Out-​of-​Home Ads are Influencing Americans’ Buying Decisions

BY Rachel Cagle
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The COVID-​19 vaccine is finally getting rolled out and more Americans are heading back to work and going out and about! According to a study by the Out of Home Advertising Association of America (OAAA), within the next few months, more than 70% of workers nationwide will be commuting to at least part-​time jobs. Additionally, 45% of working Americans will be commuting to full-​time jobs and 26% will be doing a mix of working from home and commuting to work. You know what this means. Out-​of-​home ads will be making a comeback this year!

Who is Commuting Again?

You and your clients may be skeptical about this optimism since the vaccine is still only available for older adults and a few special cases. However, after a year of quarantining, more Americans are beginning to venture back out into the world.

That being said, your clients still can’t place their out-​of-​home ads just anywhere. Americans are still being selective about where they’re traveling. So, according to OAAA, the best places to put out-​of-​home ads are along highways and on routes leading to grocery stores and retail locations. 86% of consumers are now opting to do their grocery shopping in person and, therefore, most have to drive to get to the store. 50% of consumers are also actively shopping at physical retail stores again. Those two activities, combined with an increased number of people commuting to work, also builds the amount of traffic on highways. 70% of consumers say that they now drive on highways at least once a week.

Consumers with a healthy mix of income ranges are commuting now and passing more out-​of-​home ads:

  • Less than $50,000: 76%
  • $50,000 to $99,000: 72%
  • $100,000 to $150,000: 72%
  • Over $150,000: 66%

An average of 72.75% of each generation is now commuting every day, as well.

Out-​of-​Home Ad Influence on Drivers

According to OAAA, consumers are most likely to take notice of out-​of-​home ads while they’re driving. While driving on the highway, 10% of consumers always notice out-​of-​home ads, 23% notice them often and 50% say that they notice them sometimes. Drivers in towns and cities also notice out-​of-​home ads, ranging from always (8%) to often (23%) to sometimes (51%). Consumers walking around or utilizing public transportation options are far less likely to take notice of out-​of-​home ads.

Out-​of-​home ad memorability tends to correlate directly with what is being advertised. OAAA reports that the most memorable outdoor ads among the general public are promoting:

  1. Local Restaurants: 40% remember seeing these ads
  2. Public Events (such as fairs and trade shows): 32%
  3. New Brands or Products: 30%
  4. Local Retail or Convenience Stores: 28%
  5. New Local Businesses: 24%

Not only are consumers taking notice of out-​of-​home ads, the advertisements are influencing people to take action. These ads have:

  • Informed consumers about new businesses near them: 27%
  • Helped consumers discover new brands: 24%
  • Influenced consumers’ purchasing decisions: 20%
  • Helped consumers find stores or businesses: 20%
  • Increased consumers’ favorability of brands: 15%

You can figure out what percentage of your client’s target audiences were swayed to take action because of out-​of-​home ads on their AudienceSCAN profiles on AdMall by SalesFuel.


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