Understanding advertising clutter and the real solution to declining audience attention to mass media commercial messages

Purpose – In all mass media advertising, the increasing advertising to editorial ratio is causing audience inattention and consumer complaints. The usual solutions are more creative advertising or better hiding of the messages within the editorial content. This discussion aims to describe the real solution, first predicted by Howard Gossage five decades ago, which requires understanding the problem in historical perspective and maybe a shift back to some older practices. Design/methodology/approach – Uses a historical perspective plus the wisdom to Gossage to point out the potential salvation and future for effective advertising. Findings – More effective advertising would mean that there would be less of it. Originality/value – Abuse of audiences by intrusive advertising lowers the effectiveness of the entire communications form. For better advertising, there should be less of it and more targeted both in placement and content. This offers a more realistic statement of how advertising can maximize its persuasive power in the future.