Media Research Meaning, Role and Importance

Media Research is the study of the effects of the different mass media on social, psychological and physical aspects. Research segments the people based on what television programs they watch, radio they listen, media they access and magazines they read.

It is also called “Audience Research”. It provides information regarding the popularity & effectiveness of each advertising medium & the comparative position of the cost of advertising in each medium. This facilitates the selection of the most suitable media mix for the benefit of the advertiser.

It includes achievements and effects of media and a study about the development of media. Newspapers, magazines, radio, TV, Cinema or other mass media analysis and collection of information’s. It helps to understand the ways in which media can meet the needs of the audience. Whether it can provide information and entertainment to more and different types of people. New technological improvements that help to improve or enhance the medium. Thus in order to deal with social and political issues insightfully, management and regulation of media is needed. Unbiased evaluation of data can be achieved through media research.

Parameters in Media Research

• The nature of medium being used.
• The working of the medium.
• Technologies involved in it.
• Difference and similarities between it and other media vehicles.
• Functions and services provided by it.
• Cost associated and access to new medium.
• Effectiveness and how it can be improved.

As decision process depends on data, thus media research has grown to be utilized for long range planning. Research is in growth phase due to competitions between different media.

Mass Media Research Importance

Why do people want to study mass media? Well, there are many questions to answer. Many businesses are trying to target advertising, but some people are also concerned with the well-being of a very plugged-in society. Businesses study mass media to see which form of mass media produces the greater result for its advertisements. In contrast, from a public health standpoint, studies have been performed to see what kinds of effects depictions of violence can have on children. While the studies conducted do show correlations, the results have never been consistent with regard to their significance.

Nevertheless, media companies have adopted a better-safe-than-sorry approach with a lot of their programing, primarily by limiting the amount of violence portrayed in programs that don’t fall under the adults-only or adolescence-plus ratings. Thus, the purpose of mass media research is mainly for business purposes and for public health reasons.

When used for business purposes, mass media research is important, as it helps businesses figure out which forms of advertising work. Businesses want to see more sales, so mass media research for business focuses more on conversions, the number of people watching or reading a mass media form and then turning into customers. This is important, as the numbers found through mass media research helps the business decide whether a certain form of advertising is financially worth it.

For example, to advertise on an animal channel costs $1,000. The animal channel tells you that they have over 4 million people viewing the channel each day. Your advertisement only takes up 30 seconds of the day, so your potential audience is significantly less than that 4 million. It may be only 500,000. Your own market research tells you that of those who view your commercial, 2 percent will become customers. That means you’ll get 500,000 * 0.02 = 10,000 customers from your commercial. If this is enough to recoup the cost of the commercial and to provide enough profit, then this form of advertisement is worth it. Businesses can also use mass media research to help figure out how customers view their product by looking at what they are posting about the business online.

Mass media research for health and well-being reasons is important, as scientists are still learning about how technology is affecting people in both positive and negative ways. For example, with the increasingly prevalent use of smartphones, some scientists are concerned that the increased exposure to radiation will negatively impact people’s health. Is this true? This is something that scientists are still trying to figure out through mass media research.

Another example is studying the effects of young people using social media instead of communicating with people face to face. Scientists are seeing these younger people experiencing more loneliness than people who don’t depend on social media as much.

Functions of media research:

Three major functions of media research & these are:

Vehicle distribution:

If refers to the number of copies of newspaper or magazine circulation in a particular region or throughout the country. In case of T.V. it refers to the no. of programmes distributed on each channel.

Vehicle exposure:

It refers to the kind of people expose to newspaper or T.V.

Advertising exposure:

If refers to the no. of people exposed to the advertising message.

Media Research is Important

• To study the viewership or to know the TRP. It helps the advertising agencies or advertisers to know the TRP and rating of programs which later boosts the sponsership cycle
• Formative and summative assessment of various programs, movies, documentaries or traditional media helps the researchers and producers and promotes a better understanding of the need of the market and the audiences. It creates a bridge between the need and supply of content which is being provided.
• It is also helpful in quantifying the Impact of media on the audience or viewers
• It compares the former media content with the running content to show the statistical differences between the contents.