A majority of consumers admit advertising is helpful when deciding what to buy.

Consumers like to attest that advertising has no influence on their buying decisions.  But a recent survey by Adweek-Media/Harris Poll found that in unguarded moments consumers admit advertising is influential when deciding what to by.

Sixty percent of consumers admit they find advertising to be helpful in their decision-making process. But the influence wielded by different media may be surprising.

The poll found that the most influential medium is television. A full 25% say television is the most helpful in deciding what products or services to buy.  Television ranks even higher than Internet search engine ads, which came in second at 18%.  Newspaper was cited by 15% of the respondents as being most helpful and only 2% selected internet banner ads.

In a time when many are skeptical about the effectiveness of traditional media, this survey indicates it still plays a major role influencing consumers.  Healthcare marketers can still have confidence in advertising effectiveness.  Advertising is still an asset and effective.

Additionally surprising, the poll indicates television is effective in influencing even the 18-34-year-olds. Twenty-four percent of that group rate television as most helpful in making buying decisions.   And even more surprising is that 20% of 55-plusers rate internet banner ads as most helpful compared to 16% of the 18-34 group.

Maybe our stereotypes about effectiveness of various media among different age groups are not entirely correct.  Research is very helpful in dispelling some of our preconceived ideas.  And research certainly shows that advertising still does influence buying decisions.