TV ads still have most impact – but a decline is setting in

Over half of the UK public still regard TV ads as the advertising format with the most impact, according to a report to be published by Deloitte.

However, despite the 52% that admitted this, the proportion of respondents ranking TV among their top three has fallen steadily over the past five years from 64% in 2009.

Newspaper advertising impact has fallen also, from 30% to 14% in 2013, while the impact of radio advertising has dropped from 10% to 8% over the same period.

The report – fielded by GfK and consisting of 2,517 nationally representative respondents – found that television still performs well relative to digital formats. The highest rated digital advertising medium over the last three years was opt-in e-mails, rated among the top three formats by between 13% and 14% of respondents through 2011-2013.

Video ads and banner ads on websites fared less well, ranking among the top two for only 2% of respondents.

“Television advertising continues to have a big impact on the public and capture their imagination because it consistently attracts a large audience, with a typical viewer watching more than four hours a day,” said Ed Shedd, head of Deloitte’s UK technology, media and telecoms practice.

“Although we are over a decade into our digital revolution, for every hour spent watching television, we spend about three minutes on YouTube and two minutes on Facebook.”

The research also casts light on purchasing habits in relation to TV advertising.

11% of respondents said that they searched for a product having seen an advert or sponsorship on TV, and among 16-24 year olds, the proportion increased to 24%.

Overall 13% of all respondents and 18% of 16-24 year olds bought the product advertised.

Paul Lee, director of technology, media and telecommunications research at Deloitte added: “TV’s impact on purchasing is known, but there is no equivalent mechanism that traces its impact on purchasing online, although our research suggests this.

“Demonstrating the link between viewing and online activity could increase the value of TV advertising as it would provide evidence of TV’s ability to persuade consumers to buy goods on the spur of the moment.”

Deloitte’s research found that TV programmes and advertisements were the third most common reason for a spur of the moment purchase (14%) compared to coming across it in a store (23%) and a friend/family member recommending it (15%).

In contrast, Twitter persuaded 1% to buy, and seeing an advert in an app on a tablet or smartphone persuaded 2%.