2/2/2017 AdvertisingClutter&theLossofAudienceAttention

PublishedinJournalofConsumerMarketing,vol.23(#4,2006),p.1801.
originalmanuscript

UnderstandingAdvertisingClutter
&theRealSolutiontoDecliningAudienceAttentiontoMassMedia
CommercialMessages
by
HerbertJackRotfeld
ProfessorofMarketing
AuburnUniversity,Alabama,USA

Consumerswerealwaysabletoavoidmassmediaadvertising.Televisionbreakswouldbethetimetomake
snacksorgotothetoilet,magazinereaderscouldturnthepageandnewspaperscouldhaveentiresectionstossed
asidebyreaders.Sincetheadventofpresetbuttonsoncarradiosfivedecadesago,commuteraudienceswould
shiftbetweenalternativestationsasthestringofcommercialsoutranthelistener'sabilitytotoleratethe
repetitivemessages.Andtoday,advertisingavoidancebecomesincreasinglyeasy.Televisionsallhaveremote
controls,manypeoplewatchonlyshowsthatwererecordedearliersothecommercialscanbeskipped,ormany
broadcastservicesarenowbysubscriptionandcommercialfree.

Yetitappearsthattheadvertisers'"solution"toaudienceavoidanceoftheirmessagesistoincreasethenumber
ofmessages,soeventheeffortofcommercialavoidancebecomesasourceofaudiencefrustration.Television
commercialbreaksarelongerandthecommercialsareshorter,sotherearemorespotsappearingperbreak.
Evenwhentimeshiftingfavoritetelevisionprograms,thezappingoftheincreasingquantityandlengthof
commercialbreaksgetstedious.Broadcastradiooftenseemstohavemoreadvertisingthanentertainmentor
news,sendingtheformerlycaptiveaudiencesofautomotivecommuterstosatelliteradio,prerecordedmusicand
thelessthansafealternativeoftalkingonacellphone.Magazineshavemultiplepagesofadvertisingbefore
youevengettothetableofcontentswhilenewspapers'freestandinginsertsalonefilltheirownrecyclingbox.

Thisincreasingadvertisingtoeditorialratioisreallyafunctionofsimplemediaeconomics.Withthedeclineof
theformermassmediaintomoresegmentedandtargetedoptions,thetotalaudiencesizeofeventhelargest
vehiclesisgreatlyreduced.Withsmalleraudiences,thevehiclesneedtosellmoretimeorspacetomakethe
sameamountofmoney.Andyet,iftheclutterwereless,eachmessagewouldhavegreaterimpactandthe
advertisersshouldbewillingtopaymoreperaudiencememberreached,orsoyouwouldintuitivelythink,
assumingitiswelltargeted.

Thepuzzletoeventhemostcasualaudiencememberishowmuchofthisadvertisingiswasted,astheirchildren
watchadvertisingforpickuptrucktopsduring"PowerPuffGirls"or"TheFairlyOddparents"cartoonprograms.
Despiteclaimstoahighlytargetedmediaenvironment,advertisingisstilloftenplacedwithoutmuchregardfor
eachvehicle'saudience,resultinginthemassmediaequivalenceofInternetspamforaudiences.

Toomanyadvertisingplansmakethepurchaseoftimeorspacedonebylittlemorethancountingthesizeof
audiencesinsteadofconsideringthethoughtsanddesiresofconsumers(Miller2004).Demographicdataremain
thepredominantbasisforhowvehicles'audiencesaredefined,despitethembeingpoorpredictorsofhow
audiencesthinkoractinthemarketplace.Andeventhenumbersavailablearenotused.Mostnewspaper
advertisingappearsrunofpaper,withoutregardforwhichaudiencesreadeachsection,whilemanybroadcast
andcablecommercialsareplacedrunofscheduleonavarietyofstationsorprogramswhosetotalaudiencesare
anagreeduponsizebutmayormaynotbepotentialconsumersfortheadvertisers'products.

Butasidefromissuesofvehicleselection,thequantityofcommercialsalonecreatesthefeelingof
overwhelmingmassmediaspam.Asnoted,theproblemisincreasingbutnotnecessarilynew.Theaudience
complaintsandadvertiserpersuasionproblemsofmessageclutterwithrepetitivemessageswasfrequently
criticizedbyHowardGossagefromthemid1950stohisdeathin1969.Thebooksthatposthumouslycollected

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hiswritingscontainanarticletitle"IsAdvertisingWorthSaving?"thatstatedthat"Fromaneconomicpointof
viewIdon'tthinkthatmostofitis.FromanaestheticpointofviewI'mdamnsureit'snotitisthoughtless,
boring,andthereissimplytoomuchofit."Allthisadvertisingmightworkifitdealtwithcaptiveaudiences,
likeshootingfishinabarrel,but,hesaid,thefisharelearningtoswimfasterandaredevelopingarmorplate.
(Gossage19861995alsoseeRotzoll1980).

Tosome,advertising'sfutureliesindoingabetterjobofhidingthesalesmessageinthenewsoreditorial
contentofthemedia(e.g.Donaton2004).Numerousanecdotesdetailhowproductplacementgenerated
publicitythatdroveincreasedproductsalesforvariouscompanies.Unfortunately,thealternativeistoo
restrictiveanddependstoomuchonsalesdrivenbysimplenamerecognition,sincetheformatdoesnotallow
forprovidingmuchofdetailedproductinformationinthemessage.

Inreality,thesolutionforadvertisingmightbetoturnbacktheclock,toatimeofsponsorshipsandfewer
commercials.Gossage'sbasicphilosophyofadvertisingstressedtheimportanceofasingleadvertisingmessage
deliveredwithrespectfortheintelligenceandvaluesofitsaudience.Anadvertiserwhopreparesatargeted,
interestingandentertainingadwouldnomorehavetorunitmultipletimesthanthenewspaperhasaneedtorun
thesamepageoneheadlinedayafterday.Afterall,henotedthat"Nobodyreadsadsperse.Peoplereadwhat
intereststhem,andsometimesit'sanad."Andheprovedittimeandagain(e.g.HarrisandGossage1962).

WhenGossagefirststartedwriting,themainformoftelevisionadvertisingwasprogramsponsorship,though
useof60secondspotswasgrowing.Bythetimeofhisdeath,spotsreplacedsponsorshipsasthemaintypeof
broadcastpurchaseandthe30secondspotstartedtosupplantthe60asthecommonlengthforatelevision
commercial,butprimetimenetworkprogramshadonlyeightornineminutesofadvertisingperhour.Todaythe
commercialbreakshavegonefromfourperhourtofiveorsix,withmanyspotsrunning15seconds.

Advertisingwriterssaythatthesolutionismorecreativeadvertisingthatbreaksoutfromtheadvertisingclutter.
Theyarepartiallyright,sincetheproblemsofclutterarecompoundedwhentheexactsame,dullmessageis
seenmultipletimeswithinthesamevehicle.Butforadvertisers,theyneedtorealizethatalesscluttered
environmentisworthmoremoney.Asponsoredvehiclewithagreatlyreducednumberofadvertisingmessages
meansthateachmessagewouldhaveagreaterimpact,assumingtheyprovideinformationthattheaudiences
wouldliketoreceive.

Peoplethrowoutdirectmailmessagesbecauseitisirrelevanttothemspamistheplethoraofemailyou'dnever
wanttoread.Thesolutionforclutterisforadvertiserstobewillingtopaythepriceformessagessurroundedby
lessofit.

References
Donaton,Scott(2004),MadisonandVine:WhytheEntertainmentandAdvertisingIndustriesMustConvergeto
Survive(NY:McgrawHill)
Gossage,HowardLuck(1995),TheBookofGossage(Chicago:TheCopyWorkshop).
Gossage,HowardLuck(1986),IsThereAnyHopeforAdvertising?editedbyKimB.Rotzoll,JarlathGraham
andBarrowsMussey(Urbana,IL:UniversityofIllinoisPress).
Harris,S.MillerandHowardGossage(1962),DearMissAfflerbach,orThePostmanHardlyEverRings11,342
Times(NY:TheMacmillanCompany).
Miller,Chris(2004),BloodonMyBriefcase:30YearsintheAdvertisingWars(USA:XlibrisCorporation).
Rotzoll,KimB.(1980),"GossageRevisited:ReflectionsofAdvertising'sLegendaryIconoclast,"Journalof
Advertising,9(#4):614,42.

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