With a long and highly contentious election season grinding to a halt, advertisers now face the challenge of reaching consumers who are, to put it mildly, pretty sick and tired of seeing political ads.   

While anyone outside the advertising industry may not be familiar with the term “ad fatigue,” almost all Americans have recently experienced it, given the barrage of political ads that dominated the media landscape for the past nine months. Of course, the most obvious result of this phenomenon is that people become significantly more likely to tune out or even feel disdain when exposed to new ads, political or otherwise.   

But how exactly are consumers experiencing and responding to ad fatigue in the wake of this election cycle, and what should advertisers focus on to recapture their attention ahead of the holiday season?   

Exhausted, Overstimulated, And Annoyed   

According to a new Harris Poll survey commissioned by AD-ID, more than 9 in 10 adults who regularly watch TV or online streaming content feel that the frequency and volume of advertisements negatively impact their viewing experiences.   

More specifically, 61% of Americans surveyed stated that ads they encounter too frequently make them less likely to want to buy the company’s products and/or services. Additionally, half of respondents say they’ve decided not to purchase a particular product after seeing the brand’s advertisements too often, a sentiment disproportionately attributable to men, adults under 55, parents of children under 18, and adults with children currently in the household.   

Of course, there’s also a critical emotional component underlying these attitudes and decisions, as many consumers view an oversaturated, repetitive ad landscape as more than merely inconvenient, but also aggravating. Of the 59% of respondents who said seeing the same ad repeatedly has a negative effect on their viewing experience, half went so far as saying it makes them feel annoyed, with 26% saying it has adversely impacted a purchasing decision.   

If there’s one saving grace here, these experiences are incredibly common and relatable, even to those in the advertising space. An increase in ad fatigue is expected during an election cycle. Somewhat poetically, finding the frequency of political ads exhausting, overstimulating, and even annoying may be one of the only things people from both sides of the aisle can agree on.   

Less Frequency, More Personalization 

But there may also be another silver lining: Despite widespread exhaustion, ads are still incredibly effective. More specifically, 63% of respondents said they have purchased a product and/or service they weren’t previously aware of after seeing an ad, while 33% said they don’t mind watching an ad as long as it’s relevant.   

Looking even more closely at the survey results, we can also find that there are some things consumers want to see from brands and advertisers, notably less frequency and more effective targeting and personalization. In fact, more than three-quarters of respondents said they would like to see ads that more accurately target their interests, with 18% saying targeted ads have aided in their purchasing decisions.   

One parallel we can draw on the particularly relevant topic of frequency is the feeling of apathy among many Americans during an election season. For voters who are already locked in or are entirely disinterested in politics, the frustration of being forced to listen to political rhetoric 24/7 eventually reaches a boiling point. The same can be said of traditional advertising campaigns; one can only be oversaturated by the same sales message for so long before mild irritation transforms into utter resentment.   

This is something we see play out all too often in the advertising industry. When brands and ad placement providers don’t focus enough on controlling the frequency with which their content reaches consumers, the risk of ad fatigue among audiences becomes significantly higher. By not capping frequency to ensure consumers aren’t being exposed to the same ad numerous times in a row, not only are brands increasing the chances of frustration and disinterest among viewers, but also often wasting critical marketing spend on campaigns that are at best ineffective, and at worst actively turning people away from their products and/services.   

Brands can and should demand better frequency control from those placing their ads, especially if they hope to offset the growing fatigue surrounding the current landscape. In our age of advancing technology, digital media, and intelligent data analytics, more can be done to provide brands with better insights and reporting to support more accurate targeting and personalization efforts. If brands can successfully optimize these two factors, they can all but guarantee that their creative ad content not only reaches the right audience at the right moment, but also that the interaction inspires curiosity and motivation rather than exhaustion and contempt.