Key Findings

Observation

• Multi-tasking = Multi-media: a typical evening at home includes TV, Internet, mobiles, music, magazines, books, newspapers, etc.
• Five minutes was the maximum attention span on a typical evening – mostly much less
• There is a social etiquette at the cinema - NO talking, NO mobiles, look forward and pay attention

Psychologist's perspective

• When multi-tasking, adults use selective attention to focus on what they're doing - they filter out the necessary information needed for each task
• When attention jumps from one thing to another, it is harder to recall information because the level of encoding (memory) is poorer
• However, it has been proven that memories associated with high levels of arousal are usually more easily recalled and are recalled in higher detail
• There's no distraction at the cinema which means ability to remember is improved
• Attention + emotion = an optimum level of arousal. This is key to increasing our ability to encode messages in the brain which in turn significantly increases recall

What does this mean for advertisers?

Drawings after a typical evening at home while multi-tasking show a thematic level of take-out (colours, characters and music are remembered but often unbranded).

Drawings after a typical evening at the cinema display details (brand, facts, prices, dates, executional features) and meaning (interpretation and effect of the ad).

See below for actual drawings from four brands: Abbey, Vauxhall, Corsa and Frank.

Why we conducted this study

Research frequently uncovers how busy our lives are. Juggling a number of commitments along with the plethora of new media platforms now available have not only changed the amount of messages we receive but also the way we consume media.

Increasingly in today's environment we find several media channels being consumed at the same time. Media can switch from background to foreground and back again in seconds as audiences listen to the radio while surfing the Internet, dipping into magazines while watching TV, and texting throughout!

What effect does this new media environment have on advertising consumption? How can an advertiser be sure their commercial is achieving cut-through and if it is, how much detail or understanding is being taken out of the ad?

Cinema's defining point of difference remains the audience's total focus and attention. So, exactly how much difference does it make to the 'take-out' of brand messages and understanding of an ad? What can behavioural psychology tell us about the link between emotional arousal and deeper encoding of messages in the brain?

We conducted a piece of qualitative research with Work Research to better understand these issues. This report contains details of our methodology, the perspective of a leading psychologist, unique insight into what multi-tasking and single-tasking can mean for advertisers, and how this relates back to traditional ad models.

How we did it: Getting closer to real life

We wanted to capture the reality of multi-tasking and single-tasking. Rather than ask people to remember what they think they typically do, we used the latest Big Brother style cameras to record their nights in, and out at the cinema to find out what they actually do.

We used ethnographic techniques in order to observe people behaving as normally as possible. Our research sample consisted of:

• One household of young men who had a typical evening in
• One household of young women who had a typical evening in
• Three groups of regular cinemagoers who were invited to the cinema to see a new film

Each household and the three groups were filmed for several hours and then asked to take part in an hour of group discussion. Unlike normal focus groups we didn't ask them to say very much. Instead we used a new advertising recall methodology:

• We gave them a pack of coloured pencils and an art pad
• We asked them to draw all that they could remember from the adverts they had seen that evening

The drawings they produced speak volumes about the difference between multi-tasking and single-tasking media environments.

Key insights

Watching their behaviour

• Multi-task = Multi-media - when multi-tasking they dip into magazines, newspapers, mobiles, Internet, TV, music, books
• The five minute attention span for multi-taskers - across the evening at home the longest period of attention was five minutes. Early in the evening when energy levels are higher, attention jumps around several times a minute
• A little less conversation! - men talk less, using media as prompts for comment. Women talk more, media fitting in around gossip
• The cinema experience has a set of defined behaviours which people conform to - “there's a kind of cinema etiquette”. NO talking, NO mobiles, NO loud eating. Eyes forward, pay attention, focus, formulate opinions

Talking about their experience – what they said

MULTI-TASK:
“We talk non-stop, to be honest that's the main point of the night, I can't remember much else”
“It's about crashing out, a few beers, your mind wanders”

SINGLE-TASK:
“You have paid and you want to get the most out of it so you really pay attention”
“I just get there and settle in, it is just such an experience”

The Science Bit

Psychology and neuro-science have lots to tell us about the effect of advertising and media experiences. We spoke to a number of psychologists to get their perspective.

Single-tasking, such as a visit to the cinema, often has its own etiquette which drives people to conform to appropriate behaviour, in this case being attentive, quiet, with no distractions. This means that people have focused attention.

Their ability to remember what they see is improved because they are not being distracted by other things. In addition, they have invested in the experience by paying to be there, but more importantly choosing to be there.

Secondly, the high level of arousal the cinema experience creates (surround sound and visual) elicits emotion in the individual which increases their ability to recall what they have seen. This is because memories that are associated with high levels of emotion are more easily recalled and usually in more detail.

Therefore, attention plus emotion increases ability to encode which in turn increases recall.

When multi-tasking, adults use selective attention to focus in on what they are doing.

They filter out the necessary information needed for each task.

When attention jumps from one thing to another it is harder to recall information because your level of encoding (memory) is poorer. You have less investment in what you are doing. You pay less attention and your ability to remember in these situations is impaired.

The drawings: A model to explain the findings

We know that advertising is recalled in different ways.

• The most basic type of recall is thematic, where people typically remember basic visual features such as colours, shapes or characters
• The next level of recall is more detailed, here people remember the facts contained in the commercial; the brand, prices, offers and executional details
• The most sophisticated level of recall requires a degree of interpretation and meaning, resulting in the understanding of the advert's deeper meanings and effect

Our research showed a distinct difference in recall between the multi-task and single-task drawings

• Typically, multi-tasking results contained only limited thematic understanding
• Single-tasking offers both detailed recall and a communication of the advert's meaning

Conclusion

Cinema is arguably the sole single-task media experience, and such an experience provides a number of advantages to advertisers seeking stand out in today’s multi-media, multi-tasking world.

• Cinema is the only unadulterated single-task medium left.
• We have observed a dramatic difference in people’s behaviour when they are multi-tasking and single-tasking
• At home, the longest periods of attention were five minutes
• Cinema etiquette is both social (no talking) and personal (paying attention, thinking, absorbing)
• Ad recall is significantly more detailed following a single exposure in the cinema rather than in a multi-tasking environment
• Advertising has the ability to communicate deeper brand meaning to audiences who are at the cinema
• A high level of arousal cements experiences and messages in the brain

To request a hard copy of this study email us at information@carltonscreen.com

For more information on the unique power of cinema for advertising, please contact:

Chris Hall
Research Manager
chris.hall@carltonscreen.com
+44 207 534 6223