Radio's Clutter Conundrum: Better Memory for Ads, Worse Attitudes Toward Stations

Abstract

An experiment examined effects of increasing the number of advertising pods in radio. With the number of commercials kept constant, participants heard ads in 1 or 3 pods. Those exposed to the cluttered condition (i.e., 3 pods) reported the ads as more excessive and the commercial breaks more disruptive than those exposed to 1 pod. Clutter participants self-reported greater irritation than those hearing only 1 pod. This was supported by more frequent skin conductance responses in the clutter condition. However, other physiological measures suggested more cognitive resources were applied during the cluttered condition. Free recall and recognition were greater in the cluttered condition, although the latter not significantly so. Results are discussed in terms of the trade-offs management must make in deciding how to schedule advertising breaks in today's competitive radio marketplace.