online or through social media. All this compares to a 16% for all adult viewers 18 years and older.

What about tune in? Some 14% of social media users say it helps remind them to tune into shows. This trend is the highest among 15-to-17-year-olds where the number is 28%. It is 19% among 18- to-34-year-olds.

Deeper engagement comes to a narrower group of social media users -- just 11% of consumers say they interact on social media, or other sites or apps,  when it comes to content they are watching on TV.

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Ten percent like posting to social media sites or other Web sites about shows they watch.

Sounds like everyone should jump in.  But they need to do it carefully.

Adriana Waterston, vice presient of marketing and business development for Horowitz Associates, says that in the social media environment, "consumers do not want to feel 'marketed to' or manipulated.  A successful social media or interactive strategy must feel genuine, not fabricated."

1 comment about "For 18-34s, Social Media Can Jump-Start TV Viewing".
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  1. Tom Cunniff from Tom Cunniff, September 6, 2012 at 4:30 p.m.

    With respect, I believe we are looking through the wrong end of the telescope.

    We tend to forget that people who use social media need something to be social *about*. The stuff we're social about are things we have seen, heard or experienced.

    This isn't new behavior; the conversation has just moved to a bigger, shiner water cooler.

    As is true with any brand, campaigns for TV shows can only help drive conversation so much. What drives conversation best are programs (and products) that are worth talking about.

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