• by Jack Loechner , Staff Writer @mp_research, August 2, 2006

From their recent syndicated study of 450 target items, The Media Audit reports on a unique finding that shows the cell phone to be a more reliable device with which to conduct Panel Surveys on radio listening than a "pager-like" device commonly used. The MediaAudit/Ipsos research found that adults are 3.5 times more likely to agree to participate in a panel study using a cell phone (66%) versus 18% who would agree to carry a pager.

Bob Jordan president of The Media Audit, said "... The cell phone is an integral part of people's lives today. The less disruptive the monitoring device, the more inclined people are to cooperate... Of the monitoring devices that are being used today, cell phones are the least intrusive to our life styles... (which is) why we say the cell phone is the simple, common sense solution for media measurement..."

Jim Higginbotham, Chairman and head of research at The Media Audit, added "These findings are very significant for the radio industry as the monitoring device... one of the key foundations to good research... (is why) the industry wishes to drop the diary in preference of electronic measurements... this kind of scrutiny and concern extends to the different devices that can be used for electronic ratings. The correct monitoring device will lead to higher cooperation rates and less sample bias."

The research study shows cell phones are 3 to 4 times more likely than a pager-like device in gaining cooperation from these tough to reach demos of males, young people and ethnic segments of the market.

"With the comparatively high cooperation rates indicated by this study, it appears that cell phones are far more likely to deliver a more representative and reliable sampling of listeners." Said Higginbotham.

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