April 6th, 2022, Janice Fernandes
The pandemic has significantly changed media consumption habits across the world and marketers have had to alter their plans based on that. Our recent Global Media Outlook Report for 2022 analysed global consumers’ media activities over the past year - which ones are most likely to stick around, and which are going to grow this year. Following on from that research, we asked consumers in 18 markets across the globe whether they prefer to interact with ads immediately in exchange for an ad-free viewing experience and whether they’re turned off by a brand if they see the same ad multiple times in the same sitting.
More than a quarter of global consumers are neutral about having an ad-free viewing experience (27%).
Overall, 40% of global consumers say they are willing to interact with ads right at the beginning in exchange for an ad-free viewing experience (for example, clicking to see more or visiting an external site). More than half of consumers in three out of the 18 surveyed markets – India (58%), UAE and Mexico (56% each) – agree with the statement. Consumers in Germany and Denmark are among the least likely to agree – only around a quarter of their consumers are prepared to make the exchange (25% and 26% respectively).
Germany (37%) and France (36%) are significantly more likely than the global audience (22%) to disagree with the statement - the highest share among all 18 markets. While a third of Britons are also in disagreement (30%), that’s the case for only one in four Americans (24%). This suggests two things; either consumers are willing to be interrupted by ads while streaming or they wish for a completely ad-free viewing experience.
Does seeing the same ad multiple times turn off consumers?
More than half of the global respondents (53%) agree that they are turned off a brand if they see the same ad for it multiple times in one sitting. Slightly more than three in five consumers in Poland (63%), Mexico (62%), Australia (62%), US (61%) and Britain (61%) hold the same opinion. While more than 50% of consumers in most of the 18 surveyed markets agree with the statement, there’s a significant difference between the rest of the markets and Germany. Only 17% of Germans say that seeing the same ad multiple times will put them off that brand.
Marketers may find it particularly useful to know that roughly a quarter of consumers in most markets are neutral about seeing the same advertisement repeatedly in one sitting. In a few Asian markets the percentage of consumers who are indifferent to the ads encountered while streaming or watching TV goes up significantly – China (46%), Indonesia (43%), Hong Kong and Singapore (37% each).
Over a quarter of Germans (28%) say they won’t lose interest in a brand just by seeing the same ad multiple times, the highest among all markets. However, the level of patience is lower in most of the surveyed markets with around one in ten consumers disagreeing with the statement, similar to the proportion of global respondents (12%).
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Methodology: The data is based on the interviews of adults aged 18 and over in 17 markets with sample sizes varying between 528 and 2002 for each market. All interviews were conducted online in January 2022. Data from each market uses a nationally representative sample apart from Mexico and India, which use urban representative samples, and Indonesia and Hong Kong, which use online representative samples.