TORONTO – While the majority of Canadians say they get value from advertising and find it helpful in consumer decision‐making, they also report significantly less comfort with the level of truth and accuracy in online advertising than in advertising in traditional media, says the Advertising Standards Canada (ASC).
According to the 2014 Consumer Perspectives on Advertising Report, conducted by The Gandalf Group for the ASC, Canadian consumers accept that online advertising helps pay for content, but close to half of respondents said they are more likely to trust a digital ad if it resembles one they have seen on television or in print.
“Standards for advertising are extremely important to Canadians, and over 80% are aware that there are rules and regulations that advertisers must follow”, said David Herle, principal partner of The Gandalf Group, in the report’s news release. “But most do not believe the same standards for advertising apply online and offline. There is a real opportunity for the industry to demonstrate to the public that it is committed to advertising standards for all Canadian advertising across all media.”
Other highlights from the report include:
– Recollection of recent exposure to an advertisement that a consumer found “unacceptable” translates to a much less favourable view of advertising overall. The top reasons cited when a consumer found an ad “unacceptable” were misleading or unrealistic representations, followed by sexist portrayals;
– 65% of respondents said they have stopped purchasing a product or service in response to an advertisement they deemed “unacceptable” ‒ a steady increase since 2011;
– Francophones, perhaps because they are exposed to more Canadian‐made advertising than their Anglophone counterparts, are slightly more likely to say they feel favourably about the advertising they read, see and hear. Francophones expressed more tempered opinions regarding advertising, and overall were less likely than Anglophones to express discomfort with the levels of truth and accuracy in advertisements.
To help shed light on how Canadians perceive the advertising they see, hear and read every day, ASC commissioned The Gandalf Group to research Canadians’ perceptions of advertising through an online survey of 1,275 Canadians.
