How Advertisements Influence Our Decisions — Quick Guide

The overwhelming majority of people claim their choices are not affected by commercials. In a poll conducted between 11/17/14 and 1/10/15, Pair (dating app to find the right person) asked 44,076 people to answer the following question: "Do advertisements affect your choice a lot?"

People from all over the world took part in the poll: from the USA – 56%, from Canada – 5%, from Britain – 12%, Australia – 8% and other countries – 19%.

Ads definitely have a huge impact on many people's choices, although sometimes they lead individuals to prioritize healthier products. Kiyah Duffey, a nutrition consultant, refers to a study from the Netherlands and says: "Advertisements and key product placement can also influence our preference for and consumption of healthier food items as well. In this study, grocery store customers were given a flyer which either contained a health priming message or did not. Analyses of store receipts showed that overweight and obese individuals purchased nearly 75% fewer snack food items when primed. Even more interesting was the finding that although priming only worked when people reported that they paid initial attention to the flyer, no conscious awareness of the prime during grocery shopping was necessary to observe these effects."

Alex Cusper, Pair service analyst, states: "People buy a product they actually don't need just because it became a so-called 'must have'. Advertisements make consumers associate products with some feelings and emotions, and exactly these feelings can affect the decision to buy this or that product."

Pair, a leading mobile dating service, regularly conducts research among its users. Millions of people from the U.S., Canada, Britain and Australia answer hundreds of questions every month. You can read about how to find the right people for you, learn how not to lose the right people on Pair, find out why Pair is a paid service, and see how Pair handles fake profiles. If you are interested in research on a particular topic, please contact us. Any reprint of the material should be followed by clickable links to the survey.