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Short recall on upbeat ads during serious TV

12 Feb 2015

Oxford research, based on six studies and nearly a thousand people, shows that consumers may find it hard to process energetic TV commercials when placed in serious TV dramas, which are increasingly becoming more popular and now make up 40% of programming.

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The report 'Consumers' response to commercials: When the energy level in the commercial conflicts with the media context' was authored by Nancy Puccinelli, Associate Professor of Marketing, Saïd Business School, University of Oxford, Keith Wilcox, Associate Professor of Marketing, Columbia Business School, Columbia University and Dhruv Grewal, Toyota Chair in E-Commerce and Electronic Business, Babson College.

Nine hundred people were shown a range of TV commercials with a high-energy feel (featuring upbeat, enthusiastic spokespeople) and their responses carefully monitored. The findings showed that consumers find it hard to process upbeat TV commercials that reach a certain energy level when they appear during a serious TV drama, leading to shorter viewing times and lower brand recall.

High-energy commercials that are active, exciting and arousing for the viewer to experience have become the norm in advertising. Oxford's analysis of commercials on Hulu, as part of the study, show that over 80% of the commercials embedded were rated to be relatively energetic.

Matching emotion to advertising

However, the research suggests that when advertisers run commercials in media that induces a deactivating emotion (eg sadness, relaxed, contentment) they should avoid running highly energetic commercials (eg with upbeat music). Additionally, this research recommends that advertisers need to consider how the media-induced emotion interacts with the energy level of their commercial. In cases where advertisers are buying bulk time and have less information about programming, a safer strategy would be to run moderately energetic commercials.

"These findings could be ground breaking in the way that advertisers and companies place TV adverts and even the way they produce them," said Puccinelli. "With the huge investment and expectations that companies seek through TV and online advertising a slightly different approach could radically change the impact on a consumer."

Click here to view the report.