Focus groups prefer longer cinema ads

Participants in Pearl & Dean’s latest online focus groups consistently preferred long-form ads to short ads. In the cinema advertiser’s Movietalk study, two online focus groups were played three 30-second cinema ads and three 60-second ads. The respondents were said to consistently prefer the extended 60-second commercials.

When respondents were asked to rate their involvement with the ads on a scale from one to 10, the 60-second ads scored considerably higher than the 30-second ads. The average involvement score for a 30-second commercial was 4.5. This increased to 7.6 for 60-second ads.

Respondents noted that longer ads had a more positive effect on perceptions of brand image than the shorter commercials. This is the first time a detailed study has been carried out looking into the length of cinema ads.

Movietalk is a series of online focus groups launched by Pearl & Dean in early 2007 to provide advertisers and agencies with greater insight into cinemagoers and film viewers.