To many people, if not most, switching on the television forms part of the daily routine actions that are done when they enter the house. Television viewing has become so much a part of people's daily lives that the act itself is taken for granted. Often, we would find someone discussing about what was watched on television with his or her colleagues, friends and even acquaintances. As marketing communication practitioners, the prevalence of television viewing in today's society, more than ever, underscores the importance of understanding its impact and influence on our target audiences and the challenges it posed with the augmentation of media choices.
The focus of this paper will start with an overview of Anderson's studies on television viewing behaviour and thereafter, the implications of his observations and findings for considerations in marketing communication.
Anderson's Research on Television Viewing Behaviour.
The Focus of Anderson's Research.
Anderson (1985, p. 178) sees his research in online nature of television viewing as "a means of studying the dynamics of attention and comprehension of multimodal discourse."" Highlighting that his research and findings apply to "the production of short television segments such as commercials-, he also found that much of the research in this area has "general applicability for use in TV production- (Ibid.). Hence, a more thorough understanding of his research and findings may assist marketing communication practitioners in making more informed decisions with regard to TV advertisements' production and placement. .
As Anderson's focus is on the "dynamics of viewing behaviour and cognition- (Ibid.), he undertook observations of TV viewing behaviour rather than depend on viewers' reports about their own or their children's behaviour (Ibid). He acceded that his goal is to "extract principles that will prove of general applicability to the dynamics of cognitive functioning- (Ibid.
