Why do people avoid advertising on the Internet?

The purpose of this research is to engender a detailed explication of what drives ad avoidance on the internet. Advertisers and marketers have become disenchanted with the Internet for many reasons (Lanctot 2002). As several studies have recognized that the proliferation of ads has caused consumers

to avoid ads in traditional media (Zanot 1984), the cluster-bomb approach of ads on the Internet has also been cited as a reason for the trend toward declining consumer responsiveness to Internet ads. This negative trend becomes more apparent when we look at the continuously declining click-through rates (CTRs) of banner ads since the first banner ad appeared on the Internet in 1994. The CTR was 2% in 1995, and declined to .5% in 1998 (Nielsen 2000), whereas the industry average click-through rate as of June 2003 was .2 to .6% (MediaPost 2003). "Banner blindness," Internet users' tendency to avoid fixing their eyes on anything that looks like a banner ad, is another phenomenon referenced frequently to illustrate the negative aspects of Internet ads (Benway 1999). Because of these negative trends associated with Internet ads, it is imperative that we understand how consumers cope with Internet ads and what the reasons are behind ad avoidance among Internet users. This study could help both advertising scholars and practitioners understand a comprehensive theoretical model of advertising avoidance and develop various tools to decrease consumer ad avoidance on the Internet.

This research analyzes the causes and consequences of advertising avoidance examined in studies of traditional media.

A comprehensive analysis of latent variables that reduce exposure to ad content on the Internet (i.e., avoidance of Internet ads) is provided. We assess the role of three latent variables that affect ad avoidance: perceived goal impediment, perceived ad clutter, and prior negative experiences. Cognitive, affective, and behavioral indicators of Internet ad avoidance are examined. The present study's objectives are threefold: (1) to understand how people avoid advertising messages on the Internet, (2) to detect various antecedents influencing Internet ad avoidance, and (3) to suggest ways to decrease advertising avoidance on the Internet.

AD AVOIDANCE ON THE INTERNET

A variety of advertising forms exist on the Internet, such as buttons, banner ads, pop-up ads, paid text links, sponsorships, target sites, superstitials, e-mail ads, and so forth (Zeff and Aronson 1999). Since the first appearance of commercial banner ads on HotWired.com in 1994, banners have become the most prevalent advertising format on the Internet (Briggs and Hollis 1997). It is believed that the Internet is a convergent medium for all other media, that is, a hybrid of television, radio, newspapers, magazines, billboards, direct mail, and so forth (Miller 1996). Through the Internet, people can watch broadcast programs, listen to the radio, read newspapers, read direct e-mail ads, see scrolling banner ads, and so forth. The Internet can be used like traditional media for such purposes as access to information and entertainment.