The Softer Intrusion of Print
Erwin Ephron
In the past an article on consumer response to advertising would describe how advertising works. Today it more likely describes how it does not. The most carefully monitored response to advertising right now is commercial avoidance.
At a recent private meeting, the research head of a TV network suggested the percentage of audience lost to advertising avoidance and inattention was pretty similar across different media. His convenient conclusion was that commercial avoidance does not change relative media value. As goes TV, so go mass media; a doomsday scenario for advertising, if you are...