Ads biggest Super Bowl attraction for 26.6% of viewers

More than 179.1 million people will have watched the game, the most in the survey's nine-year history and up from an estimated 172.5 million last year.

While the biggest draw is the action on the field, the unique Super Bowl commercials are the second-biggest reason people tune in to the sporting event (26.6%). That gives ads more importance than getting together with friends (18.8%), or even the half-time show (9.6%).

For more than three-quarters (76.6%) of those responding to the Retail Advertising and Marketing Association (RAMA)/BIGinsight survey, the ads were considered as entertainment, up from 73% last year.

While Super Bowl ads are highly anticipated, few survey respondents said they were driven to make a purchase as a result of those ads. However, the ads do drive 9% of consumers to go on to investigate brands online, up from 7% previously.

"For advertisers, commercials are more than entertainment, they are a way to increase awareness of a brand or service, and they've got an unusually captive audience," says the National Retail Federation (a division of RAMA). "The survey found 19.5% say the commercials make them aware of the advertisers' brand and another 10.5% say the commercials influence them to buy products from advertisers - the highest percentage reported in the survey's history."

Tags: advertising, brand marketing, commercials, consumer insight, consumer survey, research, Super Bowl