Readerscan

The Readerscan method is an electronic method for recording reading behavior in print media . It is the first and only method in the world that allows reading of editorial texts and advertisements in printed media of all kinds ( newspapers , magazines , books , mail-order catalogs, advertising brochures, etc.) to be shown simultaneously and in real time.

The reading behavior is shown for each individual editorial article in the form of the reading rate , the attention rate , the reading time and reading order. In terms of advertisements, the attention rate and the duration of the viewing are of particular interest.

The reading data on article and advertisement usage are used by publishers in three ways:

1. The editorial offices use the reading information to assess the proximity of the printed medium to the reader and to promote it with reader-related measures in terms of content and design .

2. The data form an essential basis for reader marketing in order to win the readership with effective arguments for the product.

3. The advertising departments use the data for customer advice in order to optimize the content , design , placement and switching frequency of the advertisements in a reader-oriented manner.

Ultimately, it is for editorial matter reader marketing and advertising department, thanks to increased reader orientation sold pads to keep the printed media or increase.

Carlo Imboden from Switzerland developed the reader scan method for recording reading habits with the help of a pen-shaped scanner in 2004.

Readerscan users are leading newspaper and magazine publishers in Europe. You use the system for national and regional daily newspapers , weekly newspapers , Sunday newspapers , tabloids , customer magazines, employee magazines , weekly magazines and monthly magazines .

Users include the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung ( FAZ ), the Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung (FAS), Die Zeit , the Neue Zürcher Zeitung ( NZZ ), the NZZ am Sonntag , Die Welt , die Welt am Sonntag , Die Presse , die Bild , the Blick , the Kronen Zeitung , the Berliner Kurier , the Salzburger Nachrichten , the Tiroler Tageszeitung , the Augsburger Allgemeine , the Main-Post , the Berliner Zeitung , the Berliner Morgenpost , the Mannheimer Morgen , the Neue Osnabrücker Zeitung , the Westfälische Nachrichten , the Nürnberger Nachrichten , the Nürnberger Zeitung , the Deister and Weser newspaper the Schaumburger message that Neu-Ulm newspaper , the Free Press , the Saxon newspaper , the Nordkurier , the Aargauer Zeitung , the Tribune de Genève , the Coop newspaper , the Focus , the ZEITMagazin , the NZZ Folio , the Kicker , the Deutsche Post network (English and German), a total of over 100 print titles.

Based on the results of Readerscan, its developer, media researcher and consultant Carlo Imboden significantly shaped the development of the printed newspaper in Europe after the turn of the millennium. The reader scan applications showed early on that the printed newspaper would have to say goodbye to its traditional role as chronicler of daily events in competition with digital media if it wanted to continue to reach the reader. Instead of news , which is the basis of the English term "newspaper", the reader expects more and more background, in-depth knowledge, explanation and commentary on topics that seem important to him in the printed newspaper . This means that the term “newspaper” is increasingly becoming a contradiction in terms. Equally important for the printed newspaper were Readerscan’s findings on newspaper design - moving away from a primarily aesthetic claim to an unconditionally functional page design, which allows the reader to take in text and images along the habitualized reception without obstacles .

method

A group of 120 to 400 readers - selected representatively - receives an electronic hand-held scanner to record the texts that have been read. The editors determine the number of samples and the structure of the print title to be measured. The members of the group read the newspaper or magazine as usual . With the scanner, they record the texts during the reading process and thus also the places where they leave the article. The scanned exit lines are saved and transferred via a modem to a data center for evaluation. In the data center, the scanned lines are compared with the electronic template of the print object. In this way it can be determined which reader has read which article up to which point. The average of all “reading depths” per article gives the article's reading rate , in other words the degree of use.

For each individual article it is shown how intensively it was used by the readership. It can be determined whether only the title, including the opening credits and whether the body text has been read partially or completely. The data on reading behavior are recorded and evaluated immediately after the issue has been read and are available to the editorial team on the day of publication of the respective issue.

The usage behavior of the readership is usually measured in several measurement waves. The editorial team determines the number and length of the measuring waves. A multi-stage procedure has become established for daily and weekly newspapers, with three to four measurement periods of four to 14 weeks each.

The editors can use the data from Readerscan to assess the “proximity to the reader” of the sheet and the use of the various departments. The interest of the publishers is to maintain or increase their circulation through reader-adapted content.

criticism

The method is only suitable to a limited extent for capturing fleeting moments of reading behavior, such as the screening of pages when turning the newspaper pages. The use of eye tracking methods is more suitable for this .
The criteria for the selection of the test readers are not comprehensible for the editors, the number is too small for reliable statements, the period of three weeks too short; Subjects may behave differently over a short period of time than outside of the test.
The television stations' programming does not improve objectively even by determining the audience figures.
The use of the hardware is very expensive, and the use of this may also influence the reading behavior of the participants.
120 participants are not enough to get representative results with the test .

Web links

literature

Balz Ruchti: How we scare the reader away - Interview with Carlo Imboden. In: NZZ Folio , No. 333 April 2019, p. 48 ff.

swell

^ Carlo Imboden: The future of the printed newspaper - a vision based on Readerscan. In: Zoran Ribarovic (ed.): From Gutenberg to globalization. Split 2010, ISBN 978-953-96566-5-0 , pp. 85-98

↑ Georg Taitl: "Not having the first, but the last word". Interview with Carlo Imboden. In: Yearbook for Journalists 2010. Salzburg 2010, ISBN 978-3-901227-31-8 , p. 136 ff.

↑ Michaela Böhm: Readerscan scheduled - readers mark their own interests ( Memento of the original from December 12, 2006 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. verdi.de from September 8, 2005 @1@ 2

[1] Carlo Imboden: The future of the printed newspaper - a vision based on Readerscan. In: Zoran Ribarovic (ed.): From Gutenberg to globalization. Split 2010, ISBN 978-953-96566-5-0 , pp. 85-98