SMARTER STRATEGIES

Media Multitasking Now the Norm, Highly Distracting

Rebecca Kutzer-Rice | Date: 05-03-11 | Comments

Researchers have proven what many parents of teenagers already suspected�media multitasking is distracting and detrimental. According to a new study, users of two or more devices kept their eyes on a screen for just a few seconds before switching. The study�s results have broad implications for marketers.

If you�re like most people in the IT industry, you�re used to scrolling through your email on your computer while tapping out a message on your mobile phone, probably with the television on in the background. While this system might seem to work, a new study has shown that users who multitask between two or more media devices become distracted, switching rapidly between screens.

During the BC (Boston College) study, participants sat in a room containing both a television and a computer and were given half an hour to use either device. On average, users switched their eyes between the screens 120 times in 27.5 minutes; that�s almost once every 14 seconds.

Professors at BC�s Carroll School of Management, S. Adam Brasel and James Gips, used high-tech cameras to track where research participants� eyes moved. This helped them to understand the physical demands media multitasking created.

Many researchers had previously assumed that multitasking is distracting, but this study shows just how detrimental it can be.

"We thought it was going to be high, but the frequency of switching and the amount of distraction going on was really shocking," said Brasel, an associate professor of marketing.

Another surprising result of the study is that the subjects were unaware of their distraction. On average, they guessed that they had looked back and forth between the two screens 15 times during the experiment. Really, they switched about 10 times more often. According to the researchers, even if quick shifts�less than 1.5 seconds�are removed from the data, subjects still switched over 70 times per half hour.

"What we found is that when people try to pay attention to multiple media simultaneously, they are switching back and forth at an astounding rate," said Brasel. "We're not even aware of what we are doing when in multimedia environments."

Many participants thought they were only switching screens during television commercials or while Web pages loaded. Again, participants were incorrect in this assessment, as they actually switched screens during more active tasks.

According to the researchers, surveys show that 59 percent of Americans multitask with the computer and the television, and that this is the dominant usage mode of people under age 18.

In the study, the computer proved more captivating than the television, pulling in a participant�s gaze 68.4 percent of the time. Still, both devices held a user�s attention for only short bursts�the computer for an average of less than six seconds, and the television less than two.

The study has broad implications for marketers, as well as for parents of children multitasking while doing homework.
"Clearly, the rules we developed for the mono-media culture no longer apply," said Brasel. "Our assumptions about how people are using media need to be updated. The era of the mono-media environment is over