A Media Consumption Analysis of Digital TV Applications

by Julia Livaditi

We examine the needs audiences gratify and the patterns of use for the before mentioned interactive television applications for the purpose of classifying them accordingly. Media consumption refers to the viewers' choices of why and how media are used. The ‘why’ part refers to the reasons that drive people to use media, meaning the needs they seek to satisfy when using media. The ‘how’ part refers to the way they choose to receive media, meaning their acquired attitudes when using media. These two dimensions will be examined in order to determine why and how digital TV applications may be used.

Emotional and Rational Needs

User needs can be broken down to emotional and rational. Emotional needs are mostly focused on communication and entertainment, and generally refer to the gratification of abstract needs such a curiosity, adventure, advice seeking and community feelings. On the other hand, rational needs are mostly focused on information and transactions and generally refer to the gratification of practical needs, such as achieving an economic advantage or gaining a useful piece of information. Next, we analyze and classify digital TV applications into emotional or rational needs.

When people gratify rational needs they usually seek to achieve an explicit economic or information advantage. These needs can be broken down to two types: transactions and information needs. Information has a practical use, and is not absorbed only for reasons of personal gratification. An example is when people watch the weather report in order to determine what to wear the next day; this is a piece of information they intend to use for completely practical reasons. The transactions need refers to conducting business with other parties through a certain medium. When people engage in transactions they wish to achieve tangible results, such as purchasing a product or managing their stock portfolio.

Emotional needs can be broken down to entertainment and communication. Entertainment is one of the basic needs people satisfy when using traditional television. Entertainment refers to using media either as a form of escapism from real life situations or as a means to cultural gratification. According to this definition, when using television for entertainment, viewers are bored or anxious and need a distraction to passively take their mind of things and relax, or a ‘emotional release’ to actively divert themselves, or to satisfy their need for cultural enjoyment. Applications that fall into this category are video-games, NVOD, interactive sports, interactive shows.

As far as communication is concerned, it can be argued whether this is a rational or an emotional need. For instance, communication through the telephone often serves functional purposes, such as closing a business deal. However since the medium at hand here is television, it is doubtful whether consumers will want to conduct business through their television. The digital television applications that focus communication aim at community feelings -messaging, forums-, rather than being utilized as a tool to achieve an economic advantage.

Emotional Needs: Messaging, Video-games, Near Video On Demand, Interactive Sports, Interactive Shows, Personalized Advertising

Rational Needs: Shopping, Banking, Interactive Advertising, Electronic Program Guide, Stock Market, Interactive News and Weather

Passive and Active Patterns of Use

In addition to rational and emotional needs, a second dimension that is crucial for the purpose of understanding interactive television applications is patterns of use. The two basic patterns of using media are the passive and the active pattern.
In the passive pattern of use, interaction levels are very low and the users mainly receive content that is presented to them in an organized and packaged form. Passive consumption is also akin to linear viewing. This means that during passive consumption people prefer watching programs that have a continuous narrative flow and follow a concrete storyline. Examples of passive consumption applications are video on demand, personalized advertising. In the active pattern of use, users spend time actively browsing, searching and providing feedback to the medium they are using. Examples of this type of applications are: shopping, interactive advertising, EPG.
One can argue that traditional television watching can be active as well. Quiz shows, sports, soaps, the news, documentaries and dramas: these can all provoke lively debates around television, allowing viewers to interact with the show and with viewing companions. Still though, this existing type of interaction (i.e. discussing a show with friends, phoning in to give an opinion) is far removed from the type of interaction necessary in an interactive television environment (i.e. selecting buttons on the screen, typing in text using a keyboard). In conclusion, although interactivity as a process resulting from television use does not contradict current consumption patterns, interactivity as a process through the actual television set consists a huge step away from the way people watched television so far.

Passive Patterns of Use: video on demand, Interactive Sports, Interactive News and Weather, Interactive Shows, Personalized Advertising, Stock Market

Active Patterns of Use: Messaging, Video-games, Shopping, Banking, Interactive Advertising, Electronic Program Guide

The proposed classification is not absolute and applications that are identified as passive/emotional are deemed passive/emotional only in relation to other interactive applications. Additionally, the placement of application to a category depends on the type of features and the user interface modes it employs. The proposed classification is based on the description of interactive television applications.

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