Consumers Analyze Retailers’ Holiday Commercials.

The “big idea” may be hot on Madison Avenue but consumers’ opinions on retailers’ recent Holiday commercials shows that information which is useful and of value is more powerful in motivating them to shop than well-produced image advertising.

The commercial test was part of BIGresearch’s January Consumer Intentions and Actions survey conducted 1/5 – 1/19. Respondents were asked to view commercials and answer several questions about the commercial content and whether or not the commercial would motivate them to shop at the advertiser’s store. All of the commercials aired the week prior to Christmas during Prime Time.

“The consumer is in control of the market and they are educated shoppers who have limited time for shopping the over-stored retail environment,” said Joe Pilotta, Ph.D. BIGresearch. “Overall, the commercials that most motivated consumers to shop a store provided information of value which helped consumers decide to shop a particular store. This was even more true for the customers of the advertisers evaluated. We will continue to study the consumer’s response to commercials and the effects of simultaneous media usage in future surveys,” said Pilotta.

The leaders based on the percentage of all respondents who said they would be motivated to shop were as follows:

All Respondents – Store/Customers

63.1% – Sears – 76.1%
60.0% – Wal-Mart – 68.1%
56.8% – Kohls – 73.9%
54.5% – JC Penney – 67.9%
52.3% – Target – 61.0%