Regardless of age, roughly three-quarters of Americans (75%) say they have found a commercial on television confusing and 21% say they often find TV commercials confusing, according to a Harris Poll.
Nearly nine in 10 Americans (89%) say they watch commercials on television. Some 55% of Americans say they don't very often find TV commercials confusing and just 14% never find commercials confusing.
Age plays a small role in how confusing commercials appear to people: 29% of Americans age 55+ say they often find commercials on television confusing, as do 17% of those age 45-54 and 18% of those age 18-34.
Education also plays a small role: 76% of those who have a college degree or post-graduate education say they have found commercials on TV to be confusing, as have 75% of those with some college education and 75% of those with a high-school education or less.
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Viewers Don't Switch Channels During Commercial Breaks
TV advertising and program promotions reach 85% of adults daily, according to separate research from Nielsen and the Council for Research Excellence (that's a smaller penetration level than the 89% found by Harris).
Viewers typically see 26 ads or promotional pods a day, at an average of two minutes and 46 seconds per break, accounting for 73 minutes each day.
Interestingly, most viewers don't change channels during commercial breaks: Just 14% of viewers say they change channels during commercials, just slightly more viewers who do so four minutes prior to breaks (11%), and four minutes after breaks (13%).
Similarly, just 20% of viewers change rooms during commercials, compared with 19% who do so prior to ads, and 21% who do so four minutes after ads.
About the data: Findings are from an Adweek Media/Harris Poll, conducted online in the US; July 27-29, 2010 among 2,163 adults age 18+. Findings from Nielsen and the Center for Research Excellence are from the May 2010 Video Consumer Mapping Study, which explored to what extent viewers do or do not pay attention during programs and promotional breaks.
