AIBU to wonder if adverts actually work on anyone?!

[Thamestime]

Hi,

Recently, I feel like all adverts are a bunch of capitalistic drivel. Adverts with singing that are cheesy and cringe, adverts with terrible acting, etc.

Off the top of my head:

• Tampax advert, with singing;
• Aussie advert, with singing;
• Flash Direct To Floor advert with terrible acting (also, what was wrong with just dumping my regular kitchen anti bac on the floor and using my regular mop or kitchen roll?!)

Am I being reasonable to refuse to believe these adverts make anyone go out and buy the product? Or am I being unreasonable? What about the middle ground where I remember these products, but will buy them over my dead body because the adverts anger me and now I will make extra effort to NOT buy those products?

(Extra AIBU: Am I being unreasonable to think about the psychology of these adverts on such a deep level, and should perhaps go and wash my dishes?)

I think targeted ads may work if they show you something of interest you wouldn't otherwise know about. Other than that it's brands trying to remain in the public consciousness. I have been turned against products by ads.

YANBU. I actively avoid purchasing anything that has been advertised to me, especially through Netflix or prime, it annoys me that they include adverts on subscriptions I pay for. I know I could pay more to go ad-free but it used to be ad free! I cancelled my Netflix subscription this week because, when they introduced ads they reduced the cost, but have just increased it back to the same level. I am done with being force fed ads, would rather not use their service at all any more.

I've been thinking about this lately. I bought something (£6.95) becsuse I saw an ad for it, and I've been trying to think or the last time that happened. I can't remember any other purchase that led directly from an ad.

Then I thought of all my large purchases over the past few years, and not a single one was due to ads.

There are however several brands I won't buy from because their ads have annoyed me so much.

But that's not the whole story. As another poster said, it's about keeping the brand in mind. You might not have bought your last phone from an ad but you were definitely more likely to buy one from Apple, Samsung, or Google than Lopo (a brand name I just made up).

No, they don't work. You should tell all of the companies that spend millions on them.
Or maybe they work on the plebs, but not you because of your genius level IQ, OP.

I always think this and then assume that there would not be a multi million pound industry in advertising if it didn’t work. I guess if nothing else it puts the brand name in your head in case later you want to buy a product in that category. That latest awful John Lewis ad won’t make me buy more or less, I will just carry on going there.

Yep. There are two purposes of ads:

1. To tell you about products. You can't buy it if you don't know it exists. They definitely do work in this capacity.
2. To persuade you to buy them. You wouldn't know if it was working on you or not as the persuasion would be subconscious.

They work on me all the time. Especially on social media when it’s real easy to just click and buy.

I actually think if an advert is crap and annoying as so many are these days, that I’ll go out of my way NOT to buy whatever is advertised! 🤣

They work on everyone, just not in the way you think. Occasionally online ads lead to direct, immediate sales, but most ads are about creating brand awareness and trustworthiness, so that when you are shopping you are more likely to reach for them. You won’t be thinking about the advert when you do, but you will have a different attitude to the brand as a result.

Agree. Not one single advert on TV has made me want to buy the product in the last 20 years!

The incontinence pads (suggesting every woman over 50 wets herself every time she coughs, sneezes, or laughs) annoy the hell out of me, as do the vaginal dryness ones. They are the absolute worst!

Ditto the stupid toothpaste ones, where the actors lick their teeth whilst looking in the mirror. Who the fook does that? 😆

And I HATE the advert where people sniff other peoples genitals. (Is it for Lynx?) Dreadful. Though I haven't seen them for a while...

.

If they didn’t work there wouldn’t be a global economy of billions £ around it. It might not make you buy a specific product, but it probably will nudge your behaviour in a certain direction. It also legitimises & normalised products and behaviours, which is lucrative for some industries, even if you’re not buying something yourself. It creates aspiration which might make people spend elsewhere indirectly, even without spending on a particular product itself. Not saying these are good things, but there’s a huge body of evidence to show it works.

I fucking loath the shaver yoga one. With absolute passion. It actually raises my blood pressure

I don’t watch TV, but switched on the one in my hotel room recently. Alison Thingy was going about sniffing a woman’s laundry. Don’t know what brand of detergent was… Ads used to be great. I’m not missing anything, anyway!

Of course they work

Not on me unless it's something new that actually meets a need I have which never happens. Conversely any ad which irritates me will never get my business eg Dominos bloody ooo ooo.

You have been able to recognize & name the brands, you know what products belong to that brand & what they are for. These are the biggest factors in selling a product. People are many, many times more likely to buy a product they recognize.

The adverts have therefore 'worked' on you.

Whether or not you buy the products is up to you but if researchers asked you to pick between 2 products you wanted at the same price one from a familiar brand & one you had never heard of, the majority of the time you would go with the familiar one. It's human nature & brands & advertising knows that

I definitely do not think I have some genius level IQ. I just think about the psychology behind them. On a larger level, I know it must work a bit, because otherwise they wouldn’t bother.

Very interesting at the difference in replies.

Nah, nobody has ever conducted a study or anything into the effectiveness of advertising. All these companies just pay out for adverts for no reason at all.

Same here, I'll just carry on NOT going there, despite getting regular emails telling me I have rewards to use. I last went in John Lewis 7 years ago, to help DS choose stuff to take to college.

They obviously work or they wouldn't pay money to put them on tv. My mum is an advertiser's dream. She's also Temu's best customer. 🙄

They say half of all advertising spending is completely wasted. The trouble is, nobody knows which half.

I only really started seeing adverts because my Netflix was downgraded. I don’t watch live TV, I don’t have social media. Perhaps in a few weeks or months it will work on me and the annoyance I feel is just the beginning. Annoyance is still engagement though, I get that.

I don’t know what does make me buy a product- maybe the description or purpose on the packet, researching it online, or recommendations from friends. The only branded thing I will buy is washing up liquid.

Another example: I saw an advertisement for a Fairy washing up liquid and thought nothing of it. Would never buy it. My friend has it, and I did the dishes at hers and I loved it, and I’d now buy it. I believe the advert had very little there, whereas her actual recommendation and me using it made me trust it.

I hate the "Aussie curls just wanna have fun" advert so much, I've stopped buying Aussie conditioner, despite using it for years!

This may surprise you but there are entire departments in large (and small!) companies evaluating ROI of marketing campaigns. It's a bit harder to do for TV ads but certainly every online platform will have capability to track clicks Vs traffic vs purchases. And every time you see a printed coupon code (or, indeed a TV add discount code) the company is able to track how many sales came via a particular coupon code.
This is not to mention vast quantity of marketing studies, focus groups etc. So I think it is very unlikely to be true that nobody has ever studied the effectiveness of advertising.

But how else would I find out how to solve my vaginal dryness problem while attempting to eat my lunch?