po polsku
According to Harvard Business Review Polska, which published the study, two test groups were shown three types of programs:
- episodes of the comedy series *Taxi*,
- documentary nature films,
- and Bollywood productions.
One group watched the programs without ads, while the other saw them with ad interruptions. The results were surprising: the group that saw the shows with ads was more satisfied with the programs, regardless of the quality of the ads shown.
source: Harvard Business Review Polska, Why Do We Prefer TV with Ads?Surprisingly, viewers who watched the version with ads were also willing to pay more for DVD sets of productions by the same directors. The study published by Harvard Business Review Polska found that this difference could be as much as 30%.
- viewers of the ad-free version offered $4.18 for a DVD
- viewers of the ad-supported version were willing to pay up to $5.42 for the same DVD.
The study authors note that this principle is reflected in pay TV, even though it doesn’t include ads. These networks structure their programming with built-in breaks.
- What increases viewer enjoyment isn’t the ads themselves but the breaks in the show, - explains Prof. Leif Nelson in an interview with HBRP. - In series, the plot usually consists of six or more parallel storylines that producers continuously juggle. More complex and unpredictable shows, with twists that naturally introduce breaks, were rated higher than programs with a more linear narrative structure.
This is known as the adaptation effect. The researchers found that this effect is much stronger among younger people. As people age, they need less stimulation to feel pleasure and adapt more slowly.
Nelson, Meyvis, and Galak`s research was also published in the Harvard Business Review Polska special report Why Do We Prefer TV with Ads?
COMMERCIAL BREAK
New articles in section Marketing and PR
Marketing technologies in Poland. The state of MarTech report
KFi
Nearly half of marketers in Poland can’t clearly say whether their marketing technologies deliver a real return. Only 5% believe the results are "well above expectations," while 32% simply say: "hard to tell".
7 facts about media relations. How to work with journalists
Bartłomiej Dwornik
In media relations, every mistake costs you attention. Every cliché wastes inbox space. Even a good and interesting topic might not be enough to break through. The way you present it also matters. Maybe even more than the content itself.
Rising Google Ads click costs. How to keep campaigns profitable?
Patrycja Kranc
In 2024 the average cost per click (CPC) rose in 86% of industries. In e-commerce and real estate, increases reached dozens of percent. Optimisation is becoming crucial, not only for campaigns but for the entire customer acquisition process.
See articles on a similar topic:
Costs of link building are way overestimated. A major analysis by Adsy
Krzysztof Fiedorek
A guest post for $45? Or maybe $4595? Price differences reach up to 100x, and the market is full of absurdity: sellers demand fortunes, buyers pay a fraction. The beauty industry costs less than literature, and Ireland beats the US hands down. Analysts at Adsy have taken a deep dive into the SEO trade.
Browser Fingerprinting. Marketing Uses Digital Traces
BARD
A fingerprint created for each browser can identify not only a device but also a specific user. The data collected this way is mainly used for marketing purposes, which can result in cases where, for instance, a Mac user pays up to 30% more for the same product than a PC user.
SEO and AI in Polish e-commerce 2025. Harbingers analysts’ report
Krzysztof Fiedorek
Although 44.56% of e-commerce traffic comes from organic results, over half of online stores are not seeing growth. The biggest surprise? A staggering 9.5 million monthly visits lost due to dead content. On top of that, 38% of companies still don’t appear in AI-generated answers - a new and growing source of visibility.
Do Ads on TV Annoy You? Think Again, It’s Quite the Opposite!
Bartłomiej Dwornik
Advertisements don’t irritate viewers; instead, they increase the appeal of television programs, according to research published in the Polish edition of Harvard Business Review. Viewers are actually willing to pay more for shows they watched with ad breaks.
