How effective are advertisements, really?

[Itisnotlogical]

In my opinion... not very effective. A lot of times whenever an advertisement pops up anywhere, I find something else to do for however long the ad or ads are on. Mostly I'm concerned with shutting them off if at all possible. I actually started typing this while waiting for a Toyota advertisement on a YouTube vid to burn itself out.

How effective would you say advertisements are, based on personal experience?

 

[Ar-Pharazon]

For me, zero effectiveness.

Some commercials are amusing enough to watch for the entertainment value, if I don't have to get up for "other" reasons.

But mostly they're annoying, especially on the web when you can't refresh/reload them away.

 

[Deranged Nasat]

I have an irrational distaste of adverts. I spitefully go out of my way to ignore them. I actually try to be quick enough to turn away from pop-up adverts, so happily I often cannot tell what they're for. Sad of me, I know, but for some reason they just irritate me.

When I go out looking to buy things, I pick stuff up based on factors like cost, aesthetic appeal, and what's available there and then, not because it was advertised. Even if I do have a particular "brand" in my head due to an advert, that isn't going to make me buy it, surely? Just because I think idly of a friend doesn't mean I'm going to run round to their house and give them a wad of money.

So no, I've never found adverts at all effective for me personally.

 

[Pingfah]

Most people think advertising has no effect on them. Most people are wrong.

 

[Nociod]

I tend to ignore advertisements, change the channels on TV, doing something else etc.

But I'm not claiming advertising has no effect on me, sure it does. If I get spammed by advertisement, popups, if they're really annoying etc, then I go out of my way to NOT buy that product. My own personal little boycott.


Sure, it doesn't help if I'm the only one who does that, but I'm at least doing my part.

 

[RegFan]

Advertisements do have an effect on me, but only when they are about something I actually care about. Usually they aren't.

 

[Nardpuncher]

I think it's a slight misconception that advertising is meant to coerce or trick people into buying things.
I think most of it tries to be funny or sexy so that you'll remember that brand the next time to go to buy Product X.

 

[Canadave]

Most people think advertising has no effect on them. Most people are wrong.

Quite. How often do people whom advertising has "no effect" on find themselves at the grocery store with a cart full of brand name products instead of virtually identical, cheaper no name items?

 

[Servo]

Most people think advertising has no effect on them. Most people are wrong.

Quite. How often do people whom advertising has "no effect" on find themselves at the grocery store with a cart full of brand name products instead of virtually identical, cheaper no name items?

Not me. I buy store brand wherever possible. I can quite easily afford to buy name products when I go shopping, but I don't see the point when most of the time the store brand (like Smart Price at Asda in the UK) is just as good. I may buy a name brand if it's on offer, but that's it really.

Advertising rarely works on me. Most adverts that do interest me are for products I was already interested in in the first place, such as a video game.

 

[SaturnVengeance]

I like video game trailers.

 

[Tora Ziyal]

Most people think advertising has no effect on them. Most people are wrong.

Quite. How often do people whom advertising has "no effect" on find themselves at the grocery store with a cart full of brand name products instead of virtually identical, cheaper no name items?

Probably quite often. But I buy mostly store brands or whichever brand of the same item is on sale. When I do pay attention to ads, it's to find out what's on sale where.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

I think it's a slight misconception that advertising is meant to coerce or trick people into buying things.
I think most of it tries to be funny or sexy so that you'll remember that brand the next time to go to buy Product X.

IMHO, that's the same thing.

 

[Canadave]

Most people think advertising has no effect on them. Most people are wrong.

Quite. How often do people whom advertising has "no effect" on find themselves at the grocery store with a cart full of brand name products instead of virtually identical, cheaper no name items?

Not me. I buy store brand wherever possible. I can quite easily afford to buy name products when I go shopping, but I don't see the point when most of the time the store brand (like Smart Price at Asda in the UK) is just as good. I may buy a name brand if it's on offer, but that's it really.

Yeah, not everyone does, I'm sure. I buy No Name products fairly often, myself, which is the cheap in-house brand at my grocery store. There are certain products where I do gravitate towards brand names, but that's generally because I genuinely do prefer it to the generic one.

 

[Owain Taggart]

I think it depends on the product, and if the commercial is any good. Many times, commercials can be really terrible and actually drive people away from a product. Case in point, the Vonage commercials with that techno music. Did they honestly think people would want to buy their product after seeing them? Annoying = no buy, most of the time. And I know they do that to make people remember their product, but honestly, whatever happened in making people feel good about your company and product? That's what I was taught about in marketing class. I think it's really difficult making a good commercial that will click with people. There are only a handful each year that end up being really clever. There's one bank commercial on these days that recently started playing that I really like, where the clerk begins to tell the client that he's the boss of his savings, and so he gets up on the desk and starts to say, "I'm the boss! You, take my calls, you stop lallygagging, you do a jig!" And it works because it's funny and it works on the concept of spontaneity and it creates that brand awareness.

 

[Holdfast]

Most people think advertising has no effect on them. Most people are wrong.

Exactly.

Most people also think advertising is meant to get them to consciously want the product after seeing the advert. That stops working on most people after about the age of 12, which is why toy TV adverts are entirely different to most adult-targeted adverts. There's a brilliant Simpsons or Family guy segment with a stereotyped kid's commercial for "The Best Thing Ever" that really highlights the difference. Sure, there are a few simple adverts that still use this technique, but usually only for time-limited special offer type deals.

But you don't have to believe me that ads work. (Good) companies don't spend on expensive TV advertising campaigns without monitoring the effect on sales. Good advertising campaigns are consistently demonstrated to be force-multipliers of other methods of increasing sales.

I think it's a slight misconception that advertising is meant to coerce or trick people into buying things.
I think most of it tries to be funny or sexy so that you'll remember that brand the next time to go to buy Product X.

Some simple advertising is like that, yes. And sometimes ad campaigns really resonate with the public at large (usually this is a pleasant but unexpected surprise to the ad agency).

But more often, it's more subtle than that. They don't actually expect you to remember the product, or indeed anything much consciously about the ad. They expect the emotional impact to resonate with the designated target demographic and hope that this subset will subconsciously associate the brand with the emotion. It's about brand-management.

 

[Deranged Nasat]

Most people think advertising has no effect on them. Most people are wrong.

Quite. How often do people whom advertising has "no effect" on find themselves at the grocery store with a cart full of brand name products instead of virtually identical, cheaper no name items?

Are these people mad? Go for the cheap one, unless it's of such low comparative quality as to not be worth it.

Although, as I said, adverts irritate me generally. So the feelings I associate subconsciously with brand names are likely mostly default irritation and annoyance. Maybe it's the ones that annoy me in fresh and interesting ways that get a hook in

 

[ShamelessMcBundy]

That's just a load of rich, creamery butter.

 

[Snaploud]

There's a brilliant Simpsons or Family guy segment with a stereotyped kid's commercial for "The Best Thing Ever" that really highlights the difference.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xtV-V-oJAyU

 

[Alidar Jarok]

Most people think advertising has no effect on them. Most people are wrong.

Yeah, otherwise they wouldn't exist. One, if you're interested in buying that type of product, they help differentiate their product from the others, so you remember to buy it. Second, there is the "Coca Cola effect" (which I know I remember being referred to as this, but can't seem to find in a google search). Basically, it creates brand loyalty that will overcome even taste tests that seem to suggest you like the other product.

So do internet pop up ads accomplish much? Not really, unless you're the specific type of person the ad is supposed to appeal to.

EDIT: Not the Coca-Cola Effect, but the Pepsi Paradox

 

[Snaploud]

I'm extremely susceptible to good advertising. I'm also easily irritated when presented with bad advertising.

Advertise to me at your own risk.