When consumers see an online ad that interests them, 44% of those who take action say they do so by clicking on the ad, while the remainder say they take a different action, such as searching for the product or company in question or typing in the company’s URL address directly to visit its website. That’s according to a new study [download page] from ChoiceStream, which surveyed more than 1,000 US consumers in September. Non-click responses can occur over a wide period of time, per the research.
Indeed, when respondents were asked how long they would generally wait until they researched a company or product whose ad they found interesting but did not click, a majority indicated they would wait longer than one hour, with a significant number doing so “days later.”
The survey responses point to the perils of measuring ads by clicks alone – and that the 0.1% average click-through rate for a banner ad may underestimate its influence.
In other results from the study, 62% of respondents -provided with a description of retargeting ads – said they haven’t noticed them in the past, while 13% said they had clicked on one and 2.5% said they had clicked on such an ad and bought the product.
Asked why they had ignored retargeting ads in the past, a leading 60% said the ads annoyed them. Additionally, when asked how they feel about retailers whose ads follow them after they leave the site, a plurality 44% of respondents indicated that they feel “negative: they hound me and I won’t do business with them.”
About the Data: The data is based upon the results of more than 1,000 consumers surveyed (1,042 completed surveys in total) over a three-day period in September of 2013. The survey pool was composed of U.S. residents who were adult internet users, distributed across 4 age categories (18-29, 30-44, 45-60, 60+). Gender break down showed 48.1% of the survey respondents were male and 51.9% female respondents. The margin of error is +/- 3%.
