Consumers do watch TV ads, and they do react with digital research

In Market Track's 'Media Usage Survey', the company found that more than half of Internet users in the U.S. do not fast-forward through ad breaks, or leave the room or switch channels, but instead they actually watch the commercials.

Furthermore, while watching television, nearly half are using a second screen such as a mobile (42%) and just 21% are not multi-tasking. The most popular task conducted simultaneously while watching television was checking email, followed by surfing the web, checking social media and shopping online. However, despite all this second screening, the report suggests that consumers' eyes aren't being drawn away from ads, but the actual shows themselves.

Having seen a commercial on television, the primary way in which consumers react is to conduct digital research (62%) while 17% research products in-store. Twelve percent head online to check out reviews, 4% seek out the opinions of friends and family and just 4% make a purchase instantly.

Market Track's research backs up a study published earlier this year in Marketing Science in which professors from Cornell University, Harvard Business School and the University of California concluded that ads on television prompt viewers to browse online.

According to the study, "moments after a brand advertisement airs on TV, there tends to be a spike in traffic to the brand webpage".

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Tags: advertising, online shopping, second screen, television