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What Women Want
New Arbitron/Joint Communications Study Reveals What Women Want
from Radio 09.17.01
| Available PDF downloads: | Study summary |
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Presentation from NAB 2001 |
NEW YORK, September 17, 2001 - A new survey conducted by Arbitron Inc. (NYSE: ARB) and Joint Communications, unveiled at the NAB convention in New Orleans on September 5, offers a radio perspective on that timeless question "What do women want?"
The "What Women Want: Five Secrets to Better Ratings" study was based on interviews conducted with over 1,000 Arbitron diarykeepers, aged 18-54, who listen to all major formats.
Highlights from the Study
Women demand family-friendly radio that they can listen to with their children, and they will turn the dial if programming is not appropriate for young ears. Even among 18- to 24-year-olds, a majority of women are concerned about what kids hear on the radio. Female diarykeepers also indicated a low tolerance for rude announcers.
Many see contests as a tune-out factor. Forty percent of female listeners do not want any contesting at all, no matter what. Even among those who do, only about one-quarter think that contests are fun if they don't play. Stations that do contests had better make sure they are so compelling and carefully aimed that they can overcome this disinclination among women. Those stations that target female listeners may want to consider a no-contest position.
The number one reason why women tune out a station is too many commercials. While radio executives and programmers argue about spot loads, women are tuning out. Stations need to rethink spot loads and remember the value of good creative. They also need to keep in mind that low-commercial and commercial-free satellite radio is coming.
Regardless of age, regardless of format, women said that lots of their favorite music is the number one reason why they tune in to radio. Above all, stations need to provide the right music for their female listeners and lots of it. A majority of women across all formats also want to hear songs and artists identified more frequently than stations are doing now. In terms of importance, this identification is more important to women than funny DJs. Furthermore, women indicated that news reports are one of their favorite things about radio. In fact, more women mentioned news than air personalities. Playing female listeners' favorite music and keeping them informed are not mutually exclusive.
Stations need to understand why their listeners tune in and tune out. Women generally fit into one of nine lifestyle groups that drive music tune-in: Mood Seekers; Optimists; Infoholics; Laughers and Gamers; Worried, Poor and Angry; Just Music Fans; Sports Fans; Loners; and Risqué Fans. Women also fall into one of three tune-out groups: Wrong Song/Ad Haters; Insensitive Content Dislikers; and No Time to Listen/Dislikes Contests. Follow-up studies on the individual formats as well as a special study on marketing lifestyle factors will be posted on the Arbitron Web site over the coming months.
Women who belong to a frequent-listener club are much more positive about most aspects of radio including DJs, contests and their favorite station. These women see radio as a companion and they are fiercely loyal. They are valuable targets both for stations and advertisers because their time spent listening is double that of a non-club member, and they use radio to influence purchase decisions. However, only a small percentage (4%) are active members of these clubs.
For women, nothing beats word-of-mouth reference about a station. They are more motivated by hearing about radio station programming and activities from a friend than by any other advertising medium. Stations need to brainstorm ways to stimulate such personal recommendations.
"Many of the report's findings confirm existing wisdom, but the emphasis on family-friendly listening and the aversion to contests that many listeners have are especially worth noting," noted Laura Ivey, manager of National Radio Sales for Arbitron. "Clearly, female listeners have different interests than male listeners, and stations that target women have to understand what this audience wants from radio if their programming efforts are to be successful."
John Parikhal, CEO of Joint Communications, said, "With more women working and controlling more dollars than ever before and with the increased programming targeted at women, the radio industry needs to consider carefully how it can reach this valuable group of listeners. To be successful, radio has to address women's concerns about balancing family and work while satisfying their desire to hear great music that speaks to them along with news that keeps them up to date."
The complete study is available on the Arbitron Web site at http://www.arbitron.com/radio_stations/studies1.htm.
About Arbitron
Arbitron Inc. (NYSE: ARB) is an international media and marketing research firm serving radio broadcasters, cable companies, advertisers and advertising agencies in the United States, Mexico and Europe. Arbitron's core businesses are measuring network and local market radio audiences across the United States; surveying the retail, media and product patterns of local market consumers; and providing application software used for analyzing media audience and marketing information data. Arbitron Webcast Services measures the audiences of audio and video content on the Internet, commonly known as webcasts. The Company is developing the Portable People Meter, a new technology for radio, TV and cable ratings.
Arbitron's marketing and business units are supported by a world-renowned research and technology organization located in Columbia, Maryland. Arbitron has approximately 750 full-time employees; its executive offices are located in New York City.
Through its Scarborough Research joint venture with VNU Media Measurement & Information, Arbitron also provides media and marketing research services to the broadcast television, magazine, newspaper, outdoor and online industries.
About Joint CommunicationsJoint Communications Corp. is a leader in media strategy, marketing and consumer
trends. For 25 years, Joint Communications has helped a distinguished roster
of clients to achieve remarkable success. Some of those companies include VH1,
Rolling Stone magazine, MTV, Wendy's, S.C. Johnson, Molson, CBS, NBC, ABC, Bryan
Adams, major record companies and hundreds of radio stations in the United States,
Canada, Australia, Europe and South America.
Joint Communications specializes in identifying, capturing and keeping audiences through a combination of market research, formatting, marketing and promotion.
CEO John Parikhal co-created a successful show for NBC television in addition to creating national radio hits for Rolling Stone and NBC Radio. Most recently, he put his talents to work in helping to engineer the rebirth and extraordinary success of VH1.
Parikhal is also the author of "The Baby Boom: Making Sense of Our Generation at 40," an extensive study of boomers as they turned 40. He earned his masters degree with media guru Marshall McLuhan and studied for a Ph.D. in language and perception. Frequently interviewed on radio, television and in magazines, he also shares his insights in his popular Radio & Records column, "The Competitive Edge."
| Available PDF downloads: | Study summary |
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Presentation from NAB 2001 |
