When choosing which devices will deliver the best response for your marketing and advertising campaigns, a recent study points towards targeting smartphones and similar small screen devices.

The Council for Research Excellence (CRE), an organization of more than 35 senior level media research professionals, conducted the study.

In their findings, the CRE learned that of the 6,000 who were polled, almost 40 percent of viewers, when engaged on small screen devices such as smartphones, are more likely to respond directly to what they are watching, and its immediately related content. The respondents indicated they research show-related information and engage in social media activities directly associated with the content.

In contrast, those numbers decreased as the screen size increased. Only 31 percent of computer, about 25 percent of tablet, and close to 20 percent of television viewers responded in the same manner. Most of these individuals said they engage in a range of multi-tasking activities unrelated to the content they were viewing.

The head of research for 20th Century Fox Television, frames it this way, “This research suggests greater audience measurement needs to be directed at smartphone viewing. People are bringing devices from room to room … and on their commutes … even in the home for multi-taskers, smartphones are becoming an important device for viewing professional TV content. It all goes to convenience and portability…”

The research also shows that the demographic most likely to use smartphones for television viewing is 35, and likely to have advanced degrees and greater income. Laura Cowan, a member of the CRE’s Media Consumption and Engagement Committee and research director at LIN Media observes, “These insights…show new opportunity to reach a desirable audience, and emphasize the need to design future measurement to capture online and in-app viewing.”

Reference:

Mielach, David. “How Small Screens Can Win Big,” Business News Daily, July 24, 2013.