An Audience Perspective on the 2nd Screen Phenomenon

Abstract

Second screen applications are among the latest of the TV industry's innovations to retain the TV viewer's attention in a challenging multi-screen environment. These applications can be regarded as an extension of TV content consumed on a TV set towards lightweight portable devices such as tablets. While numerous commercial instances are available internationally and the existing literature on the topic from a technical perspective is extensive, the audience side of this phenomenon has been paid far less attention to. Moreover, in the case of Flanders, the successful commercial implementation of second screen applications remains limited. In this research, we aim to elicit what TV viewers' expectations and preferences are regarding second screen functionalities. By applying means-end theory and a laddering approach we were able to discern how these preferences subsequently relate to the TV show itself, the consequences for the viewing experience, as well as how second screen applications and usages are expected to fit in the viewer's everyday life. their strategy focuses on following the viewers' gaze, rather than trying to redirect them to the TV screen.Our aim is to grasp what TV viewers' expectations are regarding second screen applications' functionalities. More in particular we will focus on how these link up to TV viewers' expectations on the consequences that these properties have for their viewing experience and what they personally value in their everyday life. The research question we maintained was "How can a second screen application be relevant for TV viewers as a companion application?" Second screen applications today exist in different forms, aimed at enhancing the viewing experience, stimulating the viewer to search for additional and related content, and reviving the idea of social TV by integrating existing (e

Investigating narrative involvement, parasocial interactions, and impulse buying behaviours within a second screen social commerce context

“…Multi-screen screen and cross channel usage has a significant strategic communications potential and provides a noteworthy marketing communications opportunity (De Meulenaere et al, 2015, Cheung et al, 2015. Aragoncillo and Orus (2018) acknowledge the influence of social media networks (in this case on a second screen) on impulse buying.…”