Newspaper Advertising: the Choice of Consumers

The media landscape is changing, and it is
providing new opportunities for our industry.

As consumers see advertisements in more and more areas,
including on bridges, wrapped around buses and even above
restroom urinals, newspapers have an enviable position as one
of the media whose consumers actually look for ads.

One new area of interest is how consumers avoid advertising.
A February release from Microsoft Corp. and Starcom profiles
Ad Avoiders, a group that represents between
10 percent and 15 percent of consumers ages 17 to 35. This
group is less likely to watch television, listen to radio or read
magazines. No newspaper numbers were released; the full
report will be published in June.

The research found that avoiders could be split into two groups:
one that pays no attention to advertising but won't actively avoid
ads, and one that aggressively chooses media and recreation
that involve less advertising.

These findings echoed the results of a 2006 Yankelovich MONITOR
study of more than 4,000 adults. Asked to respond on a one-to-seven
scale, with seven representing strongest agreement, more than half
felt that marketing and advertising is out of control (a six or seven).
More than one-third said they were taking steps to reduce exposure
to marketing and advertising (a six or seven), and almost half expressed
interest in products that would eliminate contact with advertising.

Source: www.naa.org/presstime