Q Score
Encyclopedia
The Q Score is a measurement of the familiarity and appeal of a brand
, company, celebrity
, or television show used in the United States
. The higher the Q Score, the more highly regarded the item or person is among the group that is familiar with them. Q Scores and other variants are primarily used by the media
, marketing
, advertising
and public relations
industries.
Since 1963, Marketing Evaluations’ Q Scores have provided clients with data to aid in their marketing, advertising, licensing, and media efforts. Q Scores are the industry standard for measuring familiarity and appeal of performers, broadcast and cable programs, sports and sports personalities, company and brand names, characters, as well as deceased performers. Based on its “one of my favorites” concept, Q Scores actually summarize the various perceptions and feelings that consumers have, into a single, but revealing, “likeability” measurement. Currently, there are eight Q Score services, including Performer Q, TVQ, Cable Q, Cartoon Q, Sports Q, Brand Attachment Q, Kids Product Q, and Dead Q.
Marketing Evaluations claims that the Q Score is more valuable to marketers than other popularity measurements, such as the Nielsen ratings
, because Q Scores indicate not only how many people are aware of or watch a TV show but also how those people feel about the TV show. A well-liked television show, for example, may be worth more as a commercial venue to an advertiser than a higher-rated show that people don’t like as much. High emotional bonding with a show means strong viewer involvement and audience attention, which are important indicators for the quality of the show's advertising environment. Viewers who regard the show as a "favorite" have higher awareness of the show's commercial content.
TVQ and Cable Q Scores are calculated for all regularly scheduled broadcast and cable shows.
Other Q Scores are calculated to order for clients who pay Marketing Evaluations and who want to research public perception of a brand or celebrity. For example, in 2000, IBM
hired Marketing Evaluations to calculate the Q Score for Deep Blue, the supercomputer
that defeated chess
Grandmaster Garry Kasparov
. Deep Blue’s Q Score was 9, meaning the computer was as familiar and appealing at the time as Carmen Electra
, Howard Stern
and Bruce Wayne
. In contrast, Albert Einstein
’s Q Score at the time was 56, while Larry Ellison
and Scott McNealy
each received a Q Score of 6.
Brand
The American Marketing Association defines a brand as a "Name, term, design, symbol, or any other feature that identifies one seller's good or service as distinct from those of other sellers."...
, company, celebrity
Celebrity
A celebrity, also referred to as a celeb in popular culture, is a person who has a prominent profile and commands a great degree of public fascination and influence in day-to-day media...
, or television show used in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. The higher the Q Score, the more highly regarded the item or person is among the group that is familiar with them. Q Scores and other variants are primarily used by the media
Mass media
Mass media refers collectively to all media technologies which are intended to reach a large audience via mass communication. Broadcast media transmit their information electronically and comprise of television, film and radio, movies, CDs, DVDs and some other gadgets like cameras or video consoles...
, marketing
Marketing
Marketing is the process used to determine what products or services may be of interest to customers, and the strategy to use in sales, communications and business development. It generates the strategy that underlies sales techniques, business communication, and business developments...
, advertising
Advertising
Advertising is a form of communication used to persuade an audience to take some action with respect to products, ideas, or services. Most commonly, the desired result is to drive consumer behavior with respect to a commercial offering, although political and ideological advertising is also common...
and public relations
Public relations
Public relations is the actions of a corporation, store, government, individual, etc., in promoting goodwill between itself and the public, the community, employees, customers, etc....
industries.
Usage
The Q Score is a metric developed by Marketing Evaluations, Inc. that determines a "quotient" ("Q") factor or score through mail and online panelists who make up representative samples of the United States. The Q score identifies the familiarity of an athlete, celebrity, licensed property, TV show, or brand and measures the appeal of each among those persons familiar with each. Other popular synonyms include Q rating, Q factor, or simply Q.Since 1963, Marketing Evaluations’ Q Scores have provided clients with data to aid in their marketing, advertising, licensing, and media efforts. Q Scores are the industry standard for measuring familiarity and appeal of performers, broadcast and cable programs, sports and sports personalities, company and brand names, characters, as well as deceased performers. Based on its “one of my favorites” concept, Q Scores actually summarize the various perceptions and feelings that consumers have, into a single, but revealing, “likeability” measurement. Currently, there are eight Q Score services, including Performer Q, TVQ, Cable Q, Cartoon Q, Sports Q, Brand Attachment Q, Kids Product Q, and Dead Q.
Marketing Evaluations claims that the Q Score is more valuable to marketers than other popularity measurements, such as the Nielsen ratings
Nielsen Ratings
Nielsen ratings are the audience measurement systems developed by Nielsen Media Research, in an effort to determine the audience size and composition of television programming in the United States...
, because Q Scores indicate not only how many people are aware of or watch a TV show but also how those people feel about the TV show. A well-liked television show, for example, may be worth more as a commercial venue to an advertiser than a higher-rated show that people don’t like as much. High emotional bonding with a show means strong viewer involvement and audience attention, which are important indicators for the quality of the show's advertising environment. Viewers who regard the show as a "favorite" have higher awareness of the show's commercial content.
Forms of Q Scores
Marketing Evaluations regularly calculates Q Scores in 8 categories:- TVQ rates broadcast television programs
- Cable Q rates cable television programs
- Performer Q rates living celebrities
- Dead Q rates the current popularity of deceased celebrities
- Sports Q rates sports figures
- Cartoon Q rates cartoon characters, video games, toys and similar products
- Brand Attachment Q rates brand and company names
- Kids Product Q rates children's responses to brand and company names
TVQ and Cable Q Scores are calculated for all regularly scheduled broadcast and cable shows.
Other Q Scores are calculated to order for clients who pay Marketing Evaluations and who want to research public perception of a brand or celebrity. For example, in 2000, IBM
IBM
International Business Machines Corporation or IBM is an American multinational technology and consulting corporation headquartered in Armonk, New York, United States. IBM manufactures and sells computer hardware and software, and it offers infrastructure, hosting and consulting services in areas...
hired Marketing Evaluations to calculate the Q Score for Deep Blue, the supercomputer
Supercomputer
A supercomputer is a computer at the frontline of current processing capacity, particularly speed of calculation.Supercomputers are used for highly calculation-intensive tasks such as problems including quantum physics, weather forecasting, climate research, molecular modeling A supercomputer is a...
that defeated chess
Chess
Chess is a two-player board game played on a chessboard, a square-checkered board with 64 squares arranged in an eight-by-eight grid. It is one of the world's most popular games, played by millions of people worldwide at home, in clubs, online, by correspondence, and in tournaments.Each player...
Grandmaster Garry Kasparov
Garry Kasparov
Garry Kimovich Kasparov is a Russian chess grandmaster, a former World Chess Champion, writer, political activist, and one of the greatest chess players of all time....
. Deep Blue’s Q Score was 9, meaning the computer was as familiar and appealing at the time as Carmen Electra
Carmen Electra
Tara Leigh Patrick , professionally known as Carmen Electra, is an American glamour model, actress, television personality, singer, and dancer...
, Howard Stern
Howard Stern
Howard Allan Stern is an American radio personality, television host, author, and actor best known for his radio show, which was nationally syndicated from 1986 to 2005. He gained wide recognition in the 1990s where he was labeled a "shock jock" for his outspoken and sometimes controversial style...
and Bruce Wayne
Batman
Batman is a fictional character created by the artist Bob Kane and writer Bill Finger. A comic book superhero, Batman first appeared in Detective Comics #27 , and since then has appeared primarily in publications by DC Comics...
. In contrast, Albert Einstein
Albert Einstein
Albert Einstein was a German-born theoretical physicist who developed the theory of general relativity, effecting a revolution in physics. For this achievement, Einstein is often regarded as the father of modern physics and one of the most prolific intellects in human history...
’s Q Score at the time was 56, while Larry Ellison
Larry Ellison
Lawrence Joseph "Larry" Ellison is the co-founder and chief executive officer of Oracle Corporation, one of the world's leading enterprise software companies. As of 2011, he is the third wealthiest American citizen, with an estimated worth of $33 billion.- Early life :Larry Ellison was born in the...
and Scott McNealy
Scott McNealy
Scott McNealy is an American business executive. He co-founded computer technology company Sun Microsystems in 1982 along with Vinod Khosla, Bill Joy, and Andy Bechtolsheim.-Biography:...
each received a Q Score of 6.