MediaUsersTypology
The task of MedienNutzerTypologie (MNT) is to segment the media usage behavior of the adult population in the Federal Republic of Germany for radio , television and online media - scientifically based. The MNT brings together people with a similar personality into homogeneous groups. These individual types of media users differ in terms of their program and genre interests as well as the intensity of use within their media portfolio. The MNT is intended to provide program makers, communication experts and other users in the media sector with a clear description of the target groups. It enables a deeper insight into the living environment of the targeted user groups.
Basics and development
Demographic criteria such as age, gender, education and religion are not sufficient to explain the differences in the use of media offers in a differentiated manner. Factors such as taste, attitudes, interests and leisure needs also have a strong influence on media usage behavior. Therefore, the Media User Typology (MNT 98) was developed in 1997/98 and readjusted jointly by ARD and ZDF in 2006 (MNT 2.0) and 2015 in order to reflect changes in society. Characteristics such as leisure time behavior, musical preferences, topic interests, values and goals in life were used as typing variables.
Changes compared to previous variants of the MNT
In 2015, after a good nine years, the MNT was adapted to changes in society for the second time after 2006 with the help of an adjustment study, and this led to a number of changes in the individual types. Some types such as family- oriented , domestic or determined-minded people stayed quite close to the previous types ; others such as modern established or committed are largely new, with less overlap with previous types from the MNT 2006.
| MNT 98 | MNT 2.0 | MNT 2015 |
|---|---|---|
| Young savages | Young savages | Fun oriented |
| Experience-oriented | Determined trendsetters | Determined |
| Performance-oriented | Professionally Oriented | Modern established |
| - | Active family-oriented | Family oriented |
| Inconspicuous | Inconspicuous | Escapists |
| Open minded | versatile interested | Committed |
| Domestic | Domestic | Domestic |
| New culture-oriented | Modern culture-oriented | High culture orientated |
| Withdrawn | Withdrawn | Withdrawn |
| Classically culture-oriented | Culture-oriented traditional | Traditional |
Data collection
The data for the MNT 2015 were collected through telephone surveys by GfK Media & Communication Research. The survey period was between October 23 and December 17, 2014. The population was the German-speaking population aged 14 and over with a landline connection in Germany. A sample of 2500 cases was realized.
Areas of application of the MNT
The MNT is used in media research, especially by ARD and ZDF. It is part of numerous program research and positioning studies. The MNT were also merged into the television panel of the Arbeitsgemeinschaft Fernsehforschung (AGF) so that detailed typological analyzes of TV usage behavior are possible.
The media user types in detail
The MNT differentiates between a total of 10 different types of media users. The percentage of the German-speaking population aged 14 and over is given.
| Media user type | characterization | proportion of |
|---|---|---|
| Fun oriented | intense stimulus seekers, carefree, self-referential and insecure, adolescent behavior | 10% |
| Determined | confident, dynamic doers, assertive, self-confident, experience-oriented | 10% |
| Modern established | active, critical and liberal, with a confident attitude, culturally affine, broadly interested | 10% |
| Family oriented | optimistic, self-confident family manager with individuality demands, sociable and well organized | 15% |
| Escapists | Focus on one's own environment, adaptable, existence-oriented and waiting | 13% |
| Committed | broadly interested, active and open-minded, high affinity for culture with no striving for demarcation | 9% |
| Domestic | Need for security and continuity in everyday life, strong ties to home, orientation towards private surroundings, basic secular attitude | 8th % |
| High culture orientated | active leisure activities primarily in the high culture area with an open concept of culture with a demarcation from the trivial, educated and demanding | 8th % |
| Withdrawn | rather passive way of life, cautious, economical, low spectrum of interests, predominantly one-person households | 6% |
| Traditional | Conservative post-war generation, great importance of security and harmony, humble and devout | 11% |
Fun oriented
The former Junge Wilde (MNT 98, MNT 2.0) are now called fun-oriented . With them there is hardly any gesture of wanting to attract attention or a strongly pronounced progressiveness. Instead, this guy is looking for fun and action at its core and usually lives it out in the familiar company of like-minded people: meeting friends, playing (network) games, watching films or series, but also hanging out a lot and doing nothing, "always on" “To be, that means grown together with the smartphone , in constant contact with friends and family via social networks or messenger services such as WhatsApp ; these are decisive aspects of the living environment of this youngest type of media user.
The focus is on individual development. Everyday life is (still) relatively free of responsibility and duties. The group is, so to speak, in the starting position in life, but it is approached in a wait-and-see manner rather than tackling it. This must undoubtedly be connected in part with the phase of life of adolescence, which is known to bring with it not only insecurity but also a strong self-reference. A part is also due to the, compared to the other younger type, the single-minded, worse starting conditions, i.e. parental home, socialization and formally lower level of education.
The spectrum of interests of the fun-oriented is relatively small. Most likely, your own training, network world and equipment as well as fashion and stars are on the agenda. The fun-minded have the lowest television usage of all types. When they watch TV, they tend to be private , especially ProSieben . The use of moving images in the network, on the other hand, is highest with this type. Compared to other types of media users, the fun-oriented listen to a below-average amount of radio, their focus is then on the use of young radio formats with a high proportion of current charts. The focus of media use for this type of media user is clearly on online. With your smartphone you are "on" (line) in almost all situations. The Internet is a constant companion, and the communication function plays a major role, as well as watching videos or listening to music on the Internet. Around 70 percent of those who like fun are still under 30 years old, the average age is 25 years. More than half are already employed and a quarter are still in school. Among all media user types, those who are fun-oriented have the highest proportion of people with a migration background (29 percent).
Determined
The determined - formerly: determined trendsetters - have lost their additional title. They still belong to the early adopters of media and technical developments, but the escalation towards trendsetters would describe them too much in the sense of a closely-knit avant-garde that no longer has any hold in the readjustment of the media user typology.
Although the determined ones belong to the same generation as the fun-oriented, they are very different from them. Determined are confident, optimistic doers. They shape their phase of life with self-confidence and straightforwardness, in which training, studies and professional establishment are of great importance. At the same time, however, it is extremely important to them to “party”, that is, to be out and about a lot and experience as much as possible. Determined people often go out, to the cinema or to concerts, do sports regularly and like to travel. Their range of interests is greater than that of the fun-oriented. Determined people are also interested in stars, starlets and fashion as well as everything to do with the Internet, cell phones and computers. But there are also areas of interest such as travel, career and science topics. Determined people like to spend their time at home with home entertainment such as watching DVDs, series or films as well as computer or network games.
The focus of the media use of the determined is clearly on online, in all facets; The use of messenger services , online communities and apps is particularly pronounced , and microblogging (such as Twitter) also plays a role for them. Tablets and smartphones are a central part of everyday life for the determined. In terms of media use, television and radio tend to take a back seat, the focus on television is on offers from private broadcasters , on the radio the determined listen to pop channels or young formats. The determined are disproportionately male at 60 percent, on average 30 years old and thus older than in the typology from 2006. Formal education is relatively high. More than 30 percent have completed high school or university studies or are studying. Almost three quarters are employed, only around a fifth are still pupils or students, which also explains the relatively high standard of living for this age group.
Modern established
The modern established represent a new type in the media user typology. Although they have many similarities with the previous professionally oriented, they differ in key dimensions. Modern, established people are better educated and can be found in jobs with high professional prestige and good income. Surprisingly, this positive economic position goes hand in hand with a lower professional orientation compared to the previous type. Success at work is still very important; However, it has to a large extent already been realized, so that modern, established people can act more calmly from a self-confident position and face challenges confidently and positively. The basic attitude of this type of media user can be described as critical, interested and cosmopolitan. His range of interests has expanded significantly and includes topics such as politics, science and psychology. He shows an active leisure behavior. He does sports, but also likes to go to the cinema or the theater. Modern established people also like to go to concerts, some of them make music themselves.
Within the middle-aged segment, modern, established people have by far the highest and most differentiated online usage. Compared to the two youngest user groups, they use laptops or tablets more often . They read the offers of newspapers and magazines on the Web more often than any other type. They have less time for television and radio. They have an affinity for public law offers . The age distribution is particularly wide among the modern established. The average age is 37 years. The type is distributed almost equally over the decades between 20 and 59 years. With 57 percent high school diploma or university degree, they have the highest formal education of all media user types. Together with the family-oriented, they also have the highest proportion of working people (78 percent each).
Family oriented
The family-oriented - previously: active family-oriented - continue to exist in the typology as a very stable group. In the course of the simplification of the type designation, the addition “active” was dispensed with. The family-oriented are the largest group with 15 percent of the population. This and their central position in the typology model with overlaps with a number of other types make them particularly relevant as a target group.
Family-oriented people are active and self-confident "family managers". They have by far the largest proportion of children under the age of 14 in the household (43 percent). Family-oriented people have many contacts, among other things through club membership, and are well networked. Family and work present them with high organizational challenges, which they usually master well with an optimistic attitude. However, they cannot be reduced to their family life and, in addition to their family activities, are also looking for individual retreats, such as B. Sports or wellness offers. In addition to children and partnerships, the focus of interest of the family-oriented are also work and house and garden issues. The type shows a strong connection to its living environment, which is expressed in a modern sense of home.
Family-oriented people turn to the radio much more than their peers. When viewing television, they have a slightly below-average viewing time, which is divided equally between private and public services. The online media are firmly integrated into everyday life. However, family-oriented people show less differentiated online activities than the younger types and the modern established types . Family-oriented people tend to be between 30 and 59 years old. They mostly have an intermediate level of education and live a little less often in large cities than other types.
Escapists
The escapists represent an adaptable, existence-oriented group. The name of the type refers to a retreat into the private, since the external conditions of society are perceived as complex. You are reluctant to take on responsibility and show little initiative. Escapists have a high employment rate (71 percent), but comparatively low income. They focus strongly on their own environment, have comparatively few contacts, hardly go out and spend their everyday life or their free time mainly at home.
Media use, especially television, plays a major role here. No other middle-aged guy watches as much television (269 minutes a day) as the escapists. In addition, they deal with DIY or the younger ones with computer games. Compared to the other types of media users, they have only weak interests. The escapists follow the previous inconspicuous ones in the typology model. In terms of content, they have only changed slightly. They have gotten a little older and now live much more often in one-person households (42 percent). Their formal education is comparatively low.
When it comes to watching TV, they prefer fictional formats and entertainment. They are more likely to be found among private broadcasters . Compared to the previous inconspicuous people at MNT 2.0, however, they have more contact with public service offers . This may also be due to the higher average age of the group. When using the radio and the internet, escapists have average usage times.
Committed
The committed people are active, down-to-earth people with an extremely wide range of interests. It is characterized by her open-minded and very sociable nature. The type was developed from the former multi-faceted people . In addition to the highly culture- oriented, the committed are a type of media user with a strong affinity for culture , without any great distinction from trivial offers. Attending classical concerts, theaters and museums makes up an essential part of their leisure time activities. In addition to their involvement in associations, parishes or churches, those involved also like to work in the house and garden.
The broad spectrum of interests of those involved includes politics, society and culture, but also the environment and nature as well as consumer issues. The committed person is close to organic and fair trade products. This affinity is carried by a nature-loving, sustainability-conscious attitude and relatively good economic conditions. Those involved are interested in global and local issues and are emotionally deeply connected to their region. With around 240 minutes of viewing time per day, television use by committed people is in line with the population average. Public broadcasters are preferred , including cultural programs such as Arte and 3sat . But private programs are also in the portfolio. Radio is heard above average compared to the other types. The volunteers have a wide range of formats to: from pop and oldies waves to culture and information formats .
Online usage is also average, with a manageable spectrum of usage. The focus for those involved is communication, i.e. emails or messenger services such as WhatsApp , but also the search for information. The smartphone plays the biggest role among those who are committed compared to older types of users. Slightly more than half of the volunteers are female (55 percent). The average age is 56 years. The age range is relatively broad with similar proportions in the decades between 40 and 70+ years. Those involved have low and middle school qualifications, but also university degrees. The vast majority (56 percent) are still working.
Domestic
The domestic media user type has remained almost unchanged compared to 2006. It is characterized by day-to-day management optimized for security, continuity and predictability. They are still strongly value conservative and traditionally oriented. Thrift, fulfillment of duties and classic role models are positively documented. A clear difference to other representatives of their generation is a strongly pronounced secular attitude among the domestic population. Despite a traditional way of life, they can do little with church and faith or reject it.
The leisure time of the domestic takes place in the house and garden. Needlework, listening to television and radio, relaxing and doing nothing is part of their everyday life, in which relatively little happens, but what little has to be carefully planned. The domains' areas of interest tend to be limited to their own living environment. Health and medicine, nature and animals are of great importance to them, but also tabloid topics, fate stories and celebrities. Domestic people are more regionally than globally oriented and are also emotionally closely connected to their homeland.
Domestic people are heavy media users. They watch a lot of television, often public broadcasters , but are also most common among the older types with private broadcasters . Your radio consumption is the highest among all media user types. Domestic people mostly hear public service offers, their spectrum ranges from oldie waves to pop and hit programs . The Internet is of little importance for the domestic population, around 30 percent are offline. If they use the Internet, it is primarily for e-mail communication and information gathering.
Among the domestic, women are somewhat in the majority (58 percent). On average, the guy is 61 years old. Around a third are between 50 and 59 years old, more than half are over 60. Compared to other members of their generation, domestic people have formally low educational qualifications. A third is still working.
High culture orientated
The highly culture-oriented represent the well-to-do, formally highly educated cultural elite. They are self-confident, active people with a more rational, distant attitude and - compared to the other culturally related types - have a very clear focus on high-culture activities such as drama, opera or classical concerts. However, this does not imply a rejection of an open and modern concept of culture. High culture-oriented people are rather people with a universalistic concept of culture whose focus is on high culture with a clear rejection of trivial content . This effort to delimit them differs significantly from the committed user type , who is also very culturally affine. In addition to lively visits to cultural offerings, those with a high culture also enjoy going to restaurants, going to cinema screenings, doing sports, reading a lot and spending their free time on short breaks or city trips. The cultural orientation shapes her diverse subject interests: art, literature, theater, also cabaret and satire belong to her spectrum alongside politics, history and science.
High culture-oriented people are more interested in global issues than other user groups, which explains their above-average use of national daily newspapers . They are the regular audience of public television channels . Private programs are generally rejected, and there is a high affinity to cultural channels such as Arte and 3sat as well as digital offers from ARD and ZDF . In radio, the highly culture-oriented are the core listeners of culture and information formats .
The high culture-oriented media user type seeks both relaxation and deeper engagement with topics and content in media use. The online spectrum of the highly culture-oriented is quite pronounced compared to other older types, even if they tend to focus on classic functions such as e-mail communication and a targeted interest in information. The gender ratio is balanced. The average age is 62 years, 55 percent are 50 to 69 years old, almost a third are already 70 years or older. High culture-oriented people are formally highly educated: 36 percent have a university degree. A good half (54 percent) are already retired. The highly culture-oriented are among the wealthy retirees of their generation after finishing their professional life.
Withdrawn
The withdrawn media user type is characterized by a cautious lifestyle that is limited to their own environment. They have comparatively few contacts, around 60 percent live alone.
The leisure activities are very manageable and mostly take place in the home. This includes handicrafts, your own garden or balcony, occasional church visits and, like no other type, television. Retired people watch TV for almost six hours a day on average, an expression of compensation for their uneventful everyday life and a window to the world. Shopping or going to the doctor are welcome changes and not infrequently, at least for the pensioners among them, one of the few reasons to leave their own four walls.
Those who have withdrawn usually have a low financial budget, which requires a frugal lifestyle. You are rather worried about the future. Your interest in the topic is very weak. They are most likely to be interested in animals, tabloid topics and religion. In terms of media use, television clearly dominates and fulfills the function of a structuring daily companion. Their radio consumption, on the other hand, is below average. When it comes to musical preferences, the focus is clearly on the hit. 61 percent of those withdrawn are offline, so Internet use plays a subordinate role. Those who have withdrawn are on average 63 years old, 42 percent are 70 years or older. With 6 percent of the population, the withdrawn are the smallest group in the typology model.
Traditional
The traditional represent the oldest type of media user. They embody the value-conservative post-war generation, for whom security, order and thrift are important cornerstones of their ritualized everyday life. In addition to the committed ones, traditional people have a strongly religious way of life. This means both formal consent to a life according to religious principles and - if health permits - active participation in church life, i.e. attending church services.
Their radius of action is mostly in their own home area and, in addition to extensive media consumption, is filled with handicrafts or occupation in the house and garden. Her range of interests includes topics of faith, nature and animals, health, and also politics. The traditional still have a small residue of cultural interest, which can be seen, for example, in attending classical or church concerts.
Media usage is classically linear. Traditional ones are much more interested in regional than in global issues and are therefore often readers or subscribers of regional daily newspapers . They watch an above-average amount of television and have a manageable range of channels, including ZDF , the first and third programs . Radio is also very popular with the traditional. They mostly listen to public radio programs and can be found in culture , oldie, hit and harmony formats . The Internet plays almost no role for this type of user, the vast majority belong to the offline group. Around two thirds of the traditional are female. The average age is 71, and 85 percent are retired. The formal educational qualifications are rather low due to age.
Sociodemographic structure of the media user types
The distribution of media user types across the age cohorts:
| numbers in percent | Men | Women | 14-19 years | 20-29 years | 30–39 years | 40-49 years | 50–59 years | 60–69 years | 70 years and older | Average age |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| total | 49 | 51 | 7th | 14th | 14th | 18th | 17th | 13 | 18th | 48 |
| Fun oriented | 52 | 48 | 30th | 41 | 23 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 25th |
| Determined | 60 | 40 | 22nd | 41 | 14th | 17th | 5 | 1 | 1 | 30th |
| Modern established | 57 | 43 | 6th | 26th | 24 | 23 | 17th | 4th | 0 | 37 |
| Family oriented | 48 | 52 | 1 | 10 | 26th | 31 | 22nd | 9 | 1 | 44 |
| Escapists | 56 | 44 | 2 | 7th | 16 | 33 | 25th | 13 | 3 | 47 |
| Committed | 45 | 55 | 1 | 2 | 10 | 19th | 24 | 21st | 23 | 56 |
| Domestic | 42 | 58 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 14th | 32 | 24 | 27 | 61 |
| High culture orientated | 48 | 52 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 11 | 25th | 30th | 30th | 62 |
| Withdrawn | 55 | 45 | 4th | 0 | 3 | 15th | 16 | 19th | 43 | 63 |
| Traditional | 38 | 63 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4th | 8th | 17th | 71 | 71 |
The media user types and their emotional profile
The ARD / ZDF project group Typology has set itself the task of expanding the MNT model to include psychographic features. By researching the subconscious emotional needs of the individual types, a deeper understanding of their media usage behavior should be achieved. The aim is to further improve the performance of the MNT as an instrument for target group-oriented program development.
In order to gain access to the emotions of the media users, the " Emotional Branding Monitor" (EBM) from the Bielefeld market research company Interrogare GmbH was used. With this method, the respondents should use emotional images and terms to decide in fractions of a second whether the stimuli shown fit their own person or not. This is intended to capture unconscious, cognitively not reflected associations and emotions. The model differentiates between seven independent “basic emotion systems” : dominance, search, play / joy, pleasure / eroticism, balance, care, skepticism / concern.
The MNT expansion study carried out with the EBM is based on an online survey in October 2016. The following results, among others, were derived from the link between the emotion systems and the media user types :
- Withdrawn and escapists denote skepticism / concern , while the determined and committed have the greatest distance from this emotion.
- Committed, determined, high culture-oriented and modern established people are emotionally searching , while withdrawn and escapists have a weak spectrum of interests.
- For the older, withdrawn and traditional, but also for the younger, determined, modern and fun-oriented people who are still starting a family, the topic of care is relevant, albeit in a weaker form.
- When it comes to dominance , all types of media users locate themselves in the negative area, while when it comes to the balance of emotions , they all find themselves in a positive self-perception.
- Withdrawn, domestic and traditional people move primarily in the emotional systems of skepticism / concern, care and balance . Those with a high culture orientation also show above-average characteristics in these fields, albeit moderate.
See also
- Sinus milieu
- Media usage research
- Media usage
- Long-term study of mass communication
- ARD / ZDF online study
- Polling
- Online user typology
Web links
- MedienNutzerTypologie 2015 - reference page from ARD and ZDF
- ARD / ZDF online study
- Media perspectives. Media studies publication by ARD Sales & Services
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- ↑ a b c d e f g h i j k l Matthias Eckert, Sylvia Feuerstein: Changes and basic characteristics of the media user types. In: Media Perspektiven. 11/2015, pp. 482–495 PDF file, 2 MB
- ↑ Ekkehardt Oehmichen: The new media user typology MNT 2.0. In: Media Perspektiven. 5/2007, p. 229 ff. PDF file
- ↑ Peter H. Hartmann, Anna Schlomann: MNT 2015: Further development of the media user typology. In: Media Perspektiven. 11/2015, p. 498 ( PDF file, 130kB ).
- ↑ Hessischer Rundfunk: media user typology. Retrieved December 23, 2015 .
- ↑ Matthias Eckert, Andrea Eisenblätter, Silvia Feuerstein, Sören Scholz: The media user types and their emotional profile. In: Media Perspektiven 11/2017, p. 555 ff. Accessed on February 24, 2018 .