Do (EDIT: Internet) advertisements work?

[Yopaz]

1. Ads don't usually make you want to run out and immediately buy a product. They work in much more subtle ways (such as giving brand recognition).

2. If ads didn't work, companies wouldn't spend millions of dollars on them. Businesses, believe it or not, really aren't that stupid.

Pretty much what ohnoitsabear says.

They don't consciously make you think "I need that".

It's subtle. You will unconsciously prefer to buy the products that you recognize, and adverts do just this.

It depends on the product to some degree. I have seen some commercials that immediately made me want the product because it seemed practical. Though when I am directly made aware of a product through advertisement I usually know I probably don't need it.

However for most common products this is the case. You're going to get something at the store, you find yourself picking up things you know, often you know about them because of the advertisement. Having a good ad is all about having one that make you remember the product. There have been ads that I love, but I can't remember the product, that's a bad one.

 

[Jacco]

I don't think it's necessarily to make you want it. It's more to just make you know it exists in the hope that next time you need that thing, that brand will be the first to come to mind. For instance, I know I need trash bags right now and as I'm thinking about that, the Force Flex ones come to mind first because I saw a commercial for that recently.

 

[NightmareExpress]

It never works for me.
I think I may be a tad busted in that regard, because if someone says "you have to have this!" I will subconsciously invest extra effort into avoiding it.

I do remember most of the products that Billy Mays and that Vince guy have advertised though, but mostly due to the humor that the web has been able to dole out from 'em.

 

[n00beffect]

Ads are not designed to MAKE you want something. That would be illegal (I think they tried in the 60s in America with subliminal messages or something). Ads are there to INFORM you of said product's existence. See, most (smart, non-spoiled-teenager-y) people buy things usually of necessity. Now, I'm not gonna argue whether necessity can also mean sheer desire, or actual necessity, that's a whole other thread; so given that you do in fact need stuff, it's not a question of 'will you', but rather a question of 'when will you' and 'which will you'. I.e. When will you need that 50 dollar professional yoga mattress, and which 50 dollar professional yoga mattress are you going to buy? So the ad's job is to inform you that 'yes, we do have those mattresses, and yes they're perfectly capable of fulfilling your yoga needs in a safe, satisfying manner; and (most importantly) you can buy them at your local yoga-mattress-selling, CONVENIENT store (the key word here being convenient)' That being said, some ads (the ones that use celebrities for instance) do in fact actively try to sell you on a certain, maybe pricier product. And it usually works, because of course you're going to buy that 50 dollar mattress that David Beckham and his hot, sexy wife What's-her-face use because it's everywhere, and it's guaranteed to work, as opposed to that cheap-o 5 dollar yoga mattress that sits at the back of some .99$ store you went buy once, that doesn't advertise at all. Necessity and availability/convenience are the key factors in most ads and advertisers are usually well-aware that not EVERYONE is going to buy their product (unless they're Coca Cola of course); but their job is to reassure their targeted demographic that they ARE the best (regardless of whether they truly are). So next time you buy your gillette razor/shaving foam think for a second why exactly your spending slightly more to buy exactly that one, in stead of buying the slightly cheaper one that, however, you haven't heard of.

 

[Genocidicles]

If anything ads usually make me hate the product in question, and I try to get by without it.

If it's something I desperately need, then I just buy the competing brand, or if their ad pissed me off too then I just get the value stuff.

No one tells me what to buy.

 

[Extra-Ordinary]

Ads work on me but only in the sense that they make me aware of something I want.
I don't care how they portray a product, if I want it, I'm getting it.

 

[Tom_green_day]

I tend to avoid things if I dislike their advert... and if you saw my reaction to lots of adverts, you'd know that was alot. I do however like adverts for games/films/TV series that I am looking forward to anyway, as it definately raises my hype.
Captcha was 'hard lines' and it didn't let me get away with '-----' ?

 

[Altorin]

If it didn't work, then it wouldn't be so valuable. It's RIDICULOUSLY valuable, like, youtube's almost constant streaming of HD video is subsidized by advertising, and video hosting and streaming of that caliber and magnitude is not cheap at all. But they still pay out their big names because the money coming in from advertisers is so big.

It works, but it doesn't work in the way that you think. Very few advertisements will effect an actual sale on any one person, but when you multiply that tiny number by millions or billions of people, and suddenly that number spikes up. It also keeps your brand relevant. People are more likely, when given two options - the one they've heard about vs the one they haven't - they're more likely to take the first, and that's what advertising does. And it's really valuable. our eyeballs and monkey brains are worth a fortune to these people.

 

[King of Asgaard]

Do they work on me?
No, because I generally don't like the product and/or the means of advertisement, i.e usually a pop song, scantily clad woman or both.

Do they work in general?

2. If ads didn't work, companies wouldn't spend millions of dollars on them. Businesses, believe it or not, really aren't that stupid.

This.

 

[irmasterlol]

It's not the 1950s anymore. Marketers and advertisers aren't trying to sell one product to absolutely everyone anymore. Some cash cows like P&G's Tide detergent make ridiculous amounts of money, even though they're barely advertized, because everyone already knows about it and it's what their mom used.

No one is telling anyone to buy things. In fact, I can't think of a single commercial on the air today that tells viewers to buy their product or service. Instead, they're intended to either describe the product and what it does or, if it's already well-known, remind everyone that it exists and then add something amusing like a talking dog or some shit. Someone mentioned trash bags, and that's a good point. I can't think of any brand except Glad because they're the only company for which I've seen ads.

EDIT: Also I'm laughing to myself at all you scrubs who think you're above the system.

 

[DeltaEdge]

I'd say they definitely have affected me in the subtle ways mentioned in the thread, however, due to ad-block and the fact that I no longer watch television, it is very rare that I ever encounter an ad anymore. It would be very jarring for me if I were to see a Youtube ad and I would probably have no idea what the hell is going on and then eat some cinnamon toast crunch and marry a dolphin, in Haiti.

 

[DoPo]

So really what I'm asking is when was the last time an advert convinced you to part with your cash and do you feel that advertising actually works for you?

Convinced me, personally...I'm not entirely sure. I do go for the cheapest thing in stores or otherwise things I personally know of (have seen/used at some other time). Also, I don't even have a TV or a radio, so I don't get most commercials at all. I have, however, bought Coca Cola but not by my choice (I don't really like it as much as other drinks) but because a friend said to pick a bottle up and come by and similar. So in a way, yeah, that's me being affected by ads.

However, I wanted to do a case study about how exactly ads do work directly. And let's pick up an extreme example of ads - spam. No, not the spambots that swing by the forums - they are actually not trying to sell you anything (directly anyway), so let's exclude them. Just normal boring spam you get for, say, viagra, rolexes, online pharmacies, etc.

Pretty much everybody and their dog knows about stuff. It's computers 101 - knowledge of spam comes just after "how to mouse" and "how to keyboard". Reaction to spam is overwhelmingly negative, too. All in all, it seems that spam...doesn't justify it's own existence here - people are aware of it and try to stay away.

So why is it that we get more spam? Yeah, the actual spam distribution costs very, very little - close enough to zero, in fact, but why send it still? Because it does make a profit. There are people who are opening those emails and clicking those links. There is a sucker born every moment and all of them use emails. Spammers can easily get from few hundred to few thousand dollars per month from people falling for spam alone (there are other revenues to be made - as an example, a spammer can be paid by a company to try to sell their product). Sure, it's not as much money as taking even a part time job might yield, but it takes very little effort and you can still do that part time job, if you wish.

So, extremely unlikely and downright obnoxious ads, in the face of spam, can and do get people to fall from them. They work. Work well enough to justify their existence and well enough for some spammers to be able to live off them. Now imagine how well the other ads would do, given that people are not inherently opposing them and they actually get way more exposure.

 

[lechat]

i'm not much of a consumer and apart from movie trailers that key me into movies that i would eventually find out about i'd say the only ads that get me to buy stuff are fast food ads and that is only when there is a product that i like that i can not get every day (like when hot and spicy is promoted for KFC)

capcha: sausages
brb need to buy some sausages

 

[MASTACHIEFPWN]

Only on the weak minded.

"This is the product you're looking for."

 

[Zhukov]

Yes.

The primary purpose of an advertisement is not to make someone jump up and buy the product. (Although of course a promoter would cream their pants if they found a way to actually do that.)

Rather, the primary purpose is to say, "THIS PRODUCT EXISTS!".

If you remember seeing an ad and you remember what that ad was advertising then that ad worked.

 

[Anatoli Ossai]

I see adverts all the time. When I'm watching TV, When I'm outside there are billboards and even right now there are advert banners surrounding this post, it seems like everything is covered in ads.

And yet I'm struggling to think of the last time I actually bought something directly because an Ad made me want it.

Sometimes I wonder about the nature of these posts. Companies spend billions and commit entire wings and CEO executives towards making sure you buy their products. People go to College just to learn marketing and you aren't sure if it works?! Come on.....

You don't have a single brand name piece of clothing? kitchen utensil? Choosing one grocery store over the other? Choice in college, car you drive? You think marketing is just TV ads and billboards? Its word of mouth, seeing friends rocking labels, a car on the street, a logo on a shopping bag, where your idols live, where monuments are located etc. The only way immunize yourself from it is to remove yourself from society.

Besides, whether you buy the product or not is about economics, perhaps you're too poor or it's not your taste but that's immaterial. The point is you know about the product and as far as the advertisers are concerned they succeeded

Marketing works.....and that's why it works on you

 

[Ilikemilkshake]

You don't have a single brand name piece of clothing?

98% of the time the only branding on my clothing is a label on the inside, with the logo of the store I bought it from. I don't buy clothes for labels.

kitchen utensil?

I don't think I know of any kitchen utensil brands so I'm pretty certain none of mine are branded.

Choosing one grocery store over the other?

I choose which stores I buy from based on convenience. I do almost all of my shopping from the places closest to me, advertising has nothing to do with this.

Choice in college, car you drive?

I picked which University to attend based upon convenience. There are 3 good Universities in my city, I didn't want to move away from home. Nothing to do with advertising.
Also I don't own a car but seeing as it's literally impossible to buy an unbranded car I think that one is a little unfair. However before you tell me I want a Ferrari because of advertising my choice of car would be based on cost to purchase, run and insure the thing.

You think marketing is just TV ads and billboards?

When did I say that?

Personally I don't think you exactly know how marketing works.....and that's why it works on you

I'm aware of brand recognition... but that doesn't mean it particularly effects my purchasing habits all that much.

if someone didn't think they worked then there wouldn't be such a dependency on ad revenue in the media industry.

That's partially why i made this topic. I don't believe the ads that play in the media industry actually work. Right now as i'm typing there's an ad for a chain of hotels i'm never going to stay in and one for something that i can only imagine is yoga. I appreciate that The Escapist needs their ad revenue to stay in business but imo these companies are wasting their money here.

 

[Jason Rayes]

capcha: sausages
brb need to buy some sausages

Quoted because I thought it was funny

OT: I generally only pay attention to ads about things I did not know about yet. With other things, lets pluck one at random, Coca Cola ads for example. I already know the product, indeed I don't imagine there is anyone who DOESN'T know the product, the ad isn't going to make me buy it. If someone is showing me an ad for something I already am well aware of, even if the ad is clever and cute, sorry but its wasted advertising. That said Id kinda like to see a KFC ad where an undead Colonel comes to try and eat the brains of those who don't eat his chicken. Its a product I'm aware of, but zombie Colonel Sanders eating peoples brains is awesome. 11 secret glands and tissues.

 

[Ed130 The Vanguard]

They sort of work as while I do remember the product, I add a little note with that memory to never buy it.