Twitter has released research finding that ads in TV shows that generate strong emotional reactions on Twitter are more likely to be recalled. Twitter conducted the research with Starcom and social TV analytics provider Canvs, which measured the emotional response to the TV shows based on an analysis of viewers’ tweets.

Canvs found that viewers are 48% more likely to recall an ad when a high percentage of tweets contained strong emotionality. Those tweeting with emotional terms like “love” and “excited” were 3x more likely to recall ads than those with neutral tweets, with 61% saying they were likely to purchase from that advertiser.

Rather than being distracted by social media, the data contributes to the idea that strong social reactions are indicative of higher TV engagement, which carries over to the ads.

The research suggests that even following tweets while watching a program yields ad benefits: those who either tweeted or followed along were 62% more likely to recall the ads than those who weren’t on Twitter.

The survey included 3,536 Twitter and non-Twitter users and was conducted by Starcom and DB5. The Twitter data was compiled by Nielsen and analyzed by Canvs.