DIGITAL MEDIA CONSUMPTION HABITS SURVEY: THE FINAL

Client: Disney-ABC Television Group By: Jannet Park Caroline Kamerschen

Purpose

• We examined the digital media consumption habits and interests of college students for the Digital Media department of the Disney-ABC Television Group.

•  THE CLIENT:

•  The DATG Digital Media department creates online content for ABC’s television shows. The content includes everything from episode recaps, highlighted clips, listicles, original videos, show news, and more.

Purpose•  The Client:

Purpose•  The Client:

Purpose•  Target Audience:

•  Primary: Disney-ABC Digital Media Content Team •  VP: Creative/Content direction, reporting to Executives •  Content team members: Tailoring content

•  Disney-ABC Digital Media SVP •  Creative/Content direction •  Report of current successful tailoring •  Research to help tailor new methods

•  Disney-ABC Public Relations •  Publicize advantages of Digital Media •  Publicize current successful tailoring •  Publicize new steps moving forward

The Survey•  METHODOLOGY:

•  Survey format: •  An online questionnaire with 19 questions (4 screening, 15 content) was

created through Qualtrics. •  Data was monitored to assure that no fewer than 40% were either male

or female respondents. •  Survey was distributed digitally by survey coordinators Jannet P. and

Caroline K. in various college spheres of influence •  Ex: Sorority, ambassador group, housing, campus ministry, academic majors,

environmental group, etc. •  REFLECTION:

•  The digital format made it easy to distribute, and it remained completely anonymous.

•  As both coordinators were both female, we initially had a significant majority of female respondents. We quickly focused on keeping the gender breakdown equal.

The Survey•  SAMPLE GROUP:

•  171 college students (primarily undergraduate) •  From a variety of universities (primarily USC) •  Gender Breakdown:

•  Female: 51% •  Male: 49%

•  Employment Status: •  Full-time: 13% •  Part-time: 50% •  Not working: 37%

Questionnaire

Questionnaire

Questionnaire

The Results

The Results •  Free Answer Question: What are you favorite YouTube

channels?

Findings•  HYPOTHESES:

•  College-age students will find that quality online content about a television show makes them feel more connected to that show, as well as enhancing their desire to continue watching the show. •  We found that 80% felt more connected to the show while 78% felt it

enhanced their desire to continue watching the show. •  A majority of college-age students will watch their television shows on

Netflix on a laptop. •  We found that 64% of college-age students use a laptop to view their

television shows. •  We found that 84% of college-age students use Netflix, with 48% using Netflix

most often to view their television shows. •  Undergraduate college students will typically spend more time watching

television shows than graduate students. •  With a total of 4 graduate student respondents, our study was inconclusive on

this topic.

Findings •  HYPOTHESES:

•  The level of work (part-time, full-time, unemployed) will influence the average time spent watching television shows. The more a student works, the less time they will have for television. •  Though there was a slightly larger amount of working respondents who

watched merely 0-1 hour of television, the other options remained very similar. There was actually an increase in working respondents who watch more than 8 hours of television a week versus non-working respondents.

•  This could signal that an increase in work hours causes an increase in the need of a stress relief.

•  Females will be more likely to seek additional online content about their favorite television shows. •  We found that 89% of females felt more connected to a show due to its online

content in contrast to just 70% of males. •  Unauthenticated third-party sites will be a source of episode streaming.

•  We found that 30% of users watch on third-party sites, making it the 3rd most often used outlet.

Analysis•  A majority of college-age students

found that quality online content about a television show makes them feel more connected to that show, as well as enhancing their desire to continue watching the show.

•  Quality online content may help create a bigger investment into the show for viewers, by providing ways to dig deeper into the world of the show. It can also provide a space to interact with a community of other fans.

•  DATG can use this information to gear their digital content toward college students.

•  Content: “The Chew: 5 Meals You Can Make in a Dorm Room,” “College Emotions Explained By Modern Family’s Cameron”

Analysis •  The majority of users FIND digital content

about their TV shows through a Google search (42%), with Facebook shares (36%) not far behind. •  This shows that college audiences are being

active in their search for online content about their favorite shows. •  Stresses the importance of SEO—how can DATG

ensure that the ABC Go website is the first to appear in search? •  Timing, keywords, on trend, etc.

•  The more passive approach: the content finds them through Facebook •  Focus on getting college audiences to “like”

Facebook pages to receive updates and posts.

Analysis •  An observed increase in working

respondents who watch more than 8 hours of television a week versus non-working respondents.

•  This could signal that an increase in work hours causes a higher need of a stress relief.

•  DATG can use this information to gear their digital content toward working audiences. •  Content: “4 Reasons Why We Wish Olivia

Pope Was Our Boss,” “Grey’s Anatomy: #CoworkerStruggles”

•  Optimization: Release content during mid-day lull or at the 6-7pm hour when workers are getting home.

•  Platform: Utilizing LinkedIn and other work hubs; “Shonda Rhimes’ advice on the industry” “Ashley Edens-Shaffer on the success of Dancing with the Stars”

Analysis •  Females felt more connected to a

show due to its online content than males.

•  May be due to a surge in female leads on network and cable television.

•  Focus on bringing in the male audience to DATG digital content.

•  Males particularly enjoy episode recaps (43%), listicles (34%), and cast interviews (31%)

•  30% of users watch television shows on unauthenticated third-party sites, making it the 3rd most used outlet.

•  Besides unlocked content, what do unauthenticated sites offer that make it appealing? •  Focus on the benefits of using legal ways of

watching through ABC Go. •  High quality content: 95% of college students

find video quality important in enjoying content.

Conclusions

• Met Objectives: •  Our research sought to optimize and tailor DATG’s online content to

the college-age consumer’s wants, habits, and interests. •  Our discovery of the most popular digital content and the way that

students discover/share content will help DATG adhere to the consumer’s behaviors and interests.

•  The research will be used to highlight what DATG Digital Media is doing right for PR purposes, as well as learning what DATG can do moving forward. •  The discovery of the most popular digital content has shown that DATG

has been on point in already producing the type of content people are looking for (Episode Recaps, Listicles, Cast Interviews, etc.).

Conclusions

•  This information can be used to showcase what DATG will do to optimize its content. •  The large emphasis on Facebook and its role in the discovery of digital

content will help DATG focus on their efforts to optimize all of their content to that platform.

•  Google’s role in the discovery of digital content emphasizes a need for SEO-friendly content.

•  In taking risks on creating new types of content, this research will provide insight into which media avenues to explore. •  While Twitter and Facebook were known to be a heavily used way to

share content, Instagram is a rather new way to share content. DATG can focus on finding ways to utilize the platform.

•  The free answer question of the YouTube channels that students enjoy gives DATG a great opportunity to see the type of content that is grabbing digital viewers.

Thank you!