Just because you can skip commercials with a DVR or TiVo doesn't mean you don't absorb the message, according to a study from Duke University.
Conventional wisdom holds that the DVR is killing television advertising, causing fear among marketers and TV studios, but the study found no significant difference in buying behavior between homes that use TiVo and homes that don't, Triangle Business Journal reports. Duke professor Carl Mela, along with the University of Chicago, studied consumer behavior and purchasing habits for three years to determine that the so-called "TiVo effect" is overblown.
Mela even went into the study with a different mindset: He was hoping to estimate the damage TiVo causes to the television industry, but found none. “We tried a vast array of methodological approaches to find a DVR effect. And we just couldn’t," Mela said.
Why the ability to skip commercials hasn't changed people's shopping patterns is anybody's guess, but Mela offers a handful of common sense arguments:
First, the vast majority of people watch live television, such as sports or news, and those aren't going to get skipped. And when those people do skip commercials, they still see what's happening on the screen. I've even noticed networks changing the way they arrange advertisements, burying network promos in the middle of a commercial break instead of the end, eliminating the telltale sign that the show's about to return.
Besides, Mela said, people who own DVRs tend to watch more television, which means they're exposed to more commercials, and those who don't tend to create their own ad-skipping mechanisms, such as grabbing a snack from the kitchen or changing the channel.
The findings may put advertisers' fears to rest, but somehow I doubt they'll lead to cutbacks of blatant product placements in the middle of your favorite show.
