ijrar.orgijrar.org/papers/ijrar_222858.docx · web viewthe current disruption may be...

Topic: Adverse effect of a Pandemic on media Platforms

Under the able guidance of Dr. Arpita Baijal

Research Paper

-Sakshi Kasar

Acknowlegdement

I would like to Express my special thanks of gratitude to my Mentor Dr. Arpita Baijal as well as our Dean Ma’am, Mrs Sangita Kher of the college Anil Surendra Modi College Of Commerce, who gave me the golden opportunity to do this wonderful project on this topic. Which also helped me in doing a lot of research and I came to know about so many new things. I am really thankful to them.Secondly I would also like to thank my parents and friends who helped me a lot in motivating me.

I am writing this research paper to expand my knowledge base in the subject I am vastly interested in.

SAKSHI KASAR

Table of contentsSr. no. Particulars

3 Abstract

4 Introduction

5 Literature review

13 Research gap and Problem Definition

15 Research methodology

18 Data Analysis

21 Findings and conclusions

25 References

ABSTRACT

Objective: To study the Adverse effect of pandemic on Media Platform.

In the following paper, we have made an attempt at analyzing the effect of the current pandemic,

coronavirus, on media platforms. For this analysis, we have taken various factors into

consideration especially in the Indian scenario. Source Model, Cognitive Response Model, the

Match up Hypothesis and Balance Theory and Cultural Meaning Transfer are a few models that

we have used to analyze the factors. Furthermore, we have taken live examples of the famous

social media brands and how the pandemic has affected it. The main finding from this research

paper is that the people understand that the pandemic has affected the media industry severely.

Keywords – pandemic, coronavirus.

INTRODUCTION

The Covid-19 pandemic is disrupting every industry. For the media sector, coronavirus creates

both opportunities and challenges.

On the one hand, social distancing has led to a spike in at-home media consumption, and

growing numbers are turning to news providers for timely and trusted information on the crisis.

At the same time, some of the most valuable broadcast content—such as live sports—is being

postponed or cancelled, leading to spending reallocations by advertisers and a subsequent drop in

income for media companies.

The current disruption may be unprecedented, but the media industry has been upended many

times before. Since the turn of the century, digitisation of content, the rise of social media and

acceleration in mobile consumption have all forced changes to the way media companies

monetise content.

Today, thanks to the internet’s low distribution costs and the global audience it offers, every

publisher or distributor is a legitimate competitor, each striving to capture a share of advertising

spend and consumer attention.

Some have thrived: their addressable market is bigger, or they’ve scaled to stay competitive.

New companies—new ways of reaching people—have been created. Others struggle; local news

in particular faces major challenges. A few have failed, and a few more may do so in the future.

LITERATURE REVIEW

The global economic effects of the COVID-19 pandemic are already taking shape, as markets

tumble and countries take emergency actions to respond.

As global habits change to adapt to the new realities of the outbreak, consumer spending also

appears likely to fall, and the impacts could have far-reaching effects on the media, sports and

entertainment industries.

Here are four ways the novel coronavirus could affect these industries in the coming

months.

1.Major shortfall in revenue from events

Postponed or cancelled events could lead to a decline in revenues for the event organizers as well

as for media that broadcast them. Cable television companies are partly dependent upon

advertising, meaning that any decline in revenue will impact profitability.

The professional sports industry is already heavily affected. In the US, the National Basketball

Association (NBA) and National Hockey League (NHL) have both suspended their seasons

indefinitely. Major League Baseball (MLB) and Major League Soccer (MLS) have delayed or

suspended their seasons for (initially) 2-4 weeks and events on the Professional Golfers'

Association (PGA) Tour have been cancelled. In Europe, many football matches are being

played without spectators and leagues are starting to act. The Premier League appears poised to

suspend its season, as Serie A in Italy and La Liga has done in Spain, among others around

Europe.

In addition, this summer is due to see UEFA’s Euro 2020 football tournament and the Tokyo

Olympics and Paralympics, events shown to millions around the world. These are not easily

replaced in a broadcaster’s programming schedule. As of this writing, the governor of Tokyo,

which will host the Olympic Games, has said the event will happen, although some changes

might have to be made.

But should things change, their postponement or cancellation could disrupt not only scheduled

coverage but equally advertising arrangements, sponsorship deals and promotional events.

According to The New York Times, in 1980, when the United States boycotted the Moscow

Olympics, broadcaster NBC still lost $34m despite having insurance.

2.Lower spending outside the home

The expectation is that restrictions on movement and large gatherings will be in place for some

time. This will result in lower spending on media strategies and advertisements targeted at

consumers outside their homes.

Many countries have already introduced limits on social gatherings of large numbers of people.

This has resulted in lower attendance at entertainment hubs like movie theatres as well as at

restaurants and bars. For example, in Italy, which has seen more than 9,000 confirmed cases of

coronavirus, the government ordered closures of cinemas, theatres and restaurants and told

restaurants and shops to ensure that their customers stayed at least one metre apart.

It’s estimated that the outbreak could cause $5 billion in losses to the global film industry. In one

case, given the global shakeups in cinemas, the makers of the new James Bond film, No Times to

Die, postponed its release date from 31 March until November.

Furthermore, lower entertainment spending outside the home may have knock-on effects for

brands trying to reach consumer through out-of-home media like radio and billboards.

3.Increased online media consumption

As more people stay home, self-isolation and quarantine measures could increase media

consumption in the home. This may result in an increased use of entertainment services such as

video on-demand and gaming.

In China, after the country implemented nationwide isolation measures, average weekly

downloads of apps during the first two weeks of February jumped 40% compared with the

average for the whole of 2019, according to the Financial Times. In the same month, weekly

game downloads on Apple devices were up 80% versus 2019. Nielsen data from China during

the coronavirus outbreak shows that traditional media also received a boost in consumption – TV

viewership grew after Lunar New Year, when normally it experiences a dip .

Consumers looking for information about coronavirus may increase news consumption, but for

many news companies, this could be a double-edged sword. On the one hand, online subscription

media could benefit if they can convince people stuck at home to pay to access coverage. On the

other hand, advertising-funded publishers may encounter new challenges.

Brands often use keywords to place advertising online, and, to avoid certain associations,

negative words are frequently excluded. In February, “coronavirus” became the second-most

common word on block lists for publishers, meaning that important, in-demand and socially-

relevant reporting is not bringing in the higher revenues it is capable of.

4. Decrease in advertising spending

Major brands could decide to lower their advertising spending, as supply chain issues or

reductions in sales affect their products. For example, consumer-packaged goods or

manufacturing-related companies might decrease ad spending if there are inventory issues due to

constraints in their supply chains, not wishing to risk marketing products that are not available. A

survey of brands in China at the end of February showed that 7% had stopped advertising

completely and 14% moving their budgets from offline spend to online. Industry sources predict

that advertising growth rates in China will fall from 7% - predicted before the pandemic – to

3.9%.

Consumers may also reduce spending on non-essential items, which could impact how brands

allocate advertising spend across their portfolio of products. Bricks-and-mortar retailers are

widely expected to suffer a drop in sales. According to HBR, the most agile companies can

redeploy new sales channels to account for shortfalls – one beauty company in China achieved

200% growth in year-on-year sales after hiring online influencers to push their products online.

What does this mean for the long-term?

It is difficult to say what the long-term impacts of coronavirus will be on the media industry

because nobody knows exactly when things will return to normal. The extent of the disruption

will likely depend on the type of content that media companies produce and distribute.

In the news industry, for example, many companies have used live events as a diversification

strategy to offset declines in print revenues. Many of them may not be able to absorb the hit to

their bottom lines if large-scale events are cancelled indefinitely. How will that affect our news

diets?

The film, TV and video industries can only maintain output if their physical operations are

maintained. Already, movies and shows shot in China, South Korea and Hong Kong have faced

delays; on-location content produced in Italy has been halted entirely. Would you still subscribe

to Netflix if it couldn’t add new shows to its library?

Even media giants are not immune: “ecosystem” companies that use media to drive revenues to

other parts of their business will also face disruption. Disney has announced it will close every

one of its theme parks around the world, as well as suspending its cruise lines until the end of

March at least. Disney may be one of the most well-known content producers on the planet, but

34% of its revenues come from theme parks and another 8% from consumer products.

Finally, if sports stadiums are forced to close their doors for the long term, they could lose their

allure to broadcasters. Would these competitions be as good, or as popular, without the live

atmosphere that fans create?

Ultimately, the most important thing for the media and entertainment industry is to help slow

down the spread of the virus and keep people informed about what people should do to stay safe.

With luck, these disruptions will just be temporary. Beyond this, the industry is in uncharted

waters.

What Covid-19 could mean for television:

• Short-term rise in broadcast TV and SVOD viewing. Nielsen predicts 60% higher ratings

• Negative longer-term impact, assuming an economic downturn, with impact on advertiser

confidence and discretionary media spend

• New streaming services (like HBO Max , Peacock and Quibi) could benefit from an

unexpectedly high demand at launch

• There is a danger that media that can be cut back most easily will be the first to hurt in a

recession (so there is still some danger for streamers)

• Cinema releases could be postponed, premiered on streaming services or made available in the

Pay TV rental window earlier

• Esports could attract new fans from among ordinary sports viewers, with the value of esports

rights climbing

• A boost to game streaming sites like Amazon Twitch and YouTube Gaming, and more paying

subscribers for this category

• Growth in user-generated channels and content creators, driven by young audiences who are

stuck at home due to school closures.

What media and technology companies found as a short time solution:

• Netflix and YouTube agreed to reduce video bit rates in Europe.

• Sky paused sports fees due to the loss of live content

• Sky Deutschland was making some content available free for a month

• Canal+ started putting some of its pay content in the clear

• BBC scheduled more shows related to education, fitness, religion and cooking, including a

virtual church service experience

• Some brands were reallocating spend from linear TV to OTT, where money was originally

destined for sports

• Hollywood production had ground to a halt, with California in lockdown

• JP Morgan had cut its European media sector ‘earnings by share’ forecast by 15% in 2020, and

8% in 2021

• Esports firms were taking their live tournaments online, where they began, in one of the easiest

moves of all

• Some traditional sports federations were turning to virtual simulations, including NASCAR.

Research Gap and Problem Definition

Steps in formulation of a Research Problem

Step 1: Identify a broad field or subject area of interest to you

Our subject area is Celebrity Endorsements.

Step 2: Dissect the broad area into sub areas

1. Effect of influencer marketing on the demand of automobiles.

2. Effect of influencer marketing in demand of textiles sector.

3. Impact on brand reputation on promotion by a celebrity.

4. Impact of celebrity endorsements on demand of soft drinks.

5. Impact of celebrity endorsement on demand of sporting goods.

Step 3: Selecting the topic

Topic: Impact of celebrity endorsements on demand for soft drinks

Step 4: Formulating research questions

1. Does the presence of a celebrity overshadow the soft drink?

2. How does celebrity endorsement affect brand promotion?

3. What type of celebrity endorsements persuade the purchase of soft drink?

4. Whether celebrity endorsements help the soft drink company, to fall under the consideration

set of viewers.

Step 5: Formulating the objective

Objective: To study the impact of celebrity endorsement on the demand of soft drinks.

Step 6: Assessing the objectives in the light of

a) The work involved

b) The time available

c) The financial resources available

Technical expertiseResearch Methodology

Methodology used for analysis

Research methodology used in our survey were:-

1. Primary Research

2. Secondary Research

3. Focus groups

Primary Research

Primary research is any type of research that you collect yourself. Examples include surveys,

interviews, observations, and ethnographic research. A good researcher knows how to use both

primary and secondary sources in their writing and to integrate them in a cohesive fashion.

Conducting primary research is a useful skill to acquire as it can greatly supplement your

research in secondary sources, such as journals, magazines, or books. You can also use it as the

focus of your writing project. Primary research is an excellent skill to learn as it can be useful in

a variety of settings including business, personal, and academic. (Primary Research,

Google.co.in)

We studied various soft drink products and saw the change in demand for the drinks, before

being endorsed by a celebrity and after being advertised by the celebrity. Also, we studied the

graph of how the price of the soft drink varied from.

We also conducted interviews of persons aged between 20-25 and asked what they would infer

from the company signing a celebrity for their company, and how would the perceptions of

customers change towards the soft drink company.

Secondary Research

Secondary research or desk research is a research method that involves using already existing

data. Existing data is summarized and collated to increase the overall effectiveness of research.

Secondary research includes research material published in research reports and similar

documents. These documents can be made available by public libraries, websites, data obtained

from already filled in surveys etc. Some government and non-government agencies also store

data that can be used for research purposes and can be retrieved from them.

Secondary research is much more cost-effective than primary research, as it makes use of already

existing data, unlike primary research where data is collected first hand by organizations or

businesses or they can employ a third party to collect data on their behalf. (Secondary Research,

Google.co.in)

For secondary research, we had a look on other research papers on various topics like celebrities

and the economy, impact of celebrity endorsement on consumers, Influence on celebrity

endorsements on students’ purchase intention, etc. We also had a look at various articles which

were under the interest of our subject area of celebrity endorsements.

Focus Groups

Focus groups are a form of qualitative research that is commonly used in product marketing and

marketing research, but it is a popular method within sociology as well. During a focus group, a

group of individuals—usually 6-12 people—is brought together in a room to engage in a guided

discussion of a topic. (Focus groups, Google.co.in)

We had a group discussion which consisted of 5-6 marketing profile students and this was led by

a moderator and the topic of our discussion was whether the celebrity endorsement provides a

sufficient amount of return on investment for the soft drink company. To initiate the discussions,

we first showed the students advertisements of various companies, there were celebrity

endorsements and non-celebrity endorsements. The major conclusion was that the students

weren't bothered by the presence of celebrities. After showing them the ads, we showed the cost

that the companies incurred to produce that ad. After that we asked the students on what is the

real gain of the company apart from the sales of that particular soft drink, and the major point

was of brand recall and how will it lead to top of mind awareness, also another big benefit that

the company obtains is word of mouth and how it eventually leads to brand building.

Analysis, Results and Discussions

Effects of coronavirus on media platforms of India

Today, thanks to the internet’s low distribution costs and the global audience it offers, every

publisher or distributor is a legitimate competitor, each striving to capture a share of advertising

spend and consumer attention.

Some have thrived: their addressable market is bigger, or they’ve scaled to stay competitive.

New companies—new ways of reaching people—have been created. Others struggle; local news

in particular faces major challenges. A few have failed, and a few more may do so in the future.

What has stayed constant is the indispensable role that media play in society. Media don’t just

help us pass time; they keep us informed. Increasingly, the media create shared cultural moments

and reflect who we are as people. The industry needs financial models that work to be able to

keep fulfilling these functions, which appear ever-more important during times of Covid-19.

This makes understanding how content creators, consumers, and advertisers value media is as

important as ever. Research by the World Economic Forum sheds light on some metrics that do

so, as well as calling for new thinking on improved criteria.

There is evidence that media engagement intensifies during shelter-in-place events.

One of the most direct ways to gauge value is engagement, and on this front media is doing well.

Between 80% and 90% of us read, watch or listen to news and entertainment for an average of

almost 24 hours during a typical week. It’s no surprise that engagement with media is high,

considering the variety of quality providers there are today.

There is evidence that media engagement intensifies during shelter-in-place events.

In 2017, Nielsen measured a 56% increase in television usage in the US during Hurricane

Harvey. The trend is replicated in today’s context too. Italy and South Korea, two countries

further along in their experience of the pandemic, have seen increases of 12-17% in TV

consumption.

Another barometer for value is the number of paying consumers. Some argue this is the most

important because it is a critical component of financial sustainability in the industry. Here, there

is room for improvement.

On average, under half of the consumers pay for media—44% for entertainment and only 16%

for news. In India, more people (25%) pay for news, but far fewer do so for entertainment (26%).

The latter numbers are expected to grow as the nation grows richer and more disposable income

goes toward leisure activities.

But these benchmarks are static: they don’t demonstrate whether the media’s value proposition

to consumers is getting stronger. A more indicative measure may be a future willingness to pay.

This provides a dynamic reflection of value because it implies that the right mix of product and

price exists, it just needs to be matched to customer and context. The fact that the proportion of

Indian consumers willing to pay in future—67% for news and 70% for entertainment—is higher

than those who currently pay suggests that media companies are in a good position to prove

value to greater numbers of people.

Paid subscriptions are higher among young people in India.

This is emphasised by the trend that paid subscriptions are higher among young people than

older age groups. On average, over 31% of Indian consumers aged 16-34 pay for entertainment,

compared to 16% of those aged over 55.

Conclusions and Limitations of the study

Engagement rates are the lowest they’ve been in 2020 on Instagram and Facebook, and nearly

there on Twitter.

The trend downward has been slow and steady since the end of March on all three channels.

Posting frequency hit its high in February and dipped to its lowest in mid-March when

coronavirus really picked up steam in the US. Post frequency has rebounded slightly but is

hovering around 2020 medians on all three channels.Digital Audience

Government

In looking at both total digital visits (mobile and desktop) and mobile web-only visits to the

CDC, NIH and WHO sites – we are seeing incredible recent growth. Total digital visits were up

425% March 9-15 vs. Jan. 6-12, and the week of March 9-15 was up 79% over the week prior.

For mobile web, visits were up 671% March 9-15 vs. Jan. 6-12, and March 9-15 was up 112%

over the week prior.

News

In looking at an aggregate of approximately 40 select news sites, the week of March 9-15 was

the highest week of news visits this year, by far – more than 100 million more news visits than

next highest week (which was the previous week March 2-8). We saw 23.4% growth the week of

March 9-15 vs. Mar 2-8 and

30.9% growth vs. Jan. 6-12.

Retail

In looking at total digital visits to an aggregate of Amazon, Walmart and Target’s sites, we saw

779 million visits the week of March 9-15 – the highest number of visits of any week so far in

2020. We also saw 3.8% growth versus the previous week (and the second highest week-over-

week growth of the year with the highest being 4.7% growth the week of Feb. 24 to March 1).

Starting at the beginning of February, Retail total visits began a steady upward climb. The

highest individual days for Retail visits so far in March were March 10, March 13 and March 14,

respectively.

Travel

Looking at 20 of the top travel sites, including airlines, aggregators, hospitality, etc., travel visits

declined 7.3% the week of Feb. 24 to March 1 and declined again 4.8% the week of March 2-8.

However, travel spiked the week of March 9-15, increasing 9.5%. This could be due to a large

number of trip cancellations occurring this week requiring visits to the travel sites to rebook or

cancel plans. In addition, many major airlines and travel companies began offering inexpensive

flights and deals during this time which may have driven some increased demand.

References

1) https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2020/03/covid-19-coronavirus-media-entertainment- sports/

2) https://www.v-net.tv/2020/03/23/the-impact-of-coronavirus-on-the-television-and-wider- media-industry/

3) https://www.comscore.com/Insights/Blog/Media-Consumption-during-the-Coronavirus- Pandemic

4) https://www.rivaliq.com/blog/coronavirus-on-social-medi a-engagement-for-brands/

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