GfK and Viacom International Media Networks won ‘Best Methodological Paper’ at the 2014 ESOMAR Congress for their joint paper called “Comedy Central Power of Laughter”

Nuremberg, 17-9-2014 — /EuropaWire/ — GfK and Viacom International Media Networks (VIMN) have won ‘Best Methodological Paper’ at the 2014 ESOMAR Congress for their joint paper called “Comedy Central Power of Laughter”. The award is given to the paper that shows the greatest technical and innovative interest and adds value to the tools available to researchers.

In selecting GfK and VIMN for this prestigious award, the ESOMAR jury singled out the thoroughness with which their research project had matched old and new and praised their approach as “a very rigorous way to deal with very usual factors”.

GfK and VIMN’s paper described the second phase of a multi-country study which used GfK EMO Scan – an award-winning facial scanning technology – to investigate how much more engaged audiences are when they are watching funny or humorous content. GfK’s technology decodes peoples’ subconscious emotional response to visual stimuli by tracking their subtle facial movements.

Julia Lamaison, Insight Director at GfK, comments, “the ESOMAR Congress is a ‘best in class’ conference where excellence and new research techniques are the norm, so we are delighted that the judges selected the ‘Power of Laughter’ study and recognized the impact that EMO Scan delivered within that.”

Christian Kurz, Vice President of Research & Insight at Viacom International Media Networks, USA, added, “We approached GfK with an ambitious request to help us acquire international understanding of the impact of laughter on people’s viewing and engagement. We’re thrilled that ESOMAR has validated the innovative approach we took with GfK in proving that comedy really does boost positive response to advertising.”

Read VIMN’s blog giving key findings from ‘Power of Laughter’ or view a demonstration of GfK EMO Scan

About GfK
GfK is the trusted source of relevant market and consumer information that enables its clients to make smarter decisions. More than 13,000 market research experts combine their passion with GfK’s long-standing data science experience. This allows GfK to deliver vital global insights matched with local market intelligence from more than 100 countries. By using innovative technologies and data sciences, GfK turns big data into smart data, enabling its clients to improve their competitive edge and enrich consumers’ experiences and choices.

For more information, please visit www.gfk.com or follow GfK on Twitter: https://twitter.com/GfK_en

About Viacom International Media Networks
Viacom International Media Networks (VIMN), a unit of Viacom Inc. (NASDAQ: VIA, VIAB), is comprised of many of the world’s most popular multimedia entertainment brands, including MTV, Nickelodeon, Comedy Central, BET, Paramount Channel, VH1, VIVA, COLORS, Game One and Tr3s: MTV, Música y Más. Viacom brands are seen globally in more than 600 million households in 170 territories and 37 languages via more than 200 locally programmed and operated TV channels and more than 550 digital media and mobile TV properties. For more information about Viacom and its businesses, visit www.viacom.com. Keep up with Viacom news by following Viacom’s blog at blog.viacom.com and Twitter feed at www.twitter.com/Viacom.

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