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A More Flexible Approach to Measuring Engagement

  • Bobby J. Calder, Mathew S. Isaac, Edward C. Malthouse
  • JOURNAL OF ADVERTISING RESEARCH
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Summary

How can marketers more effectively measure consumer engagement in this increasingly complex media world? Although one-size-fits-all scales may be appropriate in some product areas, a broader definition of engagement—together with an approach that takes into account media context and customer goals—can provide new insights that enhance advertising effectiveness.

When people watch television, see a show, read the newspaper, or consume other media forms, the more flexibly marketers can assess their engagement, the more accurately they should be able to predict behavioral and marketing outcomes. Reacting to one-size-fits-all methods for assessing engagement, the authors of this JAR article developed what they describe as a more flexible approach, based on five broad categories of consumer experiences, that “measures engagement based on context-specific experiences,” so that it is sensitive to variations across brands and products.”

They suggest that, because this approach is more powerful than those employing a single measure marketers should:

  • “Focus on experiences that relate to consumers’ goals” and “develop and study engagement metrics to attain a multifaceted understanding of their customers,” in addition to using traditional measures, such as satisfaction.
  • “Monitor customer engagement with the specific media context in which their advertisement is embedded.”

Bobby J. Calder is Kellstadt Professor of Marketing in the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University. His research specialties include consumer psychology, media, advertising, and brand strategy. His work has appeared in major journals such as the
Journal of Marketing Research, Journal of Consumer Research, and Journal of Consumer Psychology.

Mathew S. Isaac is an assistant professor of Marketing in the Albers School of Business and Economics at Seattle University. His research, which primarily examines consumer judgment and decision-making, has been published in the Journal of Marketing, Journal of Consumer Research and Journal of Consumer Psychology. He previously worked as a consultant and manager for Bain & Co. and ZS Associates, where he advised media, healthcare, and private equity clients on sales, marketing, and corporate strategy.

Edward C. Malthouse is the Theodore R. and Annie Laurie Sills Professor of Integrated Marketing Communications and Industrial Engineering and Management Science at Northwestern University, and the Research Director for the Spiegel Center for Digital and Database Marketing. His research interests center on engagement, media marketing, new media, integrated marketing communications, customer lifetime value models, marketing applications of big data, predictive analytics, and unsupervised learning. He was the co-editor of the Journal of Interactive Marketing from 2005 to 2011.