This paper examines the effect of second screening, the common practice of using another digital device while watching a television show, on repeat show viewing. We leveraged large-scale individual-level data from mobile diaries of 1,702 US TV viewers on 2,755 prime time shows. We used causal forest analysis for estimation, focusing on the moderating role of viewing preferences and show loyalty, and captured heterogeneity in viewer preferences using latent-class segmentation. We found that overall, show-related second screening has a positive effect on the attitude toward the show, as well as on actual repeat viewing. Show-unrelated second screening diminishes the viewer’s attitude. These effects are especially pronounced in the heavy viewer segment and among infrequent show viewers. Interestingly, our analysis did not provide evidence that second screening harms actual repeat viewing, countering potential concerns of negative distraction effects.

本文研究了二次筛选（在观看电视节目时使用另一台数字设备的常见做法）对重复观看节目的影响。我们利用了 2,755 个黄金时段节目中 1,702 名美国电视观众的移动日记中的大规模个人数据。我们使用因果森林分析进行估计，重点关注观看偏好和表现忠诚度的调节作用，并使用潜在类别分割捕获观看者偏好的异质性。我们发现，总体而言，与节目相关的第二次放映对人们对节目的态度以及实际的重复观看有积极的影响。与演出无关的第二次放映会降低观众的态度。这些影响在大量观众和不常观看演出的观众中尤其明显。有趣的是，我们的分析没有提供证据表明第二次筛选会损害实际的重复观看，从而反驳了负面干扰效应的潜在担忧。