Consumers Continue to Favor Offline Ads; Most Digital Formats Lose Ground
Consumer Attitudes
November 30, 2012 -- As part of their annual AdReaction series, global research agency Millward Brown, partnering with Dynamic Logic, surveyed Americans regarding their attitudes toward 16 different advertising types.
CONSUMERS FAVOR TV AND PRINT ADS OVER DIGITAL
The 2012 AdReaction study, focusing on consumer opinions and perceptions of advertising, finds that even in this digital-centric climate, U.S. consumers are likely to view offline media ads most favorably -- with TV viewed in a positive light by 49% of respondents, followed by magazine ads (41%), and newspaper ads (40%).
The most positive attitudes towards digital ads are for opt-in email ads, which 28% of respondents find very or somewhat favorable. Social media appears near the bottom at 13%.
Mobile ads tied with non-opt-in emails for last in digital favorability, at 9%. Only one other ad format ranked lower and that was telemarketing (7%).
| How would you characterize your attitude towards each of the following formats of advertising? (Very/Somewhat Favorable) | ||
| Traditional Media | U.S. AdReaction 2009 Favorability |
U.S. AdReaction 2012 Favorability |
| TV | 47% | 49% (Change of +2) |
| Magazines | 44% | 41% (-3) |
| Newspapers | 34% | 40% (+6) |
| Radio | 34% | 40% (+6) |
| Billboard | 36% | 33% (-3) |
| Cinema | 40% | 32% (-8) |
| Product Placement | 28% | 28% (0) |
| Telemarketing | 4% | 7% (+3) |
| Digital Media | AdReaction 2009 Favorability |
AdReaction 2012 Favorability |
| Opt-In Email | 27% | 28% (Change of +1) |
| Online Display | 24% | 22% (-2) |
| Online Video | 22% | 16% (-6) |
| Online Search | 21% | 16% (-5) |
| Ad-Supported Games | 18% | 16% (-2) |
| Social Media | 21% | 13% (-8) |
| Mobile | 7% | 9% (+2) |
| Non-Op-In Email | 7% | 9% (+2) |
| Sample: U.S. General Population Online Audience | ||
MOST FORMS OF DIGITAL ADVERTISING LOSE FAVORABILITY
Examining changes in attitudes towards advertising formats between 2009 and 2012, the traditional media types with the most positive favorability changes: newspapers (+6) and radio (+6). The only upticks for digital favorability are for mobile (+2) and non-opt-in email (+2). All other forms of digital media lost favorability points with Americans, led by social media (-8), online video (-6) and online search (-5).
About: The global study was conducted using qualitative/quantitative methodologies across 18 countries, with a total of more than 6,000 interviews. The U.S. subset findings represent quanitative data only.
Source: Millward Brown, AdReaction 2012 - U.S. Report - Marketing in the Mobile World, accessed November 30, 2012.
