Smart advertisers know that commercials are ENTERTAINMENT, not interruptions.  Our job is to engage, amuse, and/or inform the viewer of an ad.

Now researchers have deduced that people enjoy watching TV shows MORE with commercials than without commercials. Excerpts from the NYT article:

In two new studies, researchers who study consumer behavior argue that interrupting an experience, whether dreary or pleasant, can make it significantly more intense.

“The punch line is that commercials make TV programs more enjoyable to watch. Even bad commercials,” said Leif Nelson, an assistant professor of marketing at the University of California, San Diego, and a co-author of the new research. “When I tell people this, they just kind of stare at me, in disbelief. The findings are simultaneously implausible and empirically coherent.”

“The reason this happens, we argue, is that we tend to adapt to a variety of experiences, as they’re happening,” Dr. Nelson said. “Listening to a song, watching a TV program, having a massage: these all start out very enjoyable, and within a few minutes we get used to it. Interruptions break that up.”

Apparently the effect works for other pleasureable experiences, too — even a massage is more enjoyable if it’s interrupted!

Filed under: effective online video, strategy