Next UK Touchpoints to use mobile app as diary

At the launch of Touchpoints 4 today in London, IPA director-general Paul Bainsfair said the app would provide a means for Wave 5 respondents to log their media use, activities and emotional states at half-hour interviews while also automatically collecting phone usage data.

The app, developed by Ipsos and Lumi Mobile, is currently in testing. A demo version is available to download from the iTunes store. Screenshots are below.

An app-based measurement approach formed the basis of the US version of Touchpoints, which was licenced from the IPA by the Media Behaviour Institute, with GfK Mediamark as research partner and the Coalition for Innovative Media Measurement as financial backer.

It seems an ideal time to bring the methodology to the UK version. Touchpoints data released today showed one in three adults using apps each month, while 39% report using their mobile to access the internet on a weekly basis – up from 16% in 2010. These trends are even more pronounced among the 15–24 age group – 59% use the mobile internet and just over half say they do so while watching television.

The IPA notes that the practice of double-screening “is growing rapidly”. It says technology is expanding the level of social interaction around television, which is still the dominant medium in terms of reach. TV touches 98% of all adults each week, with three-and-a-half hours being the average daily consumption of TV content. 6% of all adults watching a TV programme now say they like to be able to chat online about what they are viewing, compared to 17% for 15–24s.

Media multi-tasking in general is on the rise, according to Touchpoints: 79% of adults report using two or more media in the same half-hour. And while traditional TV viewing and reading is declining ( 4% and 10% respectively), people are more than making up the difference through increased consumption of online video and magazine/newspaper content. The IPA says that apps and websites add another 24% reach to the print total of quality daily papers, 14% for the mid-market titles and 12% for tabloids, while major magazines get an additional 9%.

The findings of Touchpoints 4 are based on a representative sample of UK adults, each equipped with a dedicated eDiary on which to record their media use, activities and other details every half hour for a seven-day period. Respondents are also asked to fill in a self-completion questionnaire.