Viewing the Viewers: Viewing Behaviors by Children and Adults During Television Programs and Commercials

Abstract

Videotapes of in-home television viewing of 50 individuals in five age groups (2-, 5-, 8-, and 12-year-olds, and adults), recorded over a 10-day period, revealed that 46% of time with television was spent in some activity instead of or in addition to looking at the TV. Social interaction was the most common nonviewing activity for all viewers, followed by playing and eating for children and reading for adults. Women were more likely than all other groups to do chores. Nonviewing behaviors occurred most often during programming that attracted less visual attention, particularly ads. Except for 2-year-olds, children's attention dropped during ads to a greater extent than did that of adults. The findings have implications for theories of television use and impact including uses and gratifications, displacement, and formal feature theory.

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