While the more standard practice of segmenting media consumers by demographics, income, spend, and consumption provides valuable insights into consumer behavior, the attention equation adds another important lens: the quality of consumers’ attention based on underlying attitudes and beliefs. 7 This methodology characterizes consumers not by their time spent but by their commercial value and the value of their attention. Based on a large, representative sample of the US population, our analysis identified seven customer segments. Of that sample, about 40 percent have high attention and commercial value and are defined by three distinct segments: — ‘Content lovers,’ the entertainment omnivores (13 percent of all consumers) . Curious and passionate, they spend 2.4 times more money on content and consume 1.7 times more content than the average consumer. They’re the superfans, casting their consumption nets wide to see the movie franchise, watch the spin-off show, ride the themed roller coaster, and buy the items advertised each step of the way. — ‘Interactivity enthusiasts,’ the immersion seekers (16 percent) . Competitive and lively, they love video games, sports, online betting, and comedy. They prefer endorsements to 7 W e used 14 different attitudinal statements to identify the different consumer segments: (1) “It’s too expensive to consume all the content that I want to”; (2) “I’ll avoid advertisements at all costs, even if it means that I have to pay more”; (3) “I’m worried about sharing too much of my personal information and data with media companies”; (4) “I’m always consuming some type of content or media—I can’t not have something to watch, listen to, play, read, et cetera”; (5) “I’m happiest when I’m unplugged”; (6) “I prefer consuming content in person, such as attending comedy shows and concerts, over consuming it digitally, such as watching TV”; (7) “I’m very curious and always looking to learn new things”; (8) I prefer leaning in and engaging fully with the content that I consume without distraction over leaning back”; (9) “I prefer content that’s interactive, such as playing video games, over content that’s passive, such as watching TV”; (10) I’d rather consume content that’s created by people like me, such as someone on YouTube, than content created by professionals, such as something from Hollywood”; (11) “It’s hard to figure out what content I want to consume”; (12) “I’m very extroverted and feel most energized when I’m socializing with others”; (13) “I like to stay on top of the latest trends”; and (14) “Shopping is one of my favorite hobbies.” Alongside these attitudinal beliefs, we included a “most missed” category in which consumers were asked to indicate the form of media they would be most upset to lose if it were removed from their lives completely. Attention-driven customer segments: The three most valuable types of consumers 12 The ‘attention equation’: Winning the right battles for consumer attention