Television Advertising in the Multiscreen and Multitasking Age: Does it Work for Millennials?

Abstract

Advertisers are challenged to respond to changing behaviour of consumers who become more technologically literate and develop patterns to avoid commercials. Millennials, especially, multitask, use multiple screens to consume content and use technologies to search for information. In this researchfocus groups were conducted with 241 respondents, to study changes in information searches regarding future purchases. Masters' students were selected as participants for the research and their response to being exposed to television advertising was studied and their information search process was charted. Consequences of the changing behaviour for advertisers include the need to consider search visibility for general and campaign-related keywords as a cornerstone of their communication campaigns. This research contributes to theory by enhancing the existing perception of integrated marketing communication (IMC) with the central role of search visibility in connecting various communication channels. By reflecting on the charted process of active information research, advertisers can make their TV campaigns work for millennial consumers who use online search and various devices in the process following the TV spot consumption.