Siren identifies text-savvy TV viewers

by Lisa Simmons, Media Week 26-Apr-07, 13:30

LONDON - Digital agency Siren claims that one in five of the UK population has used a mobile phone to text in response to a television programme.

The agency has published a report, Activation Nation, giving details of so-called "activators", who tend to be younger and female, with 27% of women respondents having texted in compared to 20% of men.

They also tend to be television-centric when it comes to media consumption and two thirds of them do not text interact with any other media.

The study claims activators are five times more responsive to advertising. One in four of them sends a text as a result of an advertising prompt, and they are twice as likely to customise their mobile as non-activators.

TV-advertised websites are also popular amongst these people, with nearly two-thirds having visited a website they saw advertised on television, compared to less than half of all adults.

More than half the activators watch television whilst using a computer (54% compared to 39% of all adults) and 50% are more likely to be red button pressers.