Why the content of TV ads matters to reduce zapping

Why study this

Contrary to print ads that need only a few seconds of attention to convey their message, video advertisements often require viewers to watch them from beginning to end to actually be effective. But when TV viewers change channels during a commercial break, a practice known as zapping, then advertisers lose some of their audience and fail to communicate their brand message. Zapping is also a problem for broadcasters, since it decreases the reach of the entire ad break and therefore makes the channel less attractive to advertisers. While previous literature has identified several factors that influence zapping behaviour, such as viewer characteristics or programme contexts, the researchers investigated ad content, a factor that brand managers actually have control over, to determine which content characteristics are likely to annoy a TV audience and prompt it to switch channels.

Findings

• Informational content increases zapping, especially in ads for ‘experience goods’ (movies, restaurants, etc.) as opposed to ‘search goods’ (whose quality can be evaluated before consumption).
• Zapping also increases when brands make frequent and early appearances in ads. The effect of prominent brand presence is more pronounced for hedonic products than for utilitarian products.
• Positive emotionality has no significant main effect on zapping but surprisingly, when distinguishing types of consumption, there is a more beneficial effect for utilitarian products than for hedonic ones. 
• Creative ads featuring visually appealing and artistic images are successful in engaging viewers, resulting in less zapping. 
• Content factors that follow a cognitive route tend to elicit irritation among consumers, while emotional and creative content are more likely to induce enjoyment. 
• Humour is a double-edged sword that may elicit both positive and negative reactions.
• Content has an effect on zapping through unfavourable reactions such as irritation but not through favourable reactions related to enjoyment. Advertising is zapped because the content evokes unfavourable psychological reactions, whereas favourable reactions do not show this effect maybe because they keep the viewer in a rather passive state.