1. On average, consumers spend 50-60% of their leisure time watching television, which provides easy access to a variety of entertainment genres. 2. Research shows that television viewing puts consumers in a passive "alpha state" of receptive attention. However, consumers also make conscious decisions to change programs or avoid advertisements. 3. Advertisers employ strategies like humor, suspense, or shock to engage consumers, but avoidance of ads remains an issue, especially as consumers have more control over their viewing experience.

1. Consumer Experience of Television Entertainment and
its Impact on Advertisements
Raam Nayakar
Easy access to resources and advances in technology has significantly increased the leisure time for
humans in the 21 st century. The television has provided ready access to entertainment for people. On
an average day, about 50%-60% of an individual’s leisure time is spent in watching television. Like any
form of entertainment, television programs receive deliberate attention of the consumer and
attempt to address their gratification needs. During this state of consumer’s mind, advertisements
are used to persuade them to favor a particular brand or product. But, there are various reasons why
a consumer may avoid viewing the advertisement. Hence advertisers need to employ innovative
strategies to counter this effect.
Introduction
The objective of this paper is to review existing research studies and detail the consumer experience of
television entertainment to understand its effect on advertisements and identify areas for further research.
The last few decades we have seen a tremendous growth of the television media. Since 1946, when the
television began, the television media has evolved at a great pace and today consumers can avail
entertainment at any point of time with a wide variety of programs to choose from. Researchers have
stated that an individual watching television goes to an alpha-state (EEG 8-12 cycles per second - alpha-
wave), which is a state of passiveness and receptive attention. Some studies indicate that this change in
state has led to TV addiction.
As consumers watch television for long hours and are in a state of receptive attention, marketers attempt
to persuade changes in attitude towards their brand by using advertisements. Advertisements are played in
between programs, and usually pair a neutral conditioned stimulus (the brand) with a valenced
unconditioned stimulus (e.g celebrity endorsers, pleasant pictures, humor) to evoke favorable responses.
But, the message from the advertisement is either lost in the clutter of commercials or the consumer
consciously avoids them. The avoidance may occur if the viewer perceives the ad as a distraction or is
habituated to changing programs during commercial breaks. Given the fact that the television media
receives a large piece of the marketing budget, the act of avoidance may affect the benefits that companies
expect from advertising.
Future research of consumer’s avoidance behavior may provide insight to using appropriate placement and
genre to help improve advertising effectiveness.
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2. Leisure and consumer behaviour The ‘addiction’ factor
Leisure is the “labor-free” period, an individual In addition to accessibility and variety there are
utilizes to ease and relax with a pastime or an various factors that drive individuals to watch
enjoyable activity. Entertainment is the activity television. These can be attributed to addiction.
chosen during these periods (Zillmann and
Researchers have conducted various laboratory
Vorderer, 2000).
experiments in which they have monitored the
In the United States, the average leisure time has brain waves, skin resistance and heart rate of
increased by about 7.9 hours per week for men people watching television. As expected, the EEG
and 6.0 for women between 1965 and 2003 studies showed less mental stimulation as
(Aguiar and Hrust, 2006). This trend is similar in measured by alpha brain-wave production,
other parts of the world, and the leisure time during viewing. Also, the individuals reported
continues to increase. feeling relaxed and passive. However, they
reported that the sense of relaxation turns off
In Neulinger's theory (1974), individuals are said but the sense of passivity or low alertness
to be in a state of leisure if they simply perceive continued when the television set is turned off.
that they have the freedom to choose activities Interestingly, it was also observed that people’s
and are motivated by an activity for its own sake, moods remained the same or turned worse than
not just for its consequences. before after the viewing experience (Kubey and
Csikszentmihalyi 2002).
Krugman (1971) observed that within about
Television Entertainment thirty seconds, the brain-waves switched from
Overview
the predominantly beta waves, indicating alert
The most popular and easily accessible leisure
and conscious attention to predominantly alpha
activity today is television entertainment. The
waves, indicating an unfocused, receptive lack of
number of channels has grown to seemingly
attention - the state of aimless fantasy and
unmanageable number. Programs of any genre -
daydreaming below the threshold of
comedy, suspense, tragedy, horror, science
consciousness. In fact, some of experiments
fiction, erotic content, reality shows, sport,
conducted by researcher Herbert Krugman
music, etc are available around the clock.
showed that while viewers are watching
The amount of time people spend watching television, the right hemisphere is twice as active
television is astonishing; e.g. US 2.8/5 leisure as the left, a neurological anomaly. Moore (2001)
hour (BLS, 2010), UK 4.3 hours (Thinkbox, 2010). commented that this may cause a surge of body’s
natural opiates (endorphins which lead to habit
Some of the reasons for this phenomenon are: formation).
- Television has penetrated over 60% (>95% for
UK &US) households (Worldbank, 2010)
- Innovations in television technology “Variety” – The problem of plenty
- improvement in broadcasting technology Consumers today have a large variety choose
- Devices that help consumers record telecast from - comedy, suspense, horror, sport etc. Each
and watch at their convenience genre appeals differently to the consumer’s
psyche.
As per McGuire’s (1974) model of media
gratification, motivation can be either cognitive The following section highlights the
(e.g. habit) or affective (e.g. social), and either psychological appeal of some of the popular
active (e.g. learning) or passive (e.g. lack of genres watched on television:
options).
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3. Comedy: It is a form of drama that makes people transferred into a happy or euphoric emotion
smile, giggle, chuckle, or burst out in upon resolution of the suspense. This could
uncontrollable laughter. The disposition theory of possibly explain why consumers appreciate
drama and comedy (Zillmann and Vorderer, suspense despite its temporary negative effects.
2000) focuses on the dispositional consequences
of moral assessments and then projects
Violence, Mayhem and Horror: Violence,
enjoyment or dejection on the basis of formed
Mayhem and Horror (VMH – Zillmann and
dispositions. This theory is similar to the one
Vorderer, 2000), though the three are
proposed by Oslon (1968 cited by Zillmann and
conceptually different, an overlap exists between
Vorderer, 2000) that states that for comedy to be
these categories. Violence refers to images in
enjoyable both the ill-intentioned fool or wit (e.g
which actions of one or more characters bring
villians or hated figures) come to harm and well
physical injury to another. Mayhem is generally
intentioned fool or wit (e.g heroes or friendly
about images associated with bodily harm or
figures) must come to glory. The disposition
destruction, which may or may not be initiated
theory goes beyond the dichotomies; dispositions
by a character. Horror is for the content that
towards characters are mapped from extreme
induces a state of fear or terror.
hate, through affective indifference, to extreme
love. But, humor and comedy today seem to be
Sparks and Sparks (cited by Zillmann and
exceedingly partial to showing put-downs,
Vorderer, 2000) categorised the appeal of VMH
mishaps, insults and outright humiliations. This
into three parts:
can be explained using the disparagement theory
of humor (Zillmann and Vorderer, 2000) that Inherent appeal of the content: the images
indicates that seeing an unaffiliated object in a involving VMH or the novelty of content may
disparaging situation is perceived as funny. have sensory appeal. e.g The enjoyment of
slow motion bullet firing and blood splashing.
Suspense: It is a form of drama where viewer’s
Appeal of variables confounded with content:
emotions evolve with the anticipation of a crucial
an engaging, dramatic, conflict filled story
outcome. According to Zillmann (Zillmann and
along with appealing visual content.
Vorderer, 2000) it is that phase of anticipation
Appeal of post-viewing gratifications: refers to
prior to the climax resolving the conflict between
the overall viewing enjoyment and that
a desired and a feared event. Caroll (cited by
motivate future encounters with the same
Zillmann and Vorderer, 2000) defined suspense
type of material.
as “an emotional response to narrative fiction”.
He also emphasized that suspense is about the
Soaps or Drama: These are high frequency
final outcome. The audience’s affective state
programs that are broadcast daily, bi-weekly or
changes to joy or sorry with the presentation of
on a weekly basis.
that outcome.
The three key characteristics of a soap that
According to the idea of excitation transfer
appeals consumers are:
(Zillmann, 1978, 1983 cited by Zillmann and
Vorderer, 2000), physiological arousal during Personal life being the core-problematic area
exposure is crucial for the appreciation of the and the story revolves around this.
climax. The arousal during the exposure derives Melodramatic experiences for emotional
primarily from watching favourable agents who impact.
are in trouble. The viewer’s cognitive adjustment Most lack narrative resolution or closure,
to the changes is quick, whereas a change in the thereby maintain continuum. But, often have
level of excitement is slow. Therefore, the cliffhanging endings for each episode.
preceding sad or distressing emotions are
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4. One of the significant outcomes of these soaps is The results showed considerable correlation
the para-social interaction. Viewers often think of between the respondents’ personality
characters in their shows as real people who live characteristics and media preference.
on similar timescales as they do (Fiske, 1922) and
with whom they can relate and interact (Newton Respondents scoring high on neuroticism,
and Buck, 1985). This type of connection usually preferred informative/news television programs
becomes the psychological appeal for the and avoid comedy or action/adventure. The ones
individual to view the program regularly. scoring high on psychoticism expressed less
interest in comedy but strong preference for
Reality TV: There seems to be a dramatic graphically violent horror content.
increase in the number of reality shows both Weaver (2000) also commented that there are
from a production and viewership perspectives. various aspects of personality and content that
Common people who have been a part of these can be answered with future research.
programs have become celebrities. Bente & Fiest
(2000) identified four characteristics of the reality Television Advertisement, Avoidance
TV that appeal to consumers as: and Strategies
Television advertising is most powerful form of
Personalization: The story relates to a particular
advertising traditionally, as it is a combination of
experience of an individual or group. There is no
audio and video advertising messages with
generalized problem or theme.
unlimited varieties. The chart below indicates the
Authenticity: True-stories or live events, non- growing share of budget for the television media.
prominent or common people. Live characters
foster consumer’s impression of being an
eyewitness.
Intimacy: Frontiers between private and public
sphere are crossed. Intimate aspects of
relationships or private affairs are made public.
Emotionality: Interpersonal communications
styles within the shows that produce emotional
reactions and reveal personal attitudes.
Viewers usually tend to connect with particular
individuals (not actors!) in the show and this
appeal drives them to watch the show.
Sports, news, infotainment and music or music
videos are other prominent programs watched Advertisements attempt to persuade or change
on television. But, they have various motivational consumer’s attitude towards a particular brand
aspects other than the need for entertainment or product. Most advertisements adapt the
(e.g. fandom, desire to learn, preferences). evaluative conditioning methodology by paring
the brand with an affective stimuli celebrity
endorsers, humor or pleasant pictures. Attitude
Personality and entertainment preferences can change from establishing a memory link
The consideration of personality characteristics between brand and affective stimulus or affect
of viewers may offer a good understanding of transfer from affective stimulus to the brand
content preferences. Weaver (1991) assessed the directly (Sweldens, Van Osselaer and Janiszewski,
linkages between extraversion, psychoticism and 2010).
neuroticism and preference of program content.
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5. Most research studies focus on the content of identical -Singh and Linville 1995, twins - Roehm
the advertisement, but there are very few on the and Roehm 2001 cited by Marie and Elpers,
effect of the context of the program that the 2003)
consumer is watching.
Interactive commercials – Commercial message
The mental processing of the viewer during a
is linked between television and internet (PVR-set
program does not stop when a commercial
top box) in order to get the consumer more
appears. Processing may continue with the
actively involved during the TV commercial
expectation that similar attributes will be evoked.
(Cooper, 2000 cited by Marie and Elpers, 2003)
Most research studies (Feltham and Arnold,
1994; Starr & Lowe, 1995) state that the recall is
higher for ads presented in a happy context Personalized commercials – Target commercials
(humor and comedy programs) than in sad or to viewer’s interests is the use of demographic
unhappy context. variables collected by the PVR companies (Singer,
2000 cited by Marie and Elpers,2003).
Steiner (1963), who applied the Gestalt principle
of "need for closure" to television programming, Sublimal advertising – It is a technique of
suggests that viewers experience a need for exposing consumers to product pictures, brand
completion (or closure) when the plot of a names, or other marketing stimuli without the
program remains unresolved. In a suspense consumers having conscious awareness. This
context, advertisement may be perceived as message forms a part of the program the
distractions. But, many studies (Feltham and consumer is watching.
Arnold, 1994; Soldow and Principe, 1981) state
that congruency between program context and
There are various views about the effectiveness
advertisement reduces the ad memory.
of this method. A compilation of works on
In a more recent study, Marie and Elpers, (2003), sublimal messaging in entertainment media and
stated that consumers may avoid or reduce its persuasion was prepared by Shrum(2004), this
exposure to a television commercial by ignoring provides a good understanding of the subject but
parts of or the entire message, leaving the room does not quantify the effect of this approach. A
or by switching away from the message – change meta-analysis conducted by Trappey(1996)
channel, mute, skip if they are using a PVR. As resulted in a small effect size and stated that
consumers have more options today the problem sublimal advertising was weak.
of commercial avoidance still persists.
Application of humour, sex, shock elements and Conclusion
suspense are tactics to retain attention. Other The literature provided in this article provides
short term strategies employed are: insights into the growing leisure time in the 21st
century due to the advancements in technology
Roadblock commercials – Placement of same ad
and easy access to resources. This global
in all major channels at the same time (Van
phenomenon has driven an increase in the
Meurs 1999; Tse and Lee 2001; Zufryden et al.
consumption of television entertainment. One of
1993 cited by Marie and Elpers, 2003).
the prime reasons is the variety in entertainment
that that the television provides. And, this is due
Twin commercials – Presenting a commercial
to the improvement in broadcast and TV
message as a split set of two mini-commercials
technology.
promoting the identical brand instead of as one
uninterrupted commercial and separated by Research studies also indicated that the viewer
other commercials (Long and short -Fasse, 1994; gets into the alpha-state quickly while watching
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6. television and remains passive but in a receptive means that the viewer is in a passive and
attention state. There are various genres of receptive attention state. Yet, conscious
programs available at the consumer’s finger tips decisions are made to change programs or avoid
and each genre appeals differently to the advertisements. It will be interesting to derive
consumer and it can correspond to his/her insights on this behaviour.
personality. There are various studies that in-
congruency of program content and ad, happy Though most research studies agree to the fact
mood/program and advert, humor all help recall. that in-congruency between program context
and ad content helps recall. Understanding the
It is also observed that the consumers are consumer behaviour on avoidance in this
consciously avoiding advertisements. Advertisers situation may help ad placement. Also, it may be
employed various strategies to counter of interest to identify the right pair of genre
avoidance, which includes sublimal advertising. between program and ad to improve recall.
There are opportunities for future research in
this area to mitigate the effect of commercial
avoidance.
Future research
It was noted that the viewer goes into an alpha-
state quickly while watching television, which
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