Consumer Surveys vs. Electronic Measures For Single-Source Data

ABSTRACT MRI viewing data were compared to Nielsen ratings across 84 programs to determine whether one system could serve as a single-source surrogate for the other. Exposure to TV Program was determined among owners/users for 17 categories identified by both MRI and NTI, constituting single-source data. Since these categories were common to both MRI and NTI, this allowed a test of the comparability of each system on a single-source basis. The findings showed that MRI and NTI are reasonable surrogates on the absolute level of program viewing on a product-specific basis. But they are poor surrogates when it comes to the relative performance of a program compared to the total population by product category. Since relative performance of a program for a user/owner group is an important criterion of media selection, this raises questions about whether one system can be regarded as a single-source surrogate for the other. Possible reasons for these disparities are explored.