Study Uncovers Drivers of Audience Engagement

Global PR agency Weber Shandwick has partnered with behavioural insights agency Canvas8 and a group of neuroscience, psychology and anthropology academics to study the drivers of audience engagement.

The resulting 'Science of Engagement' report suggests that marketing, communications and media need to adapt to mirror people's psychological and sociological patterns.

Led by Adam Mack (pictured), Weber Shandwick's EMEA Chief Strategy Officer, the initiative also involves Dr.Thomas Zoëga Ramsøy: Head of Research of the Decision Neuroscience Research Group at the Copenhagen Business School; Dr. Olivier Ouillier: Professor of Behavioural and Brain Sciences at the Aix-Marseille University; and Dr. Grant McCracken: author of Culturematic, Culture and Consumption and Transformations.

Phase one of the study was conducted with Canvas8 through a series of interviews with each of the experts, focusing on the nature of engagement, how it has changed in the digital era, the various principles or triggers each sees as critical, and a perspective on how the intensity of engagement can be measured and tracked by brands and businesses.

Taking input from this panel and from extensive research, the report reveals ten principles of engagement: for example, engagement with one thing is always being at the expense of another; and engagement requires reciprocity in terms of some form of reward.

As a result of the initiative, Weber Shandwick has developed a diagnostic model that enables businesses to understand how a brand, reputation or issue of interest compares against their competitive set.

Colin Byrne, Weber Shandwick's UK & EMEA CEO, comments: 'In a world where brands risk lacking differentiation, innovation and purpose-driven creativity are the values that should drive all communication. This is the biggest challenge for today's CMO - how to develop campaigns which are both innovative enough to capture engagement and yet be highly effective in market.'

Web sites: www.webershandwick.eu and www.canvas8.com .