Measuring the Value of Media Engagement Against the Economics of Attention
New Report from The Diffusion Group Argues that Media Engagement Can No Longer Be Measured in a Realistic, Objective Way
November 2, 2006 (Dallas, Texas) - Despite the abundance of new methodologies dedicated to measuring consumption of both traditional and 'new' digital media, the gap between what is being measured and what is actually taking place continues to widen. According to The New Digital Deal: Engagement, Advertising, and the Market as Conversation, a new report from The Diffusion Group, the very foundation of media measurement is being shaken by what TDG calls "the quantum properties of new media."
"Delivering on the promise of 'any content, any time, any where, on any device' by its nature defies measurement," says Nicholas Givotovsky, author of TDG's latest report and a digital media expert. "The inherent uncertainty around the conditions and conduct associated with media consumption complicates determining both who is consuming media and the extent to which that consumption experience constitutes true engagement. Media consumption is no longer defined by stationary or static experiences but has become so dynamic that creating realistic measurement methods is proving extremely difficult."
Complicating matters further is the fragmentation of media consumption into a variety of concomitant activities. Commonly referred to as 'media multitasking' by the press and as 'continuous partial attention' by digital media theorists, the simultaneous use of multiple media not only dilutes static media engagement; it also makes it difficult to determine which media activities are truly capturing users attention and which are not. For example, notes Givotovsky, consumers habitually talk on the phone, surf the Internet, or check email while they are supposedly 'engaged' with a TV program. "Traditional systems of media measurement are proving inept at capturing the complexities of today's media consumption experience."
Givotovsky points to what he calls 'the economics of attention' as the emerging paradigm that will replace more static notions of media engagement. "Tomorrow's media environment will be increasingly characterized by on-demand, highly fragmented yet highly personalized media experiences. The challenge that media and advertising companies face is how to determine the value of incomplete or partial attention versus static full-on media engagement."
The report notes that attempts to capture this complexity in realistic metrics have proven difficult for both new media advertising companies such as TACODA Systems and traditional media measurement firms such as Nielsen Media Research. As the dominance of TV continues to bend to new media sources, this problem will only worsen.
As Givotovsky notes, while the usefulness of the concept of engagement has stood the test of time, lasting more than 50 years, without a concise, reliable, and agreed-upon definition of what 'engagement' means in the age of new media, the entire media and advertising industry will suffer. "While the nature of media itself has changed, the metrics used to measure it have not. This is a huge problem for all concerned."
The New Digital Deal: Engagement, Advertising, and the Market as Conversation is part of a 3-report series focused on the impact of new media on classic concepts such as 'engagement' and 'attention,' as well as what this revaluation means for media consumption and digital identity in the digital age.
The report is available at TDG’s website or by contacting the firm at 469.287.8050.
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