By Betsy Frank and Barry Martin

We are a company of storytellers - both at Time Inc. and across Time Warner. And we all know that people are now accessing our stories more and more in non-linear ways. So we recently conducted a study to examine how people really consume media. The result: “A (Biometric) Day in the Life,” monitoring 30 participants for 10 hours a day as they went through their lives.

Participants were divided into two groups: Digital Natives, most under 30, who never knew a world without the internet, and Digital Immigrants, who grew up without the internet, but have since adapted. Using Innerscope’s Biometric monitoring capabilities, we were able to gauge consumers’ subconscious emotional responses to the content they accessed throughout the day. We also used POV mini-cam glasses, one-on-one interviews, and a follow-up survey of 2,000 consumers to help generate additional insights. The Biometric study resulted in over 200,000 bins of data to analyze.

We’ve been sharing these findings with our major divisional partners and advertisers, while looking at ways to implement them into our current strategies. Here are a few key findings from “A (Biometric) Day in the Life”:

- Digital Natives switch media platforms—divert their attention from one to another-- 27 times per hour, vs. Digital Immigrants who switch platforms 17 times per hour.
- Natives spend more time with media – 71% of the non-work day is spent using media, vs. 64% for Immigrants.
- Natives spend about half of their media time with digital and half with non-digital media, vs. Immigrants who spend 68% of their media time with non-digital media.
- 54% of Natives prefer texting people rather than talking to them, vs. 28% of Immigrants.
- About two-thirds of Natives carry their mobile phone from room to room when they’re at home vs. 41% of Immigrants.
- 66% of Natives feel that they’re “naturally drawn to digital devices,” while only 48% of Immigrants feel that connection.

The conclusion? We have to be everywhere – both the main attraction, and the distraction. The good news is that more platforms and more technology still mean more places for consumers to access our great stories – whether it’s on television, in a magazine or on the iPad. We hope to conduct more studies like this, utilizing Time Warner’s Medialab, so that we can find out the best ways to continue to bring our consumers the stories that they love.

Betsy Frank is the Chief Research and Insights Officer for Time Inc.
Barry Martin is Executive Director, Research & Insights, for Time Inc.