Poll: 'Distasteful' ads steer adults away from brand purchases

NEW YORK Marketers beware. According to an Adweek Media/Harris Poll released Friday, more than one-third of Americans have chosen not to purchase a certain brand because they find the ads distasteful. Add the 22% who said while they have not yet boycotted a brand on account of advertising they have thought about it, and you have 57% of Americans who could be negatively swayed by bad advertising.

More than one quarter of Americans (28%) reported they had chosen to not purchase a brand because they did not like the spokesperson it used, while 22% said they have not done so, but thought of doing it.

When it comes to who is more likely to not purchase a certain brand because of subject matter or spokesperson, Adweek Media/Harris Poll found some differences among education- and income-based demographics. The more education a respondent had, the more likely they were to say they had not purchased something. Over 2-in-5 college graduates (43%) had not purchased a brand because they found the advertisements distasteful, compared with 29% of those with a high school education or less. One-third of college grads (33%) said they have not purchased a brand because they didn’t like the spokesperson, compared with 23% of those with a high school education or less.

And 25% of those with a household income of under $50,000 per year said they did not purchase a certain brand because they did not like the spokesperson used, compared with 28% of those with a household income of between $50,000 and $74,999 per year and 33% of those with a household income of $75,000 a year or more.

The Adweek Media/Harris Poll surveyed 2,194 U.S. adults online between Feb. 2 and 4.