Adavoidance
- 1. Reach out with radio in today’s ad avoidance world
- 2. OFF ON “Advertisements are now so numerous that they are very negligently perused” Dr Johnson, January 1759
- 3. Contents Foreword 2 by Robert Heath Executive summary 3 How radio can maximise outreach in an ad avoidance world. Introduction 4-6 How ad avoidance is endangering brands’ ability to reach out. The findings 7-13 Why inattentiveness is a bigger challenge than avoidance. The “net outreach” factor for different media. Implications for advertising 14-19 Connecting with the inattentives. Creating trace memories with radio. Appendix 20 Questionnaire wording. The “mere exposure effect”. 1
- 4. Foreword by Robert Heath Author of The Hidden Power of Advertising Bill Bernbach famously asserted that “If your advertising goes unnoticed, everything else is academic”. This idea, that advertising only works if you pay attention to it, permeates the marketing community worldwide. Yet when you study the evidence from psychology, you find it simply isn’t true. Advertising is processed very effectively at low levels of attention; it just isn’t processed in the same way as it is at high attention. This study contains two important findings. It shows that inattentive processing is far more common than we think it is; and it shows that radio is one of the best ways to exploit this inattention. Radio is arguably better than other media at insinuating powerful messages into the minds of the consumer, because we are unable to switch our ears off. We hear even when we are not listening. So even if we are busy doing other things we automatically process music and sound bites and link them to brands. And when we come to buy those brands, our decisions are influenced by these associations, sometimes without our ever knowing it. In this way, far from being a secondary media, radio plays a leading role in what I call ‘The Hidden Power of Advertising’. 2
- 5. Executive summary How radio can maximise outreach in an ad avoidance world Ad avoidance is key Ad avoidance is a hot topic now, and has been made particularly critical by the development of the PVR (Personal Video Recorder) for TV, which allows viewers to skip the ads. Ad avoidance actually endangers one form of advertising above all others – outreach campaigns, where brands seek to reach out and create relationships with new customers. Radio offers the best outreach In terms of attentiveness, the biggest group across Radio and cinema come joint lowest in terms of all media are not the avoiders or the engaged but the ad avoidance – but radio has a far higher coverage. inattentives – over half the audience on average. The real-time media (TV, radio, cinema) suffer from less Radio listeners have low levels of hard avoidance, avoidance than static media (newspapers, magazines). so they are available to engage with the advertising Radio offers the best outreach because it combines in varying degrees of inattentiveness: because of this, low avoidance and mass coverage. Radio’s net reach of the creative approach makes all the difference. 16-44s, taking into account avoidance levels, is actually Trace memories are created amongst inattentive media higher than TV’s (17.5 million versus 15.9 million). consumers. With radio, trace memories are created by: Reaching the inattentives • music (catchphrases, rhymes, sonics) • emotion (mood, feelings, memories) It is vital that radio campaigns take seriously the task of creating trace memories, because radio, as a strong outreach medium, is creating a stock of brand associations in advance of any consumer transaction with the brand. 3
- 6. Not raised Increasingly a consideration Hot topic 2000 2002 2004 Chart 1: Ad avoidance has become a “hot topic” “To what degree is ad avoidance an issue to you when planning campaigns for the next two years?” Source: Ocean Consulting – Media Brands Introduction How ad avoidance is endangering brands’ ability to reach out “Advertisements are now so numerous almost all the rest it was rated as “increasingly that they are very negligently perused” a consideration”. Dr Johnson, January 1759 The most authoritative research into advertising As the quote from Dr Johnson shows, advertising avoidance was carried out by Initiative Media during avoidance has been with us for a very long time, and the mid-1990s. This combined a wide variety of is a natural human response to information overload. different methods and focused on ways that advertisers We instinctively look for ways to minimise the time could overcome avoidance, mainly of TV advertising. we spend being distracted by messages we see as However it also assessed avoidance levels for different unwanted or irrelevant. media, and these are summarised in Chart 2. Recently, concerns about advertising avoidance This suggested that avoidance levels were very low have been increasing, as media proliferate and the for radio, and even lower for cinema. But it also raises competition for “share of eyeball” becomes more questions: what are people doing when they are NOT intense. Ocean Consulting identify in their Media avoiding the advertising? For example, if radio ads are Brands study (Chart 1) that between 2000 and 2004 only 16% avoided, what is actually happening the other the number of media people who rated ad avoidance as 84% of the time? a “hot topic” had more than doubled – and for 4
- 7. 68 61 52 44 16 8 TV NEWSPAPERS MAGAZINES DIRECT MAIL RADIO CINEMA Chart 2: How avoidance varies by medium (the original study) % who are ad avoiders by medium Source: Initiative Media Since the work done by Initiative there have been There are currently over 600,000 Sky+ units in place many other studies looking at this area, and while and the cable operators will introduce a PVR by the end the methods and results vary somewhat, the patterns of 2005. Starcom forecast that 34% of homes will have are the same – for example, Millward Brown’s finding a PVR by 2012 (Goldman Sachs THEMEdia Forum). (headlined in their trade press advertising) that “45% Views on the level of threat posed by the PVRs of print ads are ‘edited out’ by readers”. vary widely. While some are insisting that the PVR is comparable to the remote control (i.e. it did not The role of the PVR in accelerating avoidance bring about the end of TV advertising as we know it), Television has attracted most thinking and concern, others see PVRs as a more threatening prospect. because it has held a dominant position for so long. The US National Association of Advertisers say that 75% Having already had its effectiveness reduced by the of advertisers expect to cut budgets in response to the widespread use of remote controls for channel-hopping, rise of the PVR. In Marketing (16 March 2005) Mark TV advertising is now contemplating the likely effect of Ritson of the London Business School described these PVRs (Personal Video Recorders) which amongst other as “apocalyptic changes”. things allow listeners to zip forward through the ads at great speed. 5
- 8. The real issue with ad avoidance – outreach It is important to be clear that ad avoidance is primarily a threat to one aspect of strategic display advertising, which can be called “outreach”. In an ad avoidance world, people do not ignore all advertising. People who are having trouble getting upstairs will read advertisements about stairlifts. People thinking of buying a certain car will look at TV commercials for that car, possibly other comparable cars. But the ads which are avoided are the ones which people sense are unlikely to be relevant or interesting to them – in other words they avoid messages from The challenge of advertising avoidance brands which are trying to reach out to them, and – summary with which they have yet to form a relationship. • Ad avoidance is a very hot topic for marketers, This “outreach” function of advertising is one of especially regarding TV absolutely critical importance to brands (and one • Earlier studies suggest radio is a low for which TV has historically been very powerful). avoidance medium In 2005, by the time we buy our first bottle of whisky, • Ad avoidance mainly threatens “outreach” we have been exposed in advance to messages from campaigns, where brands are trying to speak many different whisky brands. The same goes for sofas, to new customers washing powder, cars and innumerable other categories where the advertising has been reaching out to us for • What are the implications for outreach media weeks, months or years before we make a purchase. planning strategies? But if in the future we select only those ads we consider • What are the implications for radio and to be relevant or important to us, this severely inhibits other media? brands’ ability to reach out to new customers. In order to find out what the implications of this might If PVRs mean that TV struggles to reach out to new be for outreach media planning strategies, and for radio customers, many outreach advertising campaigns will and other specific media, we commissioned a new migrate to other media. research study. How the study was conducted 500 people aged 18-44 were asked about how many of the ads in certain media they felt they engaged with, or “hard avoided” (by changing channels, flicking over the page without looking etc) – or something in between. The exact wording of the questions varied for each medium – see appendix. 6
- 9. 28 51 21 AVERAGE 18 64 18 RADIO 18 49 33 CINEMA 31 48 22 TV 34 47 19 MAGAZINES 37 48 15 NEWSPAPERS Hard avoid Inattentive Engage Chart 3: Attentiveness scores for each medium Source: Clark Chapman Research The findings Avoidance, engagement and inattentiveness Chart 3 shows the summary of scores for each of the Overall pattern of results five display advertising media, plus the average across In terms of engagement, four of the five media are all five media. about the same – about 20% of the time people Hard avoidance includes behaviour like zapping TV feel they engage with the advertising. The exception channels, or skipping past a newspaper ad by turning is cinema, with much higher engagement levels. the page; engagement includes times when the In terms of avoidance, there are broadly two consumer is paying a good measure of attention groups – a lower avoidance group (radio and cinema) to advertising, even reading in detail. Inattentiveness and a higher avoidance group (TV, magazines covers all states in between. and newspapers). N.B. These scores are based on people’s summary of However the biggest state of all is inattentiveness their own typical behaviour patterns – sometimes they – people feel that on average they are in an inattentive are engaged, sometimes avoiding. So, for example, state with advertising over half the time (51%). the 33% engaged score for cinema does not mean “33% of people engage with cinema advertising”, it means that, on average, people feel they positively engage with 33% of cinema advertising. 7
- 10. Results for each medium... Newspapers Of the five display media, newspapers have the highest avoidance levels – approximately twice as high as radio and cinema at 37%. Newspapers also have the lowest engagement score, although only marginally so. These scores seem to reflect the way many people read newspapers – they are often a gap-read in busy lives (journeys, tea-breaks etc) where it isn’t always possible to sit back and read the paper in detail. 37 48 15 Hard avoid Inattentive Engage TV The scores for TV advertising are almost exactly the same as the five-media average, with the largest state being inattentiveness. As with cinema, nearly half of the time the TV audience feel that they pay “little/some attention” while the ads are on. But engagement levels are much lower than cinema. 31 48 22 Hard avoid Inattentive Engage Magazines At 34%, avoidance levels with magazines are somewhat higher than average. It seems fair to surmise that these will vary widely according to the relationship between reader and magazine – some titles are much more strongly identified with than others. Engagement levels for magazines are about the same as radio, TV and newspapers. 34 47 19 Hard avoid Inattentive Engage 8
- 11. Radio Radio’s avoidance score is joint-lowest (with cinema), and its engagement score is about average. This engagement score is higher than many in media planning might have guessed. Radio’s most distinctive feature however is the “inattentiveness” score of 64%. This fits with previous research into radio listening – while levels of hard avoidance are low (most people rarely switch radio stations to avoid the advertising), most listeners “zone in and out” of radio content all the time according to their level of interest or distraction. 18 64 18 Hard avoid Inattentive Engage Cinema It’s not surprising to see that cinema has the highest engagement score, and joint-lowest ad avoidance score. This makes sense, as there is little else to do while in the cinema and the ads are seen by many as part of the cinema experience. However, the 33% engagement score is lower than many would expect – rather than being fully engaged by the on-screen advertising, many cinema-goers feel they are in a somewhat inattentive state (paying “little/ some attention to” the ads). 18 49 33 Hard avoid Inattentive Engage 9
- 12. Total exposure* 21.3m COMM RADIO Net exposure* 17.5m Total exposure* 23.1m COMM TV Net exposure* 15.9m Total exposure* 9.2m CINEMA Net exposure* 7.5m Chart 4: Low avoidance gives radio highest outreach *Exposure = total reach of 16-44s, net = reach adjusted for hard avoidance levels Source: Rajar, Barb, Caviar (15-44), Clark Chapman Radio has the strongest net outreach of the relative scale of the different media. Chart 4 takes the overall reach of each medium There is a media-family finding here. Broadly, the static amongst 16-44s (or equivalent) and then factors media family – magazines and newspapers – have it down according to hard avoidance levels. far higher levels of avoidance than the real-time media family (cinema, radio and TV). So, Commercial Radio’s total 16-44 reach of 21.3 million is factored down by 18%, leaving a total This is probably because, as real-time media elapse, net audience of 17.5 million. there are many different opportunities for the viewer/ listener to become engaged (in a 40-second ad, there In contrast, the total 16-44 reach of commercial TV are 40 seconds’ worth of opportunities). By contrast, is factored down by 31%, leaving a total net audience if a reader has decided (consciously or otherwise) of only 15.9 million. to by-pass an ad in a magazine or newspaper, that’s This makes it clear that, once avoidance is taken into it – there aren’t usually any more opportunities for account, radio has the highest net outreach among the ad to overcome that decision. 16-44 year-olds. But while real-time media offer the lowest levels of avoidance, within this the scores take no account 10
- 13. 3.5 3 1.9 1 0.9 0.4 0.3 @ CINEMA RADIO TV INTERNET PRESS SKY+* DIRECT MAIL Chart 5: Difficult/easy to completely avoid - by media % respondents who agreed “It’s difficult to completely avoid the advertising”, divided by the % who said “It’s easy to completely avoid the advertising” in each medium Source: Clark Chapman / RAB *Sky+ sample = 50 subscribers In some media the advertising is more and pop-ups to differing extents) they clearly find difficult to avoid the advertising very difficult to avoid. On the one hand this could be seen as a benefit for advertisers In a separate part of the survey, respondents were asked on the internet – on the other, it suggests that to make a stark choice for each of seven media – would their intrusions are unwelcome, albeit hard to get they describe the advertising in that medium as easy away from. or difficult to avoid completely? This was part of the survey where we looked specifically at Sky+ advertising, using the sub-sample of 50 subscribers. It is clear that, while radio and cinema are still the two media where it is hardest to completely avoid the advertising, Sky+ has a very strong score, second only to direct mail in terms of being easy to avoid. Looking at the internet, although respondents said they avoided internet advertising to a large degree (banners 11
- 14. Planning campaigns to maximise outreach As explored earlier, the type of advertising which is most threatened by ad avoidance is outreach advertising – the campaigns which seek to reach out to new consumers in new markets. This would include: • well established brands which are developing new products or services • brands in “low interest” categories such as personal finance • advertisers targeting consumers who are actively resistant to their message (pensions, anti-smoking, charities) These are fairly obvious candidates, but in fact the list Chart 6 doesn’t indicate that the internet of advertisers using outreach strategies would be very is an ineffectual medium – in fact it’s becoming the long indeed – every car ad is at least partly targeted most important communication tool in the 21st century. at new “conquest” customers, every retail ad reaches But it does show how the internet works less well as people who would not ordinarily shop at that store, etc. an “interruption model” medium: people tend to use it as a “pull medium”, and clearly try to get away from This means that any brands which needs to reach unsolicited messages that are pushed towards them. out to new customers will have to consider how much the effect of ad avoidance is reducing their impact, This makes pop-ups inefficient for achieving outreach and what media mix would help to offset this. – and this is where radio can help. Radio is uniquely well-placed to help here. A recent project (see RAB OnLine rab.co.uk) conducted by the RAB jointly with the Internet Advertising Not only does it offer very low levels of ad avoidance, Bureau revealed that radio and internet are highly it also reaches out to huge audiences in real-time. complementary in this respect. Amongst people who It is worth taking some more extreme examples to listen to radio while online (20% of web users at any put this thinking into perspective. As well as display given time): advertising media, the survey included feedback • 57% say they have “checked things out on direct mail and the two main forms of internet on the internet after just hearing about them advertising – banners and pop-ups. on the radio” • 39% say that “radio ads have prompted me to search for something on the internet” So outreach strategy becomes a matter of using strong outreach media like radio together with good follow-up media like the internet. 12
- 15. 18 64 18 RADIO 62 30 9 DIRECT MAIL 65 29 6 INTERNET BANNERS 73 22 6 INTERNET POPUPS Hard avoid Inattentive Engage Chart 6: Avoidance – radio compared to 3 non-display media Source: Clark Chapman 13
- 16. P e.g. Coke bottle, Toilet Duck bottle neck Design e.g. FirstDirect / black, Orange / orange Colou Layout e.g. Felix black & white cartoon Ji Jingle e.g. Intel Inside Chart 7: “What makes us remember?” Source: The mind, the brain and the media, Sue Elms and John Svendsen, Carat Insight (Admap April 2005) Implications for advertising How can advertising connect with the inattentives? Avoidance only accounts for about a fifth of the and brand names – from advertising we have barely audience. A much bigger part – over half – of the been conscious of consuming. audience is in an inattentive state when they process This is important because, to summarise the our advertising: what does this mean for the way “Mere Exposure Effect” in psychology (see appendix), we advertise? familiarity breeds liking. In other words, people are Models of thinking about the way advertising works demonstrably more inclined to like things which they are in a constant state of change, but one of the most feel are familiar (brands, thoughts, people, devices, important recent developments in this area is passive sounds, images). This is sometimes easier to understand reception – most notably described by Robert Heath the other way round: we are less inclined to like things in his book about low-involvement processing which seem unfamiliar. “The Hidden Power of Advertising”. His central point is that, while some advertising is processed at high levels of involvement, most of it flows across our eyes and ears while we are only semi-attentive. Yet it still has an effect: we can remember ideas, slogans, scenes and sounds – 14
- 17. P People e.g. Halifax & Howard es Allit Alliteration Logos Music e.g.Kellogg’s K, Nike Swoosh, Adidas Stripes e.g. British Airways music The key points about low-involvement Similar thinking is reflected in Chart 7, (repeated in (or low-attention) processing of advertising are these: text below). The memory-prompts described are quite simplified, as this is what people remember: there • when we process advertising in this way we are is little in the way of literal meaning, just particles learning implicitly rather than explicitly – it’s not of meaning. In addition, it is worth noting that many a deliberate activity of these mnemonic factors are framed in sound rather • implicit learning sees people absorbing data differently than vision – which is why radio is such a powerful medium for trace memory creation. • implicit memories are not semantic (they can’t hold logical arguments) People (e.g. Halifax & Howard) Jingles (e.g. Intel Inside) • implicit memories can be described as Music (e.g. British Airways music) impressionistic – they leave us with impressions Logos (e.g. Kellogg’s K, Nike Swoosh, Adidas Stripes) rather than detail Colours (e.g. FirstDirect / black, Orange / orange) • these impressions can be very strong (strong Design (e.g. Coke bottle, Toilet Duck bottle neck) enough to affect brand preferences) but they Alliteration (e.g. 118 118) are mainly emotional Layout (e.g. Felix black & white cartoon) 15
- 18. Friendly Offers Peo s or Clean ple o ly td Chi famldren, dd und Ou ily Cu Aro t rest a lo Inte s rate ge W Oran ite ar wh m & elt Dog lifeb Mu sic Sun ny ing rt ising d vertis adve ect a A ndrex ING Dir y end Sm oo Tr My th lev el ry, xu ss ces , big orld y Lu sine n, eren t Pla Pla w er Diff Bu W ne od M sic ) Mu libes ( De Cr Clever, ish ea tu fun Brit res Re lax ed g e rtisin g dve rtisin 3 adv BA a Examples of brand trace memories left Creating trace memories with radio by advertising a) Musical trace memories Above are some examples of brands which have trace One aspect of the way radio creates trace memories is memories created mainly by advertising. Some of the famous – the jingle, sonic, or (as lawyers now call them) memories are stronger, others weaker – some are visual, the sound-mark. some are acoustic. People often take pride in reciting the catchphrases It’s important to note that they are not semantic and jingles they can remember from radio campaigns or logical: people don’t talk about what the interest – even if the advertiser in question is completely rate actually is in the ING Direct advertising, they irrelevant to them (local conservatory or double-glazing just mention the fact that there are interest rates. companies are usually a good example). They have These are not at all exhaustive: they are based on a way of sticking in the mind which is extraordinary, informal RAB research (July 2005), where we asked and based on musical principles – rhythm, melody, respondents “What sort of impressions about these sequences, rhymes etc. brands can you remember from their advertising?” This is how we recall nursery rhymes, pop songs and catchphrases, whether or not we have ever stopped 16
- 19. Ca tch ph ras es e of voic Slog Tone ans ere osph Atm Jingles Mood y MUSICAL EMOTIONAL Melod Feel ds s oun Fami liar/c mic el ebr Rhy th ity vo m e ices Rhy Chart 8: Creating trace memories with radio Source: RAB to think about what they contain or mean (i.e. engaged So while these are the trace memories left by radio, the / high-attention processing). challenge of course is to attach advertising impressions to the brand. While brands leave trace memories Sound-marks which work well are a kind of marketing through both musical and emotional routes, it is much nirvana: they can create a situation where people are easier to attach a brand identity to the musical route. singing the brand name to themselves. But this is why celebrity/well-known spokesmen are b) Emotional trace memories so popular in radio advertising – they are an instant Emotional impressions are left by radio regardless of shorthand for brand impression or emotional tone attentiveness – you can sense how people are speaking regardless of the attentiveness of the listener. to you, or to each other. If Vic Reeves is the spokesman for a brand, a certain impression will be left because of people’s perception This happens at the emotional level even if we can’t of his personality. hear or don’t understand the words. It’s like hearing people next door – even if you can’t hear the words you This is part of the secret of Carphone Warehouse’s can tell if they are having a row, or being lovey-dovey, success with their advertising vehicle – Ed Byrne and or speaking to someone they don’t know on the phone. Mowbli: they leave a strong brand trace memory regardless of listening attentiveness. 17
- 20. Curious Involving Relevant Interesting Recognised voice New Challenging Chart 9: What makes people listen? Source: RAB Implications for radio advertising creativity The contrast here is with the high avoidance media, where over a third of the audience are already likely Radio is the medium with the biggest inattentiveness to have taken avoiding action before the advertiser segment – well over half the time with radio ads we has a chance to make their case at any length. are in varying degrees of distraction. This is sometimes wrongly seen as a barrier for radio, leading some Engaging: what makes people zone in to radio? advertisers to use irritating tricks to get the listeners’ Zoning in is usually a pre-conscious activity, which attention (which inevitably leads listeners to see the takes place in our heads. We just find ourselves advertiser as an irritant). listening to some things and ignoring others – In fact it’s very easy to get the attention of listeners. it’s true for advertising as it is for people. We know from previous research that people “zone The chart above is based on RAB workshops conducted in and out” of all radio content (news, weather, chat, with national radio advertisers, looking at the factors interviews, advertising) according to whether they find it likely to make listeners zone in or out. interesting or relevant. In other words, the vast majority of the audience are available to be engaged by the advertising – but it’s up to the advertiser to be engaging. 18 18
- 21. Corporate Irrelevant Predictable Self-regarding No reward Chart 10: What makes people not listen? Source: RAB The list of factors in the chart above are probably the How can advertisers ensure that the impression ones which eventually produce hard avoidance, such they leave with these inattentives will be positive as listeners being frustrated enough to change station. for the brand? One of the great positives of working with radio – Ensure that trace memories are connected to the brand: or indeed any of the real-time media – is that in this either means using a sonic or sound-mark of some a commercial which is 40 seconds long, the advertiser kind (like Intel or British Airways), or using a tone of has 40 seconds’ worth of opportunity to get the voice or style in the advertising which listeners easily listener to zone in. Decisions about avoiding the connect with the brand (e.g. Carphone Warehouse ads are made much more quickly in static media like consistently use Ed Byrne and his partner little Mowbli). press and magazines. Ensure that positive emotional traces are left: Reaching the inattentive listener – trace memories commercials can leave a strong emotional trace pattern When any given spot is broadcast, some of the 64% even when listeners are inattentive – these are driven of radio listeners that are listening inattentively will by mood, atmosphere, memory and feelings. be available to be engaged by the creative work – but others will remain inattentive, and will retain only trace memories. 19
- 22. Appendix Method Thinking of the ads you could see on the Internet when you are on-line, there are two main styles, those that pop-up The survey was run by Clark Chapman Research using web-based on the screen and those that are on banners (across the top interviewing. 500 people aged 18-44 were asked to complete an of the screen for instance). What proportion of pop-ups do online questionnaire about the way they dealt with advertising. you feel you... The questions were structurally similar for each medium, but the a: miss completely – by closing before reading them or blocking them language varied to reflect the different ways in which they were consumed – and the web software helped people to get their time b: pass your eye over, but pay little attention to allocations to add up correctly. c: pass your eye over and read or look at a little of it d: look at and read quite fully Questionnaire – key wordings What proportion of banner ads do you feel you... When you have the radio on (on a commercial station), what proportion of the ads do you feel you... a: miss completely – by scrolling away, moving to a new screen, etc. a: miss completely – by switching stations, b: pass your eye over, but pay little attention to or turning the radio right down c: pass your eye over and read or look at a little of it b: hear, but pay little attention to d: look at and read quite fully c: hear, paying some attention to d: hear, paying full attention Results Respondents allocated their answers between options b and c When you’re reading a newspaper, what proportion of the ads (not including the small ads) do you feel you... almost exactly 50:50 for all media, which suggests that there is little useful distinction in their minds between the two different levels of a: miss completely – by flicking straight past them attentiveness. So, in the report, these figures are combined. without even looking The study could not cover outdoor because, in the absence of b: pass your eye over, but pay little attention to an editorial context, consumers find it impossible to say how c: pass your eye over and read or look at a little of it they deal with advertising in this medium (although it is probably d: look at and read quite fully a lower-avoidance medium because of this). The study included a separate booster sample of fifty Sky+ users When you’re looking at a magazine, what proportion – their scores are included in the main sample of 500, but broken of the ads do you feel you... out separately in the section about whether ads in certain media a: miss completely – by flicking straight past them are difficult/easy to avoid completely. without even looking b: pass your eye over, but pay little attention to The “mere exposure effect” c: pass your eye over and read or look at a little of it The mere exposure effect is a psychological artifact well known d: look at and read quite fully to advertisers where people express undue liking for things merely because they are familiar with them. This effect has been nicknamed When you’re watching TV (on a commercial channel), the “familiarity breeds liking” effect. Simply exposing experimental what proportion of the ads do you feel you... subjects to a picture or a piece of music led those subjects to later a: miss completely – by flicking channels, or leaving the room rate it more positively than other, similar stimuli which they had not been shown earlier. b: watch, but pay little attention to In another experiment, students were shown a Chinese character c: watch, paying some attention to on a tachistoscope faster than could be perceived consciously. d: watch, paying full attention Later, students rated these characters as better than those to which they had not been exposed. Interestingly, when asked, the students Thinking of direct mail (the letters and cards that come were able to cite specific and detailed reasons why they preferred through the letterbox advertising different services and the characters that they did (which must have been at least partially products), what proportion do you feel you... rationalization). This effect was first studied by Robert Zajonc. a: miss completely – by throwing out straight away b: pass your eye over, but pay little attention to c: pass your eye over and read or look at a little of it d: look at and read quite fully When you’re at the cinema, what proportion of the ads they show on screen do you feel you... a: miss completely – by not going in until the film is about to start or leaving your seat b: watch, but pay little attention to c: watch, paying some attention to d: watch, paying full attention 20
- 23. OFF ON Designed by: Together Printed by: Thomson Print Services 21
- 24. Ad avoidance is mainly a threat to outreach advertising. This is one of the biggest advertising categories, where brands are trying to engage new customers or extend into new markets. Radio attracts very low levels of ad avoidance. Real-time media (TV, cinema, radio) are significantly less avoided than static media (newspapers, magazines). Radio’s low level of avoidance and wide coverage mean it is very well-placed to play a key role in outreach advertising. In fact, if media reach is factored down to take into account avoidance behaviour, radio has a bigger net outreach than even TV. Creativity is the key to minimising avoidance, but this report also looks at techniques for reaching the inattentives – the single largest constituency of all. Radio Advertising Bureau The Radio Advertising Bureau is funded by the Commercial Radio industry to help national advertisers and their agencies towards effective use of radio advertising. For further information, go to: RAB OnLine (rab.co.uk)