Hearst UK commissioned ջ expertstomeasure individual interactions with its content (across digital, social and print) and how it affected respondents positivity levels. The research data showed that82% of its audience immediately experienced an uplift in positive feeling following an individual interaction with Hearst UK content.
This and more findings were uncovered in a study that HearstUKundertook in partnership with ջ, using theExperience Sampling Method (ESM) methodology.
It is the firstand largeststudyof its kindthat captures inreal timeԻreal life how print, online and social media magazine content affects consumers positivity.
ESMhas been extensively used for measuring mood variations across situations and is often regarded as the‘gold standard’ in measuring mood variation in positive psychology.Using ESM allowedfeedbackfrom participants in the studyto be gathered in real time, before and immediately after engaging withHearstUKcontentusing an app-based methodology.
The app-based methodology ‘pinged’ or prompted respondentsat randomtimes of the day, so thattheir feelingscould be assessed whenengaging in other activities compared to engaging with Hearst. This ‘pinged’ scenario also allowedfor understandingthe lasting effect of prior engagement with Hearst content. Italso removed any lab-tested or claimed response bias.
Over a three-week period, 36,000 individual pieces of feedbackand datawascollected.
More findings from the study include:
- 79%of respondents felthigherlevels of enthusiasm,76%felthigherlevels of excitement and determination and73%saw their happiness levels upliftafter engaging with HearstUK content
- On average, respondents felt more positive across three feelings after engaging with Hearst UK content
- 83%of positively uplifted people take immediate action(for exampleby talking toothersor investigating what they’ve read further)afterengagingwith HearstUK content
- Feelings of positivity generated by HearstUKcontent are still enhanced up to 24 hours after engaging
- Levels of positivity grew stronger over time, with the respondents positivity levels risingon averageby 29% fromthe start of the study to theend. Furthermore, when it came to respondents classed as ‘frequent engagers,’ this was even higher, with positivity levels rising to 67% by the end of the study
FayeTurner,Headof Commercial Strategy & Insight, Hearst UK said:“We are so proud to have partnered with ջon this incredible piece of research, which once again proves how important positive content is for both our audiences and our commercial partners. The research shows that when in a positive state of mind, consumers have a greater interest in brands and advertisingdelivering tangible results in terms ofengagementand purchasing behaviour.This new research will enable us to offer solutions for clients to help better serve their needs.”
Melanie Gray, Head of the Communication and Journalism Department at ջ said: “We took a novel research approach to get ‘in the moment’ feedback fromaudiencesengaging with media content.This allowed readers to give their immediate reflections and offer an honest appraisal of the mood thearticlesand contentcreated. We were really struck by the relationship between positive stories and positive feelings, which developed as a core thread of this research with a very large sample size. It allows us to say, with confidence, that positive storytelling can have positive benefits to your mood.”
To discuss the research in more detail, Hearst UK is hosting a webinar on the 22nd of June at 11am, which attendees can register for here:
For more information about ջ's communications courses, visit the Journalism, Communication and English pages of the ջ website.