Communications and Technology Industry Research

If you're a part of today's fast paced, Internet-connected world, chances are when you surf the Web, you're doing a number of other things at the same time as well.

 

According to a recent survey by Burst Media, Internet users are increasingly multi-tasking and involving other media types like TV, radio or the phone along with their Internet experiences.

 

Typically, Internet users are also working, listening to the radio, watching TV, playing video games, or talking on the phone while online.

 

This new "interconnected experience" is the result of a hectic environment where multi-tasking has become a norm.

 

For marketers, this new fragmented consumer experience signifies a need to direct dollars into a number of different media choices to capture consumer attention.

 

"The shortening attention span of consumers poses a challenge to marketers," Jarvis Coffin, CEO and co-founder of Burst Media commented.

 

"But, expanding media diversity can solve the problem for advertisers. It provides them with countless combinations to deliver coordinated messages across different platforms and get consumers attention. This is particularly true between television and the Internet -it's a tactic that has been used by many marketers to great success, and is a cost-effective way to reach target audiences."

 

For the research, Burst Media conducted an online study of 2,700 web users 18 and older  regarding the activities they engage in while online.

 

The web-based survey  was also used to examine the ways in which media fragmentation is impacting the ability to market to people online.

 

From the study, Burst Media uncovered over four-fifths (82.4 percent) of respondents involve another media, activity, or device while online. Beyond the typical multi-tasking, one-quarter (23.6 percent) of respondents were also found to be "super-taskers" who actually juggle four or more tasks while online.

 

Of the most common other media utilized while online, television was noted as being watched by 58.3 percent of respondents and representing the most common offline activity connected with Internet consumption.

 

Burst Media's findings also pointed to the ways in which consumers' online habits have changed television viewing patterns.

 

According to the survey, three out of four respondents who said they watch television while online, are visiting websites directly related to the program they are watching.

 

More information on the study and its findings can be found HERE.