Needs-based segmentation of television audience

The project aims at identifying new approaches to segment the television viewership in the Italian market, to support the development of a customer-centric editorial content offer. The project intends, on one hand, to improve and complement traditional segmentation approaches, which are facing a reduced predictive power. On the other hand, it wants to provide a response to the decreased attention the television channel is facing, due to the growth of new channels and the “second screen” phenomenon. More in details, the project wishes to identify

• the customer needs that each Media Company should be able to satisfy through its editorial content,
• the time of the day in which each consumer prefers to watch each content and
• the reactions elicited by the content fruition.

Clearly, needs may vary for different customers but also along the day. At the same time, reactions to content may vary depending on the needs that each customer feels and the time of the day in which the content is experienced, even for the same target audience. Hence, the final innovative objective the project wants to achieve, is the development of a framework that segments the audience, not only through socio-demographic data but in respect to the needs that determine the consumption of specific content during the day. This will enable the identification of a “relevant audience”, meaning a public that is paying attention to the content and it is receptive. The project employs different methods to reach this goal: in-depth interviews with consumers, surveys, laboratory experiment with application of biomarketing techniques.