The Hidden Value of Engagement: Online Television Fans Offer Increased Advertising Value than Offline Television Watchers

The Hidden Value of Engagement: Online Television Fans Offer Increased Advertising Value

than Offline Television Watchers

Nicole E. Cathcart

The Johns Hopkins University

THE HIDDEN VALUE OF ENGAGEMENT 1

Abstract

The launch of the website Wetpaint.com, the first, and ground-breaking, ranking system for

online engagement for television show viewers, inspired this study into the affect of online

behavior on advertising success. Research suggests that engagement can lead to positive

advertising responses, indicating that online engagement may represent a new way to identify

more valuable segments of the viewing audience. A national survey evaluated the change in

attitudes and behavior demonstrated by a television-viewing audience that participates in online

fan activities, showing that some viewers may be more valuable than others.


In a June 22, 2009 press release, Ben Elowitz, CEO of Wetpaint.com, the first online tool

designed to measure television engagement through online activity, announced, “It’s clear there

is a fundamental decentralization underway in how consumers experience TV programming, but

the measurement tools have remained substantially the same” (Wetpaint, 2009). Long dominated

by the Nielsen rating system for determining advertising values, the $136.8 billion television

advertising industry (Nielsen, 2009) has used reach, or the number of people watching a

program, to set rates since the dawn of advertising. As the television audience per program

shrinks, growing more segmented (Katz, 1996), networks and advertisers must investigate new

possibilities for measuring value beyond a mass audience.

In 2008, MTV Networks (MTVN) contracted Harris Interactive and MauroNewMedia to

uncover new measures for the audience value for their television series The Hills (McClellan,

2008). An online survey measured differences in brand sentiments for The Hills’s advertiser

Pepsi between a viewing only audience and a viewing and actively engaged online audience.

Participation in online communities about The Hills defined online engagement. The results

showed an astounding difference in how each audience perceived the Pepsi brand. Among

offline viewers, 30% found Pepsi in touch with youth culture and 15% viewed Pepsi as “hip”

brand. For offline viewers and online participants, 70% considered Pepsi hip and in touch with

youth (2008). MTVN revealed the results of this survey during the 2008 upfronts, a key event

for setting rates and selling television advertising, as a way to demonstrate additional value for

advertisers seeking their demographic. Their research represents one of the first publicized

efforts on the part of television networks to show that a smaller audience does not necessarily


mean less advertising value if a network shows that smaller audience actively engages online in

programming-related activities.

Engagement for a television audience can be defined as an emotional connection to

content that results in greater levels of positive brand sentiment and intent to purchase for

advertised products (Greenwald & Leavitt, 1984; Heath, 2009; Marci, 2006). If a segment of

the viewing audience, also defined as fans, demonstrates a higher level of engagement then they

are a more valuable advertising target. All viewers, then, are not created equal−those who

actively participate in online fan communities may demonstrate greater value through their

perceptions of advertising.

Although audience size will always be an important measure in determining placement

values, this new measure of engagement represents an additional dimension to audience value

that could change the way networks develop television advertising rates. The example of MTV

shows that this process has already started for some networks. In an effort to bring scholarly

analysis to an issue that affects the future of advertising rates, this study will show that the

segment of the television viewing audience that participates in online fan communities displays a

greater level of engagement than those not online, and that the online engagement can be

translated into increased advertising value.

Literature Review

The study of engagement in advertising has grown prominent over the last few years as

academic and industry leaders have searched for new measures of success in a media-diverse

world. Engagement, rooted in an emotional response, affects both consumer attitude and

behavior. Although intent to purchase behavior remains its most valuable measure of success,


changes in brand sentiment, or attitude, also represent value to advertisers. These two effects of

engagement stem from an emotional connection to programming content that television viewers

transfer to embedded advertising messages.

Emotions, Loyalty and Involvement between Online Fans and Television Programs

The proliferation of online fan communities has sparked research regarding the nature of

the online users’ connection to their favorite television programs as well as the personality traits,

attitudes and behaviors of online fans. One common theme emerges in these studies—the

emotional connection fans have to the content of their favorite television programming fuels

their engagement levels.

The emotional connection to a television series stems from perceived or desired intimacy

between characters and community participants (Bowen, 2008). In a survey and analysis of

online fan communities, notably fans of the television series NYPD Blue, Bowen suggested that

beyond identifying with characters, once fans move online, they begin to identify with their

fellow community members and activities, intensifying their connection to the programming.

The attention to detail and discussion around each character and plot development and the

availability of images, direct quotations and other media online help develop that perceived

intimacy.

Although that intimacy currently remains one-sided, online television communities have

grown into forums where decision-makers in television production can gain inside knowledge on

what fans think of their programming. Using in-depth interviews of television producers and a

web site case study, Andrejevic (2008) showed significant viewer loyalty linked to online

engagement in TV fan communities. These fan communities represent a larger shift in media


from the passive television viewer to the active participant in an online community. This passion

for the programming creates a user engaged in everything from the marketing approach for a

favorite show to the characters and story.

This idea of a passionate, engaged and active online user reflects the results of a survey of

757 online television fans. Costello & Moore (2007) found the group to be loyal, often

interested in actively changing the narrative direction of their favorite TV shows, seeing

themselves as engaged stakeholders, rather than mere consumers. In fact, the fans’ unusually

high-involvement in programming may indicate a personality prone to greater levels or extremes

of consumption.

Whether the participation in online communities enhances this emotion connection or if

the emotional connection manifests itself through online participation remains unclear.

However, the emotional connection itself seems real. The level of online participation in

forums, blogs and other online communities can be measured through online traffic, commenting

and posting. These measures begin to shape a quantitative value for an emotional connection, or

engagement, to a television program.

Emotional Engagement and its Affect on Attitudes

Engagement, and the related theory of involvement, has preoccupied advertising

researchers for over thirty years in an effort to understand what drives advertising success. In

this context of this study, engagement refers to an emotional connection between the audience

and desired stimulus that can ultimately affect brand sentiment and purchasing intent. Many

advertising engagement studies have utilized physiological experiments, namely eye-tracking


studies, to identify engagement in stimulus and how that effect changes based on audience

sentiment towards advertising context.

Defining engagement as an emotional connection differentiates its effect from that of

attention in processing information. In an eye-tracking study performed on 17 subjects to

measure attention and engagement, Heath (2009) concluded that successful advertising

engagement depended on an emotional, not rational, connection to stimulus. The difference here

between attention and engagement parallels the difference between a rational and emotional

response to stimulus.

In contrast to the unconscious reactions measured by Heath, Cunningham, Hall & Young

(2006) utilized a self-reported flow of emotion (FOE) in their study of 640 MTV viewers to

isolate a highly-engaged segment within a viewing audience. The researchers used a higher

FOE to identify the highly-engaged viewers and then correlated their greater emotional response

to programming with a positive response to its contained advertising. As evidenced by the spikes

and dips in the FOE in the Cunningham, et al. (2006) study, the programming content constantly

affected levels of the highly-engaged viewer’s emotions, even if those emotions remain

proportionally high. The user remains affected by the content, actively responding emotionally

to the changing stimulus.

Although the viewer is constantly affected by programming content, the content itself

defines the initial levels of emotional engagement. Advertising within programming content of

interest to the viewer greatly affects its success. A 2006 experiment with 27 adult males that

measured biometric responses associated with emotion when viewing commercials within two

different television programs (Marci). Advertisements within a proven successful television

show garnered greater emotional engagement from participants when compared to


advertisements within an unsuccessful show. Marci’s (2006) study begins to link an audience’s

enjoyment of programming to their emotional response to advertising, albeit by loose affiliating

responses within generally successful and unsuccessful television programs.

The long history of engagement research continues to connect emotional responses to

favorable advertising outcomes, both through unconscious and conscious research techniques.

Although other factors contribute to advertising response rates, such as the creative value of

advertising (Cunningham, et al., 2006; Heath, 2009), emotional affect plays a consistently

correlated role in success.

Emotional Engagement and its Affect on Behavior

While the emotional or attitudinal affect of an advisement represents a relevant

intermediate outcome, the true measure of success for advertisers remains influencing behavior

through intent to purchase. While increasing positive brand sentiment may eventually lead to

success, advertising must prove itself through generating revenue. These studies present the final

link between engagement and purchase intent by demonstrating that key change in behavior.

They also suggest that engagement outweighs other notable variables in advertising, including

delivery medium, quantity of information and audience demographics.

In a study of 29,044 adults, researchers found, across television, magazine and online

media usage, the higher the overall engagement, the higher the level of intent to purchase (Kilger

& Romer, 2007). In this study, even viewer demographics did not affect purchasing as much as

engagement, further emphasizing the need for change in advertising for the television industry.

General demographic factors such as age and race have historically played a large role in

determining advertising rates, where measures of engagement are absent.


Like Kilger and Romer (2007), Young (2004) concluded that higher emotion correlated

positively to purchase intent, but in his study, engagement proves more important in driving

decisions than quantity of information in messaging. In an evaluation of 120 commercials by

125-150 respondents using measures of attention, attitude and behavior, Young found that

whether the viewers “liked” the commercials related to their overall emotional response.

However, the commercials were evaluated on their own rather than within a programming

context. For the purposes of this study, programming content creates an important magnifying

effect on advertisement success.

In one of the most directly applicable studies in the literature, Norris and Colman (1993)

correlated engagement to different genres of television programs with positive affects on brand

recall and sentiment through their experiment and survey. The study exposed 90 participants to a

series of commercials within three genres of programming to test recall and attitudes to

advertising within different contexts. As the level of participant involvement in programming

grew, the higher the level of brand recall and intent to purchase became.

The value of participant involvement here is of particular interest, providing a more direct

link between television program engagement and purchase intent behaviors. Engagement as a

driver of behavior, more significant than demographics or quantity of information in an

advertisement, lays a foundation for how engaged segments of a television viewing audience

may respond positively to advertised brands within their favorite programs. More importantly,

these studies suggest that the positive emotional correlation between programming and

embedded advertising may increase viewers’ intent to purchase advertised brands.

The positive emotional response defined as engagement allows advertisers to benefit from

a positive audience reaction to the television program containing their advertising. Television


shows with significant fan bases, characterized by a proportionally greater emotional

involvement of viewers and demonstrated by their participation in forums, blogs and other online

communities, inspire segments of the viewing population that are highly-engaged. The

preceding studies show that engagement, characterized by positive emotions, can affect attitudes

and behavior in advertising response, notably brand sentiment and purchase intent. It follows

that running advertisements within a program that has a highly-engaged segment gives

advertisers extra value beyond mere reach, demographics, or other traditional advertising value

measures. Thus, three hypotheses emerge:

H1: Television audience members who participate in online fan communities for their favorite

television programs display emotional attachment and engagement to those programs.

H2: When advertising is placed within a television program enjoyed by viewers, the audience

grows more engaged in the advertising, reflecting higher levels of positive brand

sentiment and intent to purchase.

H3: The audience members who watch a television show and participate in its online

television fan communities represent a proportionally greater advertising value than the

mass viewing audience.

Method

The size of the engaged online audience rests outside of the scope of this study. The

purpose here is to show the link between online activity and greater brand sentiments and

purchase intent. Additionally, the study proposes initial metrics for measuring the additional

advertising value of an engaged online audience.


The survey method and random sampling technique allowed the research to be

generalized in an effort to create a foundation for quantitative research in this field. Also, a

national random sampling mechanism more closely matches the current Nielsen family ratings

system, since that particular method could not be duplicated without considerable investment,

both in time and money.

The television program Bones was chosen for questioning, representing both a ratings

success with a mass audience and an engaged online audience. A prime time network show,

Bones’ 2009 season finale totaled an estimated 8.7 million viewers (Hibberd, 2009) and

according to Wetpaint’s touted TV Fandex index has peaked at the fourth most talked about

television program online (TV Fandex 100, n.d.). Due to its success in attracting a mass

audience and cultivating online engagement through fan participation in forums, blogs and

online communities about the show (all measured according to existing industry tools) the

program served as the example for measuring the significance in online engagement for

advertising attitudes and behavior.

A national telephone survey of 1,500 American adults, aged 15-49, was conducted the

night of the live broadcast of the television show, minimizing the affect of time on recall.

Although an online survey would have increased the response rate, the method may have

decreased validity because of questions related to online activities. The sample would already be

online; therefore, they would be more likely to engage in online communities. Two advertisers

running new advertisements during the Bones time slot, but not during any other programming

were evaluated. Both advertisements were for broad-based consumer products with no direct

association with programming, a household cleaning product and a beer company.


After the filter question, “Did you watch the new Bones episode this evening?”

eliminated irrelevant targets, qualified respondents were asked to quantify their emotional

connection to Bones through a series of questions related to the show characters and content.

Questions to measure emotional connections included: “Do you admire the character of Dr.

Temperance Brennan?”; “Do you wish you had a friend like Agent Booth?”; and “Do you think

Special Agent Booth and Dr. Brennan should be become involved romantically?” Questions

were presented with a five-point Likert scale with end points “Strongly agree” and “Strongly

disagree” to measure the intensity of emotions.

Dependent Variables

The two dependent variables measures in the survey were brand sentiment and purchase

intent. Questions were asked about the two brands advertised in the live airing. After basic

recall questions, respondents were asked to rate their perceptions of brand quality and perceived

alignment with product brand values. For the household cleaning product, questions included:

“Do you think this product would effectively clean your house?”; “Would this product make

cleaning easier?”; and “Would this product eliminate germs in your house?” To determine

purchase intent, respondents were asked, “Would you purchase this product in the next 30 days?”

Both brand sentiment and purchase intent questions were presented with a five-point Likert scale

with end points “strongly agree” to “strongly disagree” to measure the intensity of emotions.

Demographic questions on gender, race and age were included to evaluate any significant gender

variance between product types.


Independent Variables

The two independent variables were whether an respondent viewed the television

program live the night in question and whether the respondent went online to engage in activities

related to the television show. The respondent’s going online served as the criterion variable.

The level of online engagement was measured with a series of questions, including, “Do you

participate in online chat rooms for Bones at least once a month?”; “Do you go online to read

spoilers for future episodes of Bones at least once a month?”; “Do you go online to read or write

Bones fan fiction at least once a month?”; and “Do you read any Bones-related blogs at least

once a month?” The questions were crafting using various types and degrees of socially-

acceptable behavior to maximize respondent honesty. Each question was presented with a “yes”

or “no” answer to gather nominal data.

Analysis Techniques and Limitations

The data were analyzed using a Chi-square bivariate test, calculating degrees of freedom

and alpha level to determine statistical significance. The coefficient of determination was

determined to show correlation among online activity and greater levels of positive brand

sentiment and purchase intent.

In addition to a low response rate, this method’s limitations included the relative sample

size of the target, the highly-engaged, online fan of Bones, within the population. Although

generalizability was the intention behind using this particular quantitative method, the key group

in question represented only a very small segment, increasing the chance of sampling error. An


additional focus group targeting only the engaged online viewers might yield the same findings

with greater findings in motivations that can inform future research design.


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The Hidden Value of Engagement: Online Television Fans Offer Increased Advertising Value than Offline Television Watchers