Majority of consumers say they’re enjoying being outside and look forward to it – despite concerns.

out-of-home ads

NEW YORK – November 19, 2020 – MFour, Vistar Media survey finds positive feelings also extend to perceptions of OOH ads, which are viewed as more trustworthy and relevant than ads on other platforms.

More than half of U.S. consumers (58%) say they enjoy being outside these days, with 54% saying they look forward to the experience. This, despite only 44% saying they feel comfortable when they are outside of their home. 

That’s according to research conducted between October 28th and November 5th by MFour and Vistar Media on our mobile panel of more than 2.5 million consumers. The study is based on responses from 2,000 adults and is projectable to the U.S. population.

In keeping with the general positive feeling consumers have about being outside, the survey also found that ads on out-of-home (OOH) formats were seen as more trustworthy and relevant than ads on other platforms. 

58% of respondents indicated that they are very likely or likely to believe messaging in OOH advertisements, followed by TV (55%) and social media (44%), with desktop advertising receiving the least trust at 34%. That is up from a survey conducted by Vistar Media in the Summer of 2019 that found 50% of consumers found OOH to be the most trustworthy medium.

Similarly, 71% of consumers say they relate to the messaging shown on out-of-home screens – the highest of any media channel in the study. Additionally, 82% of respondents said they would look forward to seeing similar messaging in other OOH environments, 10% higher than the response for non-OOH messaging (72%).

“What we are seeing are consumers who are still cognizant of the need to be safe, but are delighted to be outside when they can,” says Eugenie Chen, VP of Data & Analytics  at Vistar Media. “That positivity and general enjoyment of being out of their home is motivating them to be very receptive to ads that they are seeing outside, as compared to ads that they associate with being homebound.”

The study also found that:

— Respondents showed stronger favorability towards the contextual environments where OOH advertisements were shown (88% of respondents like the ads shown on OOH screens) than non-OOH ones (83%)— 82% of respondents look forward to seeing similar messages in other OOH environments, which is significantly higher than the responses from the non-OOH group (72%). 

About MFour

Better outcomes on MFour Studio: the first platform to behave like your consumer. Using the nation’s most downloaded, highest-rated, and only Apple-approved data collection and survey app, MFour has finally united market research and data science. 

MFour Studio is the only place for real-time app, web, and foot traffic united with validated consumer surveys for unprecedented insights to help you capture the modern consumer’s attention.

About Vistar Media

Vistar Media is the world’s leading provider of software solutions for digital out-of-home (DOOH), including the only end-to-end programmatic ecosystem for DOOH. Vistar Media’s demand-side platform (DSP) and supply-side platform (SSP) empower buyers and sellers to easily transact on DOOH inventory while applying intelligent data insights that improve media performance. Vistar’s SaaS solutions (unified ad server and Cortex for device and content management) deliver enterprise-grade solutions for monetizing and operating digital signage networks at any scale. Through its global reach, direct platform integrations, data partnerships, and complete technology stack, Vistar Media continues to power innovation and growth across the digital signage industry. Founded in 2012, Vistar Media is headquartered in New York City and operates across the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia and New Zealand.


By Sharon Leynes

Reviewed by Allyson Wehn

Posted on November 19th, 2020

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