Advert Irritation

Advert irritation is a symptom of Counterproductive Advertising and is what happens when an advertisement is incorrectly targeted or when an advert is seen too frequently. There are two possible reasons why this happens:

1 The advertiser believes that screening the advert at every opportunity will increase sales; research by In Skin Media and RAPP Media shows that it just annoys people and makes them less likely to buy.
2 The belief that an advert made for the United States’ will be successful in the United Kingdom. The reasoning being that because UK customers understand the language in which the advert is made, they’ll identify with the product and everything else will fall into place. The advert may be well presented, but the customers are irritated by it either because the concept is alien or the presenter is unfamiliar.
The worst possible scenario is incorrect targeting and too frequent exposure. This happened with an advert for Lenor fabric softener screened in the UK during 2015. Originally made for the US market, it featured a minor American actress, Amy Sidaris, who was unknown in the UK; Sidaris’ manner was very much “in your face” which didn’t go down well with the more reserved UK customer base. A typical reaction of people watching was “who does this blonde bimbo with the big bristols and the weird accent think she is telling me how to do my washing?” This irritated reaction to the advert means that the customer is less likely to buy the product.

An incorrectly targeted advert, or one shown too frequently, results in advert irritation and lost sales.

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