The majority of Europeans think that there are ‘too many and too boring’ advertisements surrounding them everyday, says a new report from GFK Marktforschung.
A survey on people’s attitudes and preferences regarding advertising shows that all European respondents, regardless of country, agree that they are exposed to far too much advertising and most of it is not entertaining.
Spain had the highest number of complaints with 92% of respondents saying there was too much advertising. On the other hand, nearly 12% of people in the UK and Romania would like to see more advertising. However, all countries agree that if adverts were more entertaining people would not be as bothered.
In Sweden 91% of respondents believe that advertising works but the more sceptical Europeans are based in the Czech Republic where only 42% believe that advertisements will make people buy products they do not need. In Portugal, 80% said that if a celebrity is involved it will make the advert more popular.
| Attitude To Advertising In Europe (% respondents) | |||
| Too much adverts | Adverts are entertaining | Ads are informative | |
| Austria | 61.8 | 58.6 | 81.1 |
| Belgium | 74.2 | 54.9 | 81.2 |
| Denmark | 73.8 | 51.7 | 79.2 |
| Finland | 58.6 | 57.8 | 88.1 |
| France | 79.6 | 57.8 | 59.4 |
| Germany | 78.2 | 30.5 | 53.6 |
| UK | 54.1 | 72.7 | 74.1 |
| Greece | 82.5 | 62.1 | 66.7 |
| Italy | 84.7 | 28.8 | 33.5 |
| Portugal | 66.4 | 70.0 | 76.8 |
| Spain | 91.7 | 46.2 | 50.7 |
| Sweden | 74.4 | 52.7 | 69.6 |
| Switzerland | 68.0 | 55.7 | 69.1 |
| Bulgaria | 60.2 | 61.9 | 76.1 |
| Croatia | 61.3 | 56.7 | 75.6 |
| Czech Republic | 72.0 | 23.5 | 45.8 |
| Poland | 80.9 | 67.0 | 72.4 |
| Romania | 61.5 | 62.9 | 81.1 |
| Russia | 85.2 | 35.7 | 61.0 |
| Slovak Republic | 65.4 | 31.6 | 45.1 |
| Slovenia | 57.2 | 70.9 | 86.5 |
| Source: GFK Marktforschung, April 2004 | |||
