Who says watching TV isn't great for stimulating your grey matter?

Indeed, new research from Twitter reveals that TV viewers have superior rates of ad recall.

Couch not slouch potato

Twitter announced the news in a blog post. 

"Not all TV audiences are created equal: we’ve long believed that viewers respond differently to commercials depending on how they feel about what they’re watching.

"And when it comes to getting a pulse on people’s emotional reactions during live TV, now we know that Twitter can drive even stronger results for brands."

Ratings winner

Twitter partnered with Starcom and Canvas to study how TV programming influenced viewers' emotions, as demonstrated through tweets.

Over 3500 Twitter users and non-users who watched the same TV show were surveyed. The following day they were quizzed about their reactions to the program, Twitter activity during the show, and ad recall. Here's what they found.

Total recall

It turns out that viewers have higher ad recall for TV shows that stir emotions, such as dramas. Viewers are 48% more likely to recall an ad than those watching shows with a lower emotional impact.

Viewers who use Twitter while watching TV shows, whether by actively tweeting or following a feed, are 62% more likely to recall ads than non-tweeting viewers.

Finally, viewers who were passionate about a program were three times more likely to recall ads than neutral viewers.

To find out more visit blog.twitter.com.