The Value of Earned Audiences: How Social Interactions Amplify TV Impact

ABSTRACT The combined effect of using television and social media simultaneously has created an opportunity to influence a large—hitherto not well-understood—group: the “earned audience.” The current research is believed to be the first to explore the value (as opposed to volume) of the “earned audience” (users exposed to Tweets about television programs and their sponsors) on the Twitter platform. By examining Twitter users9 behavioral and attitudinal response to television Tweets during primetime television programming, the authors of the current study found that earned audiences would take actions both related to television viewing and engaging with their brand sponsors—an untapped potential for programmers and advertisers.