The Type of Online Ads that Consumers Dislike

Mahrshi Brahmbhatt

College: College of Business and Public Management

Major: BS.MANAGEMNT-GENBUS

Faculty Research Mentor: Salehi, Reza Fazli

Abstract:

Advertising is one of the fundamentals of business. Without it, firms have no way to get word of their products out to the masses. But in this digital age, consumers have more ways than ever to avoid ads they don’t like. Previous studies have already shown consumer concern with privacy and ad intrusiveness, but there is still a lack of knowledge as to which types of ads people really have problems with. This study explores what consumers dislike seeing in online advertisements.Two surveys were done over the course of the research. The first survey had 60 participants, each shown 4 random online ads out of a set of 30, and asked what they liked or disliked about them. This created a taxonomy used by the participants of the second survey. The second survey had 1000 participants, each shown 5 random ads out of a set of 500, and labeled them with the terms from the taxonomy.The results show that users view a significant amount of online ads negatively. The dislike stems from the belief that the ads are distasteful, untrustworthy, or clickbait. Ads for supplements, listicles, and software downloads are examples that are viewed poorly. These findings suggest a fundamental disconnect between consumers and advertisers. Consumers have made it clear what they dislike in advertising, yet they keep getting the same ads over and over again. Advertisers need to change. They need to change their approach to advertising and the content they put out if they want consumers to start viewing them positively again.