A new study into advertising trends by digital marketing and advertising firm Choozle has contradicted some well-held beliefs of the advertising industry.
Admittedly a US study, the report titled 2018 Digital Advertising Trends Survey contradicted assumptions around the rise of video, voice, ad blockers, and that recent digital advertising trends might actually be aggravating consumer distaste in online advertisement. It also brought to light that many consumers are unaware of how these developments affect them.
Ad Platforms and Types
Facebook (54 per cent) and Google (44 per cent) remain the most influential platforms for advertising followed by Instagram (23 percent), Spotify (28 percent), and Pandora (24 percent). Despite increased budgets on Instagram, it still falls far behind the duopoly; however, among the 18-29 age group, 60 per cent said they were influenced by ads on Instagram.
Mobile has continually been predicted as the leading digital advertising channel in 2018. However, only 45 per cent of respondents said they were more likely click on an ad on their mobile device, while 41 per cent said they’re more likely to click on a desktop.
Despite video being a major predicted trend in 2018, 72 per cent of consumers do not prefer video ads over other types of online advertisements.
Surprisingly, it was not the youngest group (18-29) but rather 30 to 44-year-old respondents who prefer videos (38 percent) over any other age group.
Industry headlines and reports also suggest a growing opportunity for voice search advertising, however, the survey revealed that only seven percent of respondents said they’re influenced by ads served through Google Home, and six percent through Amazon’s Alexa.
Connected TV advertising budgets also do not align with consumer sentiment. Some 17 per cent of consumers agreed that they’re influenced by ads on internet-connected TV, and that number increases to 29 per cent within the 18-29 age group.
Consumer Sentiment and Behavior
The survey found that 54 per cent of respondents have not used an ad blocker in the past six months, contradicting industry reports and predictions. However, recent digital advertising trends might actually be aggravating consumer distaste in online advertisement. A further 43 per cent of respondents felt negatively towards advertisements, compared to a similar survey from April of 2017 where only 34 per cent reported a negative sentiment, which reveals that hard feelings may be on the rise. The reasoning behind the negative sentiment included being shown the same advertisement multiple times (25 per cent) and advertisements slowing down the webpage (19 per cent).
Gender sterotypes
Some 25 per cent of respondents agreed they would be more likely to buy from a brand who breaks gender stereotypes. But when asked if they’d noticed a change in gender stereotypes in advertising only 13 per cent of consumers have noticed a significant increase in brands breaking stereotypes since that time, and 27 per cent say they have not seen a change.
Personal data/privacy
Internet users are becoming more and more aware of how–and where–their data is being used. But are we doing enough to educate them on why, how, and where their data is used?
Perhaps not. When respondents were asked their level of understanding around personal data use, 44 per cent of respondents answered that they are not very knowledgeable (26 per cent) or not at all knowledgeable (18 per cent) about what personal data online companies have about them. Beyond privacy awareness, 63 per cent of respondents understand that some companies do sell their personal data to other companies to make money, and 89 per cent do not think companies are doing enough to protect their data.
Even with the General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR) being a major news topic over the past year, 60 per cent of consumers did not know what the regulations entail or how they could be affected. However, 78 per cent of respondents think the US government should adopt stricter privacy and security standards and forty-four percent think that the websites that are showing the ads should be responsible for eliminating ads with false information.
