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A surprising new study concludes that viewers find TV more pleasurable when they watch commercials.
Researchers at the NYU Stern School of Business found viewers say they preferred to avoid advertisements, yet rated their overall experience of watching a TV show higher when commercials were included.
The seemingly counter-intuitive findings will be familiar to those who have read the book “Stumbling on Happiness,” which explained how the pleasure of any positive experience declines due to repetition and time. Watching TV (or eating a fine meal, listening to a favorite song, etc.) tends to be more enjoyable at the outset. The longer you do something, the less satisfaction it provides.
By taking a break from the experience — in the case of watching TV, sitting through a few commercials — the interruption helps re-freshen the novelty of the program.”People often adapt to the experience of watching television such that each successive minute is slightly less enjoyable than the previous one,” said the report’s authors, who performed six studies testing aspects of this theory. “Advertisements, although independently aversive, disrupt this adaptation process and can therefore make the overall experience more enjoyable.”
Viewers who do not like commercials will doubtless challenge the notion that the inclusion of ads could somehow make the show itself more enjoyable. The findings also fly in the face of Hollywood creative community assumptions about ads limiting fan appreciation for their shows. Many show runners have said that watching their programs on DVD is the ideal way to see them — free from the distracting hindrance of ads.
When asked, one of the researchers said his department’s funding was entirely supplied by NYU Stern and no outside companies (such as advertisers) paid for the study.
In addition to the adaptation effect, the study’s authors say their findings suggested other reasons viewers rated TV viewing experiences higher when ads are shown.
“A disruption in a suspenseful plotline might heighten anticipation and intensify its subsequent resolution,” the study said. “Similarly, commercials may offer opportunities to elaborate on what viewers have watched so far or to savor what is still to come.”
So if the findings are accurate, why don’t people recognize that ads make TV more fun?
The study authors have a few ideas, but no firm answers. One is that people don’t study themselves — you don’t watch one show with ads, then the same show without ads, and compare the experience. Another aspect is that the ads act a point of contrast — compared to the commercials, the programs can seem more entertaining. And finally, the effect isn’t universal — sometimes ads do not make TV more enjoyable (for instance, if the tone of the ad completely clashes with the tone of the show), and those instances can skew viewers’ impressions of ads in general.
Based on the research, the authors had a suggestion for broadcast networks that stream their content online: Stop putting ads at the beginning of the clip.
“Our results indicate that moving the commercial to the middle of the clip — while not intuitively appealing to viewers — would actually increase their enjoyment of the experience.”
Article by www.thrfeed.com
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