With smart phones and the nearly unlimited access to TV and movie content on the go, how do you show that audiobooks are still an important medium for narrative? “Audible was founded because we believe deeply in the impact powerful listening experiences can have on hearts and minds" said Audible CEO and Founder, Don Katz. The challenge was to find a way to measure how engaging the audiobook experience is and compare that to other popular mediums like video.

Using biometric sensors, ACN measured heart rate and electrodermal activity (physiological signals can reveal cognitive processing and sub-conscious emotional arousal in the brain) in 103 participants (aged 18 – 67) as they listened to audiobooks and watched clips of eight blockbusters and bestsellers: Game of Thrones, Girl On The Train, Pride & Prejudice, Silence of the Lambs, Great Expectations, The Da Vinci Code, Hound of the Baskervilles, and Alien. Specific scenes from each title were selected based on their emotional intensity, comparative length, and similarity of narrative (i.e. minimal differences in the storyline between audio and video adaptations).

In-depth analysis of participants’ biological data revealed that listening to audiobooks elicited a more intense physiological and emotional reaction than watching a screen. 

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“Listening to a story on Audible produced greater emotional and physiological engagement than watching the scene on a screen, as measured by both heart rate and electro-dermal activity,” Prof. Joe Devlin, ACN

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Interestingly, in the short questionairres they filled out before and after clips, the participants reported that they were less
engaged with audio than with video, although their physiological response
suggests that the reverse is true. In other words, there was a disconnect between the conscious experience of watching the videos vs. listening to the stories and the sub-conscious emotional one, possibly indicating that although participants find it easier to relate to the story in video form, they engage more deeply when listening to the audio book.

The analysis also showed that that audiobooks produced more consistent
patterns of physiological change than films or TV clips, suggesting that the
format may give authors better control of the emotional responses of their
audience.

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The Result...

...was Audible's first world-wide PR launch, sharing the findings that audiobooks engage their audience more deeply than video-versions of the same story.

“Listening to an audiobook is a far more active process than watching a video.  The listener co-creates the author's contents, picturing the scene, inventing the characters, and simulating the experience as if they lived it themselves.  This is what make the story so engaging.” Prof. Joe Devlin

The launch led to international press coverage (see side bar) and the study contributed to Audible's subsequent marketing campaign.

“This first phase of research confirms what millions ofAudible
listeners already know—that active and engaged listening can be truly transformational
and life-changing” Don Katz, Audible CEO and Founder

In addition, based on these findings, Audible modified their approach to authors, focusing on the deeper connection audiobooks make with their audiences.

For additional information on consumer neuroscience, download our free Guide to Quality Neuromarketing.

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