Monday, May 11, 2015

Studies suggest that many television viewers often avoid ads with various methods including the use of DVR, while others find commercials enjoyable

  • Research suggests that 32 percent of television viewers avoid commercials with various methods such as diverting their attention to another device or changing the channel.
  • The development of the digital video recorder (DVR) has caused viewers to skip through more advertisements, but marketers can use various techniques to alter their ads and account for these viewers in order to still make their commercials successful.
  • Some viewers, though, actually enjoy watching commercials, especially during occasions such as the Super Bowl or when they are watching an emotionally stimulating program.
Everyone knows the Oscar Meyer bologna jingle or the little boy from Huggies who happily sings “I’m a big kid now.” These and many other catchy jingles became popular due to commercials. Companies commonly use memorable songs such as these and various other marketing techniques in order to attract consumer to buy their products. How often do viewers actually pay attention to commercials, though?

A study conducted by Dean M Krugman, Glen T. Cameron, and Candace McKearney White for the Journal of Advertising analyzes visual attention to programming and commercials by use of in-home observations that examine eyes-on-screen time. Results from the study find that viewers are visually oriented to the program that they watch 62% of the time, while they are oriented to the commercials only 33% of the time. One reasons for this difference in visual orientation is that many individuals will use specific techniques in order to avoid the commercials that play during their program.

The researchers estimate that 32 percent of television viewers avoid commercials.

The avoidance norm of commercials includes physical avoidance acts such as leaving the room during a commercial break and mechanical avoidance acts such as changing channels. Kenneth C. Wilbur from the Marshall School of Business at the University of Southern California presents to us that the methods viewers use to avoid advertisements include to “change channels with remote controls (“zapping”), divert their attention to companions or other media (“multitasking”), leave the room (“physical zapping”), mute or turn off the television, or fast-forward through commercials in recorded programming (“zipping”).” A freshman student at the University of Maryland demonstrates these tactics as she admits that she diverts her attention to her phone or email in order to avoid commercials during programs that she watches. 

A survey of 39 University of Maryland students discovers the methods of commercial avoidance that are most commonly used  when the students watch live television. When asked to choose between various methods of avoidance tactics, 74% of respondents stated that they engage with another device such as a phone or laptop when a commercial appears during the program that they are watching. Following this, 15% of respondents commonly change the channel as their avoidance method. The survey therefore supports Wilbur's claim of viewers using the practices of multitasking and zapping commonly when watching television programs.

Another way in which commercial avoidance has increased recently is due to new technological developments such as the digital video recorder (DVR). The fundamental effect of DVR is that it shifts control from television networks and advertisers to you, the viewer.

Wilbur’s study discovers that, “DVR users skipped 68% of commercials in recorded programming.”

Interestingly enough, it is found that ads that are skipped through actually create stronger brand recognition effects. Wilbur references another study that “found that zipped ads produced brand recall effects about 20% greater than unzipped ad exposures,” and another that discovered that “high-speed exposures to television commercials boost prior learning, suggesting that zipped commercials can function effectively as reminder ads.” Therefore, if advertisers make small adjustments to tailor their ads to the zippers who use DVR, their company can benefit very much.

Advertisers have altered many of their advertising techniques specifically to account for the skipping patterns that DVR users frequently conduct. Some of the creative strategies that are now used by marketers include making brand names or logos more dominant within the commercial and designing the advertisements so that they can be understood even at an accelerated speed. Specific commercial placement within a pod of commercial time during a program also affects its success for a company. For example, a company may favor to be the first commercial played in a pod of commercial break time rather than in the middle of the commercial break.


But not all advertisers need to take into account the use of DVR and its tendency to cause users to skip ads. In fact, some television viewers admit to enjoying commercial advertisements and state that the ads actually convince them to buy certain products. Research by the University of Illinois finds that males, younger consumers, persons with less education and income, and nonwhites generally report more favorable attitudes to advertisements than others did.  


The researchers discovered that 52% of their respondents agree that they enjoy watching most of the advertisements that they are exposed to. 


University of Maryland students, such as freshman Noah Todd, report that they enjoy television commercials especially when they involve topics that are heartwarming for viewers. Todd finds commercials to be much more worthwhile when they are sentimental and have an uplifting message.

In addition to this, a study conducted by Steve Olenski from Forbes asked individuals what they find desirable in commercials, and Olenski received replies such as “Heart and or Humor. One that tickles the funny bone, makes you laugh out loud… On the flip side, one that pulls at the heart strings, or even at times rips the heart right out of your chest.” Obviously, not every commercial is going to have these qualities, but many viewers have shown to respond much more favorably when they do.

Cartoon from Sportsbusinessdaily.com



Certain occasions and environments such as the Super Bowl also increase viewer’s interest in advertisements as well. 

The Super Bowl has shown to cause many more viewers than usual to watch commercials. A survey of 6,375 US adults in 2015, found that 77.1% look at the Super Bowl commercials for entertainment, and 20.1% believe that the commercials make them aware of advertiser brands. Only 4.5% replied that the commercials bother them. A University of Maryland sophomore explains that she is much more interested in commercials than usual during events such as the Super Bowl. She normally uses avoidance techniques on commercials during the regular television programs that she views, but she is very entertained by the ads during the football game and likes to be engaged in the conversations that people have about them the next day.

So what does all of this prove? Advertisers have to alter the specific techniques that they use to create their commercials in order to cater to the specific audience and environment that they are in. They need to alter their ads to the DVR savvy generation that is developing, but also understand that some consumers actually enjoy watching the ads that they create, especially on special occasions such as the Super Bowl.


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