Understanding Advertising and News Fatigue in the Digital Age

A Research Report from The Associated Press,
Context-Based Research Group and
Carton Donofrio Partners
March 2010
Studying the Deep Structure of Advertising
and News Consumption
The environment for news and advertising is in need
of a clean-up. Using the tools of cultural anthropology,
The AP and its research partners uncover a new path to
audience engagement that taps into the phenomenon of
social media and responds to consumers’ desire for more
honest and collaborative communication.
A New Model for
Communication:

Contents
Prologue 03
Behavioral Field Study and Findings
Section 1: Overview
and Study Objectives 06
Section 2: Ethnography
Participants 15
Section 3: Conclusions
and Recommendations 47
AP’s Engagement Model
A Case Study 59
StopTheAdness.org
A Case Study from
Carton Donofrio Partners 66
Acknowledgments 72
© 2010 The Associated Press
All rights reserved.
May be downloaded for personal use only.

Prologue
A New Model for Communication
3
A research report from The Associated Press, Context-Based Research Group and Carton Donofrio Partners
In 2007, The Associated Press began what would become a continuing partnership
with Context-Based Research Group of Baltimore. We started off with a simple goal of
exploring some real-life examples of changing news consumption among young adults,
and three years later, we have made what both organizations feel are some major break-
throughs in understanding how information flows through the digital culture.
Our first project resulted in a report entitled A New
Model for News, released in 2008 following fieldwork in
six cities around the world the previous year. That project
led us to the creation of what we call an “atomic” model
for news, which visualizes a core issue for news providers,
whose content has been fragmented into headlines and
snippets by the forces of search, aggregation and sharing
on the Internet.
Essentially, the model illustrates how the news has
been ripped out of the package – people encounter it in
bits and pieces in scrolling headlines, aggregated search
results and shared text messages that wash over them in relentless torrents every day.
While the technology of the Internet has given consumers more control over their own
consumption, it has provided little guidance for how to put the atomic pieces of the news
back together into a coherent report.
The research conducted with Context has helped AP get on the road to some real
solutions. One of the keys to understanding how to address the situation has been the
extraordinary insight enabled by the Context methodology. Context does ethnographic
research, meaning it studies small groups of people up close to get at the root of their
behavior. That “Deep Structure,” as Context calls it, opens up a view of how companies
can respond to cultural changes that aren’t so obvious on the surface.
Facts
Future stories/
Spin-offs
Back story
Updates
TM

4
For instance, going into our original news study, we assumed that people probably
wanted more short blasts of news because that’s what all the Internet tools were built
to deliver. But, to the contrary, the study group participants said they were actually fed
up with that and wanted more breadth and depth. That was certainly music to the ears
of journalists, who felt the days for in-depth reporting were numbered on the Internet.
With the success of the news study, we moved on to an even bigger problem, one we had
less experience dealing with as a news agency. We wanted to understand whether the
same issues were affecting advertising, the lifeblood of the news business.
To explore that new territory, we turned again to Context to perform another field
study in the summer of 2009. The analysis of that data is the subject of the following
report.
The story, without giving it all away, is that consumers felt even more besieged by ads
than by news. The level of fatigue among consumers was at least as bad as in the news
study and, in many cases, had left people downright angry.
The “atomic” model applied again. We could see how
ads were being delivered and consumed haphazardly in
blasts of unwelcome Web pop-ups, plastered subway walls
and pre-roll video. But it wasn’t all about the format. The
second study led us to a much more interesting place and a
much more profound understanding of the problem.
It is not just that people feel overloaded. As consumers,
they long for a better way to communicate with informa-

5
tion providers – news companies and advertisers alike. They want that communication
to be two-way, transparent and honest. They seek a new relationship that is built on
trust, not simply on the value of the content or advertising itself.
Seeing the rise of social networking online during the course of this study, we weren’t
surprised that people spoke so openly about their eagerness to share content with their
friends or tap into online communities to vet commercial offers. Those comments contrast-
ed sharply with their characterizations of ads as generally annoying and interruptive.
It all led us to the conclusion that communication couldn’t improve unless the environ-
ment changed first. Context brought an interesting bit of cultural theory called “Commu-
nitas” to bear on the findings, which you can read more about in the following pages.
With Communitas, there is no such thing as one-way communication. There are only
two-way conversations that inspire loyalty and trust, and those are key ingredients
with the power to cut through the clutter of the Internet.
We hope these findings inspire discussion, debate and a variety of creative responses
in both the news and advertising realms. It’s time for both industries to transition from
“bombardment” back to “communication.”
As you’ll see in this report, a sister advertising company to Context, Baltimore’s
Carton Donofrio Partners, has already taken our conclusions to heart and launched its
own initiative called, appropriately, “Stop the Adness.” Special thanks to them for the
insight they provided to this project and, as always, to our partners in this research, the
Context-Based Research Group.
Jim Kennedy
Vice President and Director of Strategic Planning
The Associated Press
March 2010

6
Getting to the Roots of
the News and Advertising
‘Fatigue’ Factor
In 2008, The Associ-
ated Press and Context-
Based Research Group
developed a view of how
news consumption was
being dramatically al-
tered in the digital age.
The news agency and its
ethnographic research
partner issued a report,
entitled A New Model for
News (http://www.ap.org/
newmodel.pdf), which
detailed the changes in
behavior that Context
observed from a group of
young adults in six cities
around the world.
That report was distin-
guished by its anthropo-
logical approach to the
question. A New Model for
News sought to document
the impact of the digital
shift in news consump-
tion from a behavioral
perspective. The study
started from the premise
that much of the audience
had moved online, and
it sought to understand
what was happening to the
news and news consump-
tion as a result.
The report was deliv-
ered to the World Editors
Forum and shared with
journalists and media
companies worldwide.
As a stand-alone study,
it served to validate the
widely held assumption
that the legacy distribu-
tion models for news had
been rendered almost
obsolete by the way news
was being delivered and
consumed in digital chan-
nels. The “packages” that
historically defined the
news – the front page, the
scheduled TV broadcast
and even the bookmarked
Web site – were giving
way to a chaotic torrent of
“atomized” snippets and
headlines that were de-
signed to take advantage
of the 24/7 nature of the
digital space, but were
having an unintended ef-
fect on the audience.
The subjects observed
in that initial study told
Context that they were
Section 1: Overview and Study Objectives

7
As strategies for en-
riching the news report
were being pursued at
AP, questions lingered
about the business model
for supporting digital
news delivery. Specifi-
cally, since news providers
were relying on online
and mobile advertising as
primary revenue streams,
AP wanted to understand
whether advertising is
subject to the same con-
sumption issues as news.
Core Issue: When Is a Good
Time to Talk?
The AP decided to en-
gage Context once again,
this time to study ad-
vertising consumption
patterns. The results of
that investigation are the
subject of this report.
As a first step early in
the New Model report.
In summary, the agency
moved to an approach that
distinguished headlines,
snippets and deeper cover-
age in a new framework
for its journalists called,
simply, “1-2-3.” That
framework set the stage
for AP to deliver the news
in a variety of new ways
that were better tuned
to consumption patterns.
Newspaper-length stories
that had been repurposed
online were replaced by
a new digital routine of
headline first, followed
by present-tense devel-
opments, followed when
needed by longer treat-
ments. A digital tagging
system of metadata also
was created to enable the
related components of any
story to be electronically
linked.
tired of the repetitive
onslaught and they were
eager to find something
more fulfilling. The news
they found online was
broken up and difficult to
reassemble in meaningful
and satisfying ways. They
said they were getting too
many facts and updates
and not enough back-
ground or future perspective.
Though it constituted
an indictment of the news
delivery schemes widely
used around the world,
the report delivered a re-
freshing message to news
providers: The audience
was hungry for something
deeper, wider and better.
Those conclusions led to
substantial changes in the
way The Associated Press
approached its own news
report, as documented in

8
work experience, in sharp
contrast to the “fatigue”
of news and advertising
consumption.
That clear conflict – be-
tween increasingly dis-
satisfying content con-
sumption and increasingly
satisfying social engage-
ment – led AP and Context
to suspect that standard
forms of delivering news
and advertising were
out of sync with current
cultural expectations. Not
only did consumers not
want to be interrupted by
news and ads; they clearly
preferred to engage in a
totally different way.
That suspicion framed
the central question for
a second ethnography
around advertising con-
sumption: If current
practices were working
social networking, and
the tremendous growth
of that phenomenon was
setting the stage for elec-
tronic word of mouth and
personal relationships to
influence the full spec-
trum of communication,
well beyond the informal
exchanges of friends and
family.
The new social mindset
taking hold in the culture
provided a fresh context
for studying the informa-
tion overload problem.
Context theorized that to
get the consumer’s at-
tention amid the chaos,
information providers
and advertisers needed to
consider, and perhaps even
ask the audience, whether
now was a “good time to
talk.” Clearing the “time
to talk” seemed an inte-
gral part of the social net-
2009, Context and AP set
out to understand the ex-
isting body of knowledge
about the effectiveness
of digital advertising. Of
particular interest was
advertising that accompa-
nied news content.
That secondary research
confirmed the assump-
tion that advertising was
indeed suffering from the
same audience “fatigue”
as news. In fact, the situa-
tion, if anything, appeared
worse. Reports from a
variety of sources gener-
ally all agreed that adver-
tising had become more
interruptive, and less
engaging, in the digital
age.
But something else was
also going on. The digi-
tal culture was making
a massive turn toward

9
anthropological analysis
of the behavior observed.
In the AP’s first study,
A New Model for News,
Context’s anthropologists
were able to translate
observed behavior into a
model for how to improve
the structure of the AP
news report. The findings
from that study (suggest-
ing subjects were being
bombarded by repetitive
news reports) produced
a stunning visual model
of news broken down into
its component “atoms” of
facts, updates, background
and future spin-off angles.
With that model in clear
view, AP made system-
wide adjustments in its
news production process to
target the right format to
the right situation.
Similarly, the advertis-
ing project was aimed at
Why Ethnography: Getting
to the Deep Structure
Ethnography was chosen
again as the research tool
because of its grounding
in cultural anthropology.
Anthropologists under-
stand that to uncover the
deeper structures that
guide a culture it is neces-
sary to “live among the
natives.” By living among
the natives, you come
to learn 1) what people
do, versus what they say
they do, and 2) the why,
or underlying motivation,
behind people’s actual be-
havior. Ethnographic field-
work involves going into
people’s natural settings,
versus studying people in a
controlled environment.
The secret to the suc-
cess of an ethnographic
research project lies in
against deep engagement,
what would it take to
change the picture? In an
environment dominated
by repetitive headlines
and interruptive advertis-
ing, there is no “good time
to talk” with consumers.
So what would have to
change for information
providers and advertis-
ers to strike up a two-way
conversation with their
audience?
To find some answers,
AP and Context launched
new ethnographic field-
work to learn more about
how people react to adver-
tising and how the inter-
ruption of commercial
messaging might be trans-
formed into deeper audi-
ence engagement.

10
graphic research start to
take shape and suggest a
certain structure, social
theory then guides the
explanatory models.
patterns are the manifes-
tation of the Deep Struc-
ture at the root of the
question.
The ethnographic ap-
proach and anthropologi-
cal process is deductive
and iterative. As the
patterns from the ethno-
getting to the root of the
problem, or what Context
calls the Deep Structure –
the place beneath the
surface of easily observed
behaviors where cultural
values and individual
motivations are produced
and supported. Uncovering
those roots can lead to the
development of new solu-
tions that reach people
on a truly deeper plane of
unmet needs.
Material culture in an
ethnographic study is the
“stuff” people use. In con-
sumer anthropology, most
of the stuff equals product
and services at people’s
disposal.
As the anthropologists
observe more and more
behavior and examples of
material culture, patterns
begin to emerge. Those
Material Culture
What products
and services
do people use?
Behaviors
What do
people do?
Deep Structure
Why do people do
what they do?
Above the surface, anthropologists observe people’s behavior. Below the surface,
insights are drawn on underlying motivations.
Roots of ethnography
Anthropologists compare people’s behavior to parts of a tree –
some are obvious, some are hidden.

11
Observation Tools and
Techniques
“What is Advertising”
Send-Ahead Behavioral
Journaling Exercise
To gather a foundation
of information about the
participants’ lives, par-
ticularly their behavior,
values, news sources and
advertising consumption
habits, all the partici-
pants in the study received
a Send-Ahead Behavioral
Journaling Exercise en-
titled, “What is Adver-
tising?” To complete the
journal, participants used
their digital cameras and
followed a set of instruc-
tions for taking pictures of
their daily lives over the
course of approximately
one week.
Participants completed
the journal by address-
participant had to have
access to the Internet and
had to report interacting
with advertising and ac-
cessing news through both
traditional and non-tradi-
tional means. In addition,
participants had to report
checking the news at least
once a day.
The participants were
selected from a mix of ur-
ban and suburban neigh-
borhoods in four cities in
the United States: Atlan-
ta, Kansas City, New York
and San Francisco. The
locations were chosen to
provide a broad geographi-
cal sweep and to capture a
full range of traditional
and non-traditional adver-
tising and news consump-
tion.
Methodology
To get at the Deep Struc-
ture behind advertising
attitudes and behaviors,
specifically alongside
news consumption, this
project was designed to
explore a diverse group
of participants, using a
range of methodologies
including self-reported
real-time behavior, direct
observation and, to com-
plete the process, in-depth
anthropological analysis.
Sample and Location
To gather as broad a
group of participants as
possible, 24 participants
were recruited from ages
18 to 55 (with an empha-
sis on the 18 to 34 age
group), representing a mix
of ethnicity, gender and
household income. Each

12
Advertising
Consumption Diary
To capture activity both
in and out of the home,
Context had participants
complete an advertising
consumption diary. For
this structured assign-
ment, participants were
asked to capture moments,
in real time, when they
searched for or consumed
advertising over two full
days – one weekday and
one weekend day, from
start to finish.
Context anthropologists
directed all participants
to document at least eight
moments of advertising
consumption on each day.
Participants recorded the
what, where and when of
each consumption event,
along with other details.
Participants also were
preferred situation and
means for accessing adver-
tising and what purpose
advertising serves for them.
As part of the advertis-
ing analysis, participants
were asked to single out
and comment on two
pieces of advertising that
they experienced during
the week, one engaging
and one interruptive.
Finally, participants were
asked to explain how they
interpreted the relation-
ship between advertising
and news, if they saw a
relationship at all.
The exercise, which was
followed by a home visit
from a Context anthro-
pologist, yielded rich data
about the participants and
the role of advertising in
their worlds.
ing a series of questions
in text and visual forms.
The journal began by ask-
ing them how they would
represent themselves and
their family, focusing on
what was important to
them, their likes/dislikes,
values and philosophies
and favorite things to
do. They also were asked
about their social net-
works and what kinds of
information and advertis-
ing they chose to share or
not share with their net-
works.
Moving more directly
into the advertising
realm, participants were
asked to represent what
they considered to be
advertising, how they
defined advertising, when
they noticed advertising,
including the influence
of media platforms, their

13
tainment activities, inter-
actions with family and/or
friends and more.
Spending much of a
day with the participants
meant the anthropologists
could obtain very detailed
and accurate informa-
tion, including observable
details (how much time
was spent on a Web site,
what was noticed on the
commute to work), as well
as hidden details (how
interaction with differ-
ent advertising affected
consumption behavior). A
major strength of the full-
day observations was that
researchers uncovered dis-
crepancies between what
participants said they do
and what they actually did.
In-Home, In-Depth
Interview
In addition to the obser-
sions were conducted to
obtain first-hand infor-
mation about advertis-
ing consumption as it
actually happened and
to put into perspective
the information gathered
in the participants’ self-
reported journals and
diaries. In these sessions,
anthropologists spent part
of a day shadowing and
observing participants
through their activities.
Context anthropologists
scheduled the observa-
tion periods during times
that participants said
they viewed advertising
most frequently. To gain
a deeper understanding
of participants’ lives and
how they interfaced with
advertising and news, the
immersion encompassed
a broad sampling of daily
activities, including work,
school, leisure or enter-
asked to answer the ques-
tion derived from the
secondary research: “Is
now a good time to talk?”
The question was framed
as if the advertisement
were a person trying to
have a conversation with
the consumer. Would this
be the appropriate time
for you to talk? Would you
be free and interested in
engaging at this moment,
or are you already engaged
with something else? Par-
ticipants also elaborated
on why it was or was not a
good time to talk.
The Context anthropolo-
gists discussed this exer-
cise with the participants
during the in-home, in-
depth interviews.
Day-in-the-Life Immersion
and Observation
Day-in-the-life immer-

14
behavior and their journal
and diary entries.
Brief summaries follow
of the information gath-
ered from all participants
in the study. The names
used are pseudonyms.
self-directed descriptions of
life experiences.
The interviews also gave
the participants a chance
to explain in greater
depth the behavior ob-
served by the anthropolo-
gists during the immer-
sion periods and to discuss
the relationship between
the participants’ observed
vations, the anthropologists
conducted in-depth inter-
views with the participants
in their homes. Reviewing
the participants’ journals
and diaries provided a
launching pad for conversa-
tional interviews designed
to uncover further details.
The interviews featured
open-ended questions de-
signed to elicit vivid and

15
ly remembers video ads on
TV and graphic-rich pop-
ups on Web sites.
Clark does not read
traditional sources of
news but consumes news
and information online.
He enjoys sharing infor-
mation with his friends,
especially his fraternity
brothers. Clark explains,
“I like to be the first per-
son to know about stuff so
people are surprised … it’s
cool to know about news
first, breaking news, you
know, a high-speed chase
or $2 pitchers at La Pa-
rilla tonight.”
Clark and his friends
love the Atlanta institu-
tion, Chick-fil-A, for its
ones that you remember …
I couldn’t remember the
ones that I was neutral
about but I remembered
the ones I really, really
hated.”
Clark describes effective
advertising as “captur[ing]
your attention in a posi-
tive or negative sense,”
and says it “further engag-
es you in a specific product
or event.” Advertising
succeeds with Clark when
it generates excitement
about a specific product,
even if it isn’t pertinent to
him. For example, Clark
loved a recent AirTran
ad that he described as
“hilarious” even though
he doesn’t need to buy any
plane tickets. Clark most-
Clark is a
student of
architecture
at Georgia
Tech Uni-
versity in Atlanta. Dur-
ing the school year, Clark
lives in his fraternity
house with 50 of his broth-
ers. During the summer,
he lives at home with his
parents. Being Christian
is an important part of his
life.
Clark believes there are
three different categories
of advertising: “ads you
like that engage you, ads
you dislike that still en-
gage you and ads you don’t
pay attention to. The first
two, the ones that you like
and you don’t like, are the
Atlanta
Clark, 21
Architecture
Student
Section 2: Ethnography Participants

16
ers stay connected. Her
friends call her “Miss
Information.” Because she
wants to remain “in the
know,” Donna always pays
close attention to advertis-
ing. She likes to bargain
shop and stays up to date
on sales or promotional
events. She shares this
information with those in
her social network. Con-
stant communication with
her social network helps
her feel connected and
“fills her up.”
On weekends Donna
goes through all the print
advertising she receives
throughout the week and
divides it into three piles:
To Be Recycled, For Steve,
and Dayplanner. All are
relevant at a specific time
for a specific person.
Donna defines advertis-
on an acre of land with
their prized Pomeranian.
Donna studied account-
ing at Georgia State Uni-
versity and started an
air quality business with
Steve based out of their at-
tic. In addition to working
together, Steve and Donna
spend almost all of their
free time together, and
they frequently socialize
with members of Steve’s
family. Staying connected
to her family, friends and
the world around her are
important to Donna.
As vice president of her
company, Donna strives
to stay organized and well
informed. She structures
both her personal and
professional advertising
consumption around these
principles. Donna likes
to think that her store
of knowledge helps oth-
food as well as the com-
pany’s strong Christian
values. A few months
before the interview, a
friend told Clark about a
promotion where the first
100 people into the store
would win 52 free meals
over the course of a year.
He and this friend camped
outside a Chick-fil-A for
more than 50 hours, along
with many others. Clark
and his friend won the
meals. He had a positive
experience waiting with
people similar to him
while enjoying free food
and music in the parking
lot.
Donna has
been mar-
ried to Steve
for 20 years.
The couple
live in a beautiful home
Atlanta
Donna, 44
Business
Owner

17
vertising an expected and
inescapable part of news
consumption.
Jane and her
husband have
two sons, 6
and 14. Her
husband sells
lighting for commercial
buildings and performs in
comedy, magic shows and
cabaret acts on the side.
Jane has never done any
work that directly relates
to her degree in speech
communication, but con-
siders her knowledge
“diversified.” She current-
ly works as a substitute
teacher, mainly in elemen-
tary schools. Family is the
most important element
in her life. Jane also val-
ues honesty and safety.
With the personality of
Donna receives adver-
tising through multiple
entry points and devices.
She is attracted mainly
to print and direct e-mail
advertising. Online, she
is rarely tempted to open
pop-up ads and ignores
most advertising.
Donna is compulsive
about her consumption of
the news. She watches the
TV news in the mornings
and evenings, listens to
talk shows on the radio
when in her car, receives
The Atlanta Journal-Con-
stitution daily and reads
the news online, includ-
ing entertainment news.
Donna does not believe
that reading or watching
negative news impacts her
opinion about the accom-
panying advertising. She
has become “numb to bad
news” and considers ad-
ing as the way companies
create awareness about
particular products, for-
mulate an association
with the products, and
stimulate people to act
by purchasing them. She
recognizes positive and
negative sides to advertis-
ing. On the positive side,
advertising allows her to
create connections and
stay informed, but it can
be interruptive (such as
spam e-mails or phone so-
licitations) and dishonest.
Donna has developed
what she calls the “net-
work of mys,” meaning her
favorite places, products
and service providers. She
refuses to go outside of
her “network” unless she
receives word-of-mouth
recommendations from at
least two trusted sources.
Atlanta
Jane, 50
Substitute
Teacher

18
likely to notice advertis-
ing when she is alone.
Jane uses advertising
to stay informed, to make
smart purchasing deci-
sions and to sate her curi-
osity.
Jane has definite ideas
about which kinds of ad-
vertising are appropriate
and when, especially with
regard to news consump-
tion. She does not approve
of the use of humorous
advertising in conjunction
with serious content.
Jane doesn’t consume
news at specific times on a
regular basis regardless of
the format.
important subjects. She
is particularly attuned to
advertising that provides
information relevant to
her community.
She prefers advertising
that is visually engag-
ing and finds advertis-
ing interruptive when it
“yells at her” and when it
is played at inappropriate
times. Jane is surprised at
how open advertising has
become to “sexual/sensual
innuendo” and is often
shocked at some of the
products being discussed.
Jane is most engaged
with advertising when
she can focus on what she
is watching, listening to
or reading without in-
terruption. Her level of
concentration is related to
the presence or absence of
her children – she is most
a planner, Jane is often
responsible for deciding on
activities for her family
and friends and is always
cognizant of advertising.
She considers herself to be
“in the know” and prides
herself on the relevance of
her information. Tips Jane
exchanges with family,
friends and acquaintances
may include advertising.
Jane describes advertis-
ing as a “pitcher throw-
ing information at you,
right in your face.” It is
a company’s attempt to
influence consumers by
broadcasting its message.
Jane stays attuned to the
advertising around her
because she is interested
in how businesses market
themselves to the con-
sumer. She appreciates
advertising that provides
clear information about

19
priate times on television.
Laura looks to advertis-
ing for information and
entertainment and to sat-
isfy her curiosity. Those
needs are fulfilled by ad-
vertisements about prod-
ucts and services in which
she is interested. Laura
may be curious about cer-
tain ads that don’t seem
relevant to her, but she
rarely acts on them.
Laura watches the news
on TV before leaving for
work and before bed and
reads the news online. She
checks breaking news and
traffic stories throughout
the day by following the
headlines on her home
page.
Laura ignores most
Internet advertising
but will click and follow
public aware of differ-
ent kinds of information.
She believes she wouldn’t
know “half of what I do”
about new products or ser-
vices without advertising.
She generally thinks ad-
vertising makes a positive
contribution to society,
but dislikes aspects, such
as the misleading quality
of the “fine print.”
Laura is engaged by ad-
vertising that directly re-
lates to her life, especially
sales and promotions. The
best time to talk for Laura
is when she is relaxed and
can focus on the product or
service being advertised.
She describes interrup-
tive advertising as a “gim-
mick” or something that is
not applicable to everyone.
Examples include pop-ups
and ads aired at inappro-
Laura lives
with her
husband and
two daugh-
ters, 6 and 6
months, in a
middle-class neighborhood
in a southern suburb of
Atlanta. She is currently
working as a mortgage
loan processor, a job that
she dislikes. She received
a degree as a medical as-
sistant but started work-
ing as a receptionist at a
mortgage company and
moved up to become a loan
processor. She hopes to
open her own event-plan-
ning business some day.
Her large, extended family
likes to share informa-
tion and shop with one
another.
Advertising for Laura
is a way of making the
Atlanta
Laura, 28
Mortgage
Loan
Processor

20
so that the consumer is
bombarded by the brand
message.
Richard likes advertis-
ing with humor, advertis-
ing that keeps him aware
of new products and ad-
vertising that he relates
to personally. Richard
describes engaging adver-
tising as “proactive,” such
as a Chick-fil-A billboard
on the highway downtown.
Engaging advertising of-
fers “calls to action.”
He dislikes advertising
that is forced upon him,
like pop-ups online and
free offers with a catch.
Interruptive advertis-
ing bothers him when he
is doing research on the
computer or trying to view
a particular video clip.
Advertising that he finds
intentionally interrup-
work because he is always
the first to find and share
information. He loves
sharing news stories, espe-
cially those dealing with
the entertainment indus-
try, as well as funny video
clips and sales or promo-
tions. He spends much of
his time researching and
developing business plans
for his company. He looks
across media for interest-
ing stories and creative
ideas.
Richard entitled his
ethnography journal,
“Giving Yourself a Good
Name,” because for him,
advertising is brand mar-
keting. It is the way that a
company or product makes
itself known to the public.
Richard believes that to
be successful, companies
need to advertise using all
different types of media
advertising links if she is
online at home.
Richard is
the presi-
dent and
co-founder
of an enter-
tainment
group. His typical work
days run late into the
evening, making it diffi-
cult for him to spend time
with his 34-year-old wife
and her 14-year-old son.
Richard appreciates his
job for its opportunities to
travel, as well as his rela-
tionships with artists, but
he is dissatisfied with his
work-life balance. Above
all, Richard is very proud
of his entrepreneurial ac-
complishments.
Richard believes he is a
leader in his social net-
Atlanta
Richard, 29
Company
President and
Co-Founder

21
Eric, a
marriage
and family
counselor,
helps vio-
lent offend-
ers “get back into society.”
He is married with three
daughters who are 8, 6
and 8 months. Religion is
central to his life and he
plays an active role in his
church.
Eric is exposed to adver-
tising through television,
radio and Internet. His
engagement with these
sources is compartmen-
talized: He is exposed to
Internet advertising at
work; he listens to the
radio in the car; and he
watches television in the
evenings at home. Eric is
most likely to be drawn
into advertisements while
watching television but
spends a good deal of time
checking breaking news
headlines. He particularly
likes world news, economic
updates and local news.
Richard follows links to
videos when surfing online,
especially for news video.
However, he doesn’t click
on the advertising ban-
ners on news sites or fol-
low the sponsored links on
Google during searches.
Richard believes that
the kind of news he reads
does impact the types of
advertising he notices and
that news itself can be in-
terruptive when it creates
panic or anxiety.
tive makes him less likely
to respond. Advertising
on the Internet is more
interruptive for Richard
than on the radio, TV or in
print.
Richard is more at-
tracted to advertising that
relates to his line of work
while he is at work. On
the weekends, he is more
likely to respond to adver-
tising that relates to his
family and their needs.
The best time to talk for
Richard is during his
down time; the worst time
when he is working.
Richard’s career re-
quires him to stay up to
date on entertainment
industry news. He sub-
scribes to entertainment
magazines, uses several
devices to be “in the know,”
buys the newspaper and
Kansas City
Eric, 28
Marriage and
Family Life
Counselor

22
and his stepsons, 21 and
23. Sports bring the fam-
ily together as the kids
play, watch events avidly
and regularly attend pro
sports games. Brent even
works the concessions at
Royals stadium to get good
sight lines to the field.
As a barber, Brent is
aware that aesthetics can
shape a person’s opinions.
“I can shape a person’s
attitude by changing the
way they look.” He sees
this shaping ability in
advertising: “Advertising
shapes the way I consume
and how I incorporate
products into my life and
spending.”
The most engaging ads
for Brent are humorous
and relate to his interests.
He finds some ads annoy-
ing but he feels he can
of the experience of enjoy-
ing his favorite shows but
finds them interruptive
when he views the daily
morning news.
Eric is most drawn to
visual storytelling in
advertising, both on tele-
vision and print. However,
he is annoyed by ads that
pop up, that are densely
packed with information,
or that are unrelated to
his purchasing needs. He
is displeased that these
types of ads usually force
him to take an action to
get rid of them.
Brent is a
soft-spoken
barbershop
owner. He
spends much
of his free time with his
wife, their 14-year-old son,
otherwise finds ads inter-
ruptive.
Eric’s news consumption
follows a similar pattern.
He reads the newspaper
online and listens to news
updates on the radio.
At these times, he is not
interested in being ex-
posed to ads. Advertising
that comes on while he
is watching the televised
news in the morning or
evenings is somewhat
more welcome, but less so
than when he is relaxing
in front of the television
at night. He prefers hear-
ing about “good” news.
Eric accepts the need
for companies to adver-
tise their products and
services. He appreciates
advertising that enter-
tains him. He considers
television ads to be a part
Kansas City
Brent, 35
Barbershop
Owner

23
Jennifer claims she is not
afraid of working hard but
also expects to be able to
buy the things she is ac-
customed to having.
Jennifer’s active life
does not expose her to
much advertising. Jen-
nifer is most likely to be
open to advertising when
she is at home relaxing
in front of the television.
She listens to the radio to
hear her favorite music,
preferably uninterrupted,
and her behavior on the
computer is goal-oriented.
She finds billboard adver-
tising to be desperate, like
a “cheesy salesman,” and
comparatively not effec-
tive.
Overall, advertising is a
convenience for Jennifer.
It informs her of new prod-
ucts and often entertains
smartphone was strategic.
Because of his job, he has
little time to keep up with
the news during the day.
He relies on his phone to
keep him up to date and
thus finds advertising on
his phone especially inter-
ruptive.
Jennifer is
a market-
ing and
psychology
student
at Central Missouri State
University. In general,
Jennifer views advertis-
ing in a positive light.
“Advertising doesn’t hurt
you; it’s there for you to
respond to or not.”
Jennifer recently moved
back into her mother’s
home. Her decision was
financially motivated.
ignore them. At work, he
tries to minimize poten-
tially offensive adver-
tising by subscribing to
satellite television.
If Brent were to get all
his ads sent to one device,
he would choose his tele-
vision because he expects
them to be there. In con-
trast, he dislikes ads when
he surfs the Internet
(especially on his smart-
phone). They interrupt
what he is trying to ac-
complish. Moreover, Brent
distrusts advertisements
on the Internet because
they entice him to make
an immediate purchase
rather than give him time
to think. Brent also ques-
tions the veracity of ads
online more than on other
platforms.
Brent’s purchase of his
Kansas City
Jennifer, 20
College Student

24
second home in Colorado.
Roberta says that her fam-
ily lives comfortably, but
she is quick to stress that
they spend within their
means.
Roberta has a very
broad understanding of
advertising. As a stand
against advertising that
she finds morally distaste-
ful, she will not let her
son wear t-shirts with cer-
tain brand names embla-
zoned across the front. The
most engaging advertising
for her innovatively inte-
grates text and graphics,
while the least appealing
advertising screams “free.”
For Roberta, pop-up ads
and telemarketing are the
most annoying forms of
advertising. “It’s not what
I paid for, it’s tacky. Don’t
leave your advertising
and her eldest daughter,
who is 25, lives nearby
with her fiancé in an
apartment owned by Ro-
berta and her husband.
Roberta describes her
5,000-square-foot house as
a “people-moving house.”
It is important to Roberta
and her husband that
their children and their
children’s friends see and
use the house as a hub for
their various activities
and get-togethers. She
enjoys entertaining chil-
dren in their home in part
because its alcohol- and
drug-free environment is
safer for them and reas-
suring to other parents.
The large house sup-
ports the love of antiques
Roberta shares with her
husband. The family also
enjoys skiing and owns a
her. Jennifer believes you
can turn away from adver-
tising if you don’t want to
be interrupted by it.
Jennifer believes that
she follows the news more
than her friends and
family do. She watches
the local six o’clock news
almost daily. She is most
concerned about news that
affects her directly or is
close to her family. Jenni-
fer has become trusting of
the stories she hears and
usually views the accom-
panying advertising in a
positive light.
Roberta
lives with
her hus-
band and
17-year-old
daughter.
Her son, 21, is at college,
Kansas City
Roberta, 49
Substitute
Teacher

25
to comedy clubs. Vama
enjoys watching television
and has recently started
watching her favorite
television shows on the In-
ternet. She loves to travel,
and usually takes six trips
a year.
To Vama, advertise-
ments are meant to inform
and persuade consumers.
She believes ads should
match the program that is
being shown and feels that
advertising is disruptive
when “it’s too obvious that
they want to encourage
you to buy their product.”
Vama is most drawn in
by ads that entertain her.
Television ads in particu-
lar appeal to her desire
for visually engaging
graphics and limited text.
On the Internet, she has
grown accustomed to the
and services for herself
and her family. She is not
an avid television watcher,
and she uses the com-
puter mainly to check the
weather and keep track
of her church’s missions
overseas. Roberta antici-
pates that her interaction
with advertising will shift
further online following
her recent purchase of a
smartphone.
Vama is a lia-
bility claims
adjustor at a
motorcycle
insurance
company. She hopes to
move up to a management
position so that she can
retire at age 50.
Vama’s interests include
playing video games, lis-
tening to music and going
on my stuff. That makes
me say I’m not going to
purchase your product.”
Her most recent experi-
ence with pop-up ads was
in print. She received her
daily Kansas City Star
with a sticker ad for a
local clothing company
obscuring part of the front
page. She was furious and
felt that her morning ritu-
al of reading the paper,
which she had paid for,
had been severely inter-
rupted. She vowed to never
shop at the store sponsor-
ing the advertising.
Roberta doesn’t seek to
be entertained by adver-
tisements, but she expects
ads to be well designed
and attractive to the eye.
Her primary access to
advertising is through the
newspaper, and she uses
ads to research products
Kansas City
Vama, 30
Claims
Adjuster

26
Belinda is
a married
mother of
a 17-year-
old boy
and 13-year-old girl. A
third teenager, a family
friend, lives in Belinda’s
home and has become an
integral part of the fam-
ily. Belinda cares about
her family and puts her
family first. She wants her
kids to be honest and re-
spect other people. “I am a
person who always tries to
do my best. My motto is to
have fun and laugh a lot.”
She and her family rare-
ly watch live TV. Instead,
they rent Netflix movies
and watch shows saved to a
digital video recorder. Be-
linda has lived in Manhat-
tan for over nine years and
loves it. Since she has been
in the same neighborhood
out their stories. In this
setting, she is clear on the
need for news and ad-
vertising to complement
each other. She also likes
to follow the news online
and feels that the Internet
gives her greater freedom
to move within a story
and dig for context. She
appreciates hyperlinks
embedded in news stories
that provide more back-
ground; “[the hyperlinks]
let you go back to the
beginning. On the Inter-
net you can archive it like
that, whereas with TV, if
it’s not current, you’re not
going to see it.”
positioning of ads and as
a result doesn’t find them
completely disruptive. She
has recently been using
her Apple iTouch more,
which limits the amount
of advertising she has to
ignore while perusing the
Web.
Although she really
enjoys television, Vama is
not hooked on video in all
contexts. She particularly
dislikes online video ads,
which she believes are not
worth her time. She does
appreciate that watching
them is a small compro-
mise in exchange for free
online programming.
To catch up on news,
Vama likes to watch the
10 o’clock televised news
because she thinks the
reporters have had more
time to update and round
New York City
Belinda, 49
Freelance
Consultant

27
advertising isn’t terribly
interruptive, but Belinda
considers it brainwashing.
She hates online ads that
pop up or move across the
screen, and feels invaded
because she has no control
over what she sees. She
calls it “eye pollution.”
Belinda checks the news
all throughout the day, in
between periods of work.
She mostly reads The New
York Times online, but
also watches the news on
CNN and CNBC. She often
has one of these networks
on during the day in the
background while she
works from home on the
computer. She also has a
morning ritual of drink-
ing coffee and watching
the Today show with her
son. During this time, they
might see a commercial
on TV and comment on it,
much” advertising, and
spends much of her time
trying to ignore it.
Belinda categorizes
advertising into two
straightforward catego-
ries: either good or bad.
Good advertising is visu-
ally appealing and beauti-
ful, not “in my face,” and
gives her something in
return for her attention.
Bad advertising includes
pop-up ads on the comput-
er, flyers on the street and
boring ads.
Belinda doesn’t feel
she “needs” advertising.
She believes that she gets
nothing out of advertis-
ing except, occasionally,
entertainment. She likes
intelligent ads that are
not too blatant, and she is
also more engaged with
ads that change. Banner
for so long, she has built
a large social network of
friends, colleagues and
fellow parents. Belinda
leverages her community
to share and receive infor-
mation, most often about
shopping, travel, restau-
rants or good deals, as
well as items of interest,
including articles, videos
and Web sites.
Belinda sees ads all over
the place in her life. In
her opinion, their purpose
is either to alert her to
new products or to remind
her of existing products.
Belinda seems to react
negatively to advertising
in all contexts. Subway ads
and radio ads are slightly
less annoying because she
is usually a captive audi-
ence in these scenarios.
However, she strongly
feels that there is “too

28
walking and/or on pub-
lic transportation offer
her pleasant thoughtful
moments, and funny com-
mercials on TV make her
laugh. Donia likes clever
ads but wants ads to be
clear about the products
being pitched. She is espe-
cially attracted to ads that
use the product or brand
as the punch line.

Online, Donia finds ads
too interruptive if they
keep her from what she’s
trying to get done. She
cites pop-ups and video
in that regard. She also
finds targeted advertis-
ing “creepy” and “like Big
Brother.” She dislikes
when companies try to
communicate too much,
or overdo product place-
ments.
Donia reads newspapers
get a job. Currently, she
works in an accounting de-
partment of a real estate
company, which she finds
interesting but not thrill-
ing. Donia cites family and
friends as most important
in her life.
Donia regularly ex-
changes articles, videos,
information and even
advertisements with her
friends online. She only
shares things if they are
digital, through her Face-
book wall, over Google
chat or e-mail.
Donia thinks about
advertising as the inter-
section between entertain-
ment for consumers and
communication from com-
panies. As such, the only
need advertising fills for
Donia is entertainment.
Clever ads while she’s
but typically they are not
paying close attention. On-
line, besides The New York
Times, Belinda sometimes
clicks on AOL news head-
lines from her homepage.
She also reads articles e-
mailed to her from friends
from various newspaper
Web sites. Belinda says
that ads in the news have
“no effect” on her, since
she typically doesn’t even
notice them.
Donia is
a single
woman who
lives with
a family
friend from
Ridgewood, N.J. Donia
went to college at George
Washington University
in Washington, D.C., then
moved to New York City
to be nearer to family and
New York City
Donia, 25
Accounting
Department
Clerk

29
Ethan is most likely to
engage with ads when he’s
not doing anything else or
when he has “more time,”
such as on weekends. For
television shows, Ethan
has a DVR and avoids
most TV commercials.
Ethan enjoys finding
out about new products
through advertising. He
benefits from ads that
teach him something, for
example, a Smart Balance
ad that taught him about
a plant-based cholesterol
reducer. As a networker,
Ethan receives informa-
tion on products from his
friends and others in his
social circle.
He loves keeping up
with the news and calls
himself a “voracious con-
sumer of print media.” He
prefers to read the news-
city and is a proud mem-
ber of an exclusive mid-
town social club. He goes
to the club three to four
times a week to relax and
read newspapers. His so-
cial contacts are of utmost
importance to him.
Ethan welcomes nearly
all kinds of advertising
and finds it entertain-
ing. The only ads he finds
intrusive are the “creepy-
crawly” moving pop-up ads
online, which he tries to
close as quickly as pos-
sible. His favorite place to
look at ads is on the sub-
way and on buses, because
they are non-interruptive.
He feels similarly about
ads on billboards and in
newspapers and maga-
zines. Ethan prefers ads to
be engaging, simple and
beautiful.
online and rarely in print,
except for free papers
handed out on the street.
Donia reads The New
York Times online every
day, all the time. She has
become used to the format
and is easily able to ignore
any ads on the page, unless
an ad pops up.
She does not see a con-
nection between advertis-
ing and news. The two re-
main completely separate
in her brain, with ads as
something she has had to
learn to tolerate in order
to get to the news.
Ethan as-
pires to be
a wealthy
and power-
ful busi-
nessman. He lives on the
Upper West Side of the
New York City
Ethan, 37
Property
Manager

30
of friends, he is the “go-to
guy” for fixing anything
electronic.
Overall, Jason takes
a pragmatic approach
toward advertising. He
relies on ads to keep in-
formed about new prod-
ucts and services, and this
plays an important role in
his life. Jason enjoys tele-
vision ads most because he
likes to see and hear about
products. He is not keen
on online ads, which are
often forced on him when
he wants access to content.
While he does not go out
of his way to share adver-
tising, Jason does share
information about special
deals he finds on aggrega-
tor sites that he visits on a
daily basis.
Jason is most interested
and engaged with ads that
Ethan doesn’t often no-
tice ads online while con-
suming news, but he will
notice them in the printed
newspaper. Newspaper
ads are more engaging to
him because he finds them
bigger, more artsy, more
beautiful and clever.
Jason lives
in the
suburb of
Lynbrook,
N.Y., about
an hour outside of Man-
hattan, with his wife and
two children, ages 13 and
8. The family enjoys sports,
taking family trips, going
out to the movies and din-
ing out. He is an avid con-
sumer of technology and
enjoys working on home-
improvement projects and
playing golf. In his fam-
ily and among his circle
paper in print, which he
does on the train, subway,
at the club and at home on
the weekends. While he is
at work, however, he reads
news mostly on nytimes.
com, cnn.com, and newy-
orkmag.com. He doesn’t
watch news on TV because
he prefers to choose which
stories to consume.
One of his favorite
things to do is to read the
Sunday New York Times at
home, and he “can spend
hours reading it.” He was
bothered by the fact that
his two favorite publica-
tions, The New York Times
and Esquire, have recently
featured ads on their front
pages. He called it “a sign
of the times,” but as a man
who honors and respects
tradition, he was unhappy
with the new development.
New York City
Jason, 45
Property
Manager

31
a moderate level of atten-
tiveness to advertising.
Jason is primarily inter-
ested in local news, sports
news, technology news and
financial news, and keeps
informed on national and
international news stories
as well. When he is more
relaxed and passively re-
ceiving news, he feels he is
more receptive and aware
of advertising.
Carly works
as an office
assistant at
an indepen-
dent record
label in Manhattan. Origi-
nally from Detroit, she
has lived on and off in the
New York area over the
past four years. She shares
a two-bedroom apartment
with her cat and a friend
in Brooklyn. She enjoys
inserts or circulars in the
Sunday newspapers as
well as TV ads.
Jason’s news consump-
tion occurs throughout the
day. On the train, he gets
news from reading his lo-
cal newspaper and maga-
zines. Once at work, he
has news radio on in the
background and will usu-
ally check his My Yahoo
page at least once to scan
headlines from AP and
Reuters news feeds. On the
days he stays home, he gets
news through watching
his local news and CNN,
in addition to reading the
newspaper and checking
his My Yahoo page. In the
evenings after work, he
occasionally watches net-
work news on television.
When he is consuming
news, Jason feels he has
relate to his interests. He
is also engaged with ad-
vertising that communi-
cates some kind of special
offer or promotion. He ap-
preciates a well-crafted ad
and spoke favorably about
ads for the Apple iPhone.
For Jason, interruptive
ads include those that ap-
pear before online videos
or ads that seem randomly
placed. He acknowledges
that online video ads are
necessary and sees value in
them but has little pa-
tience for them nonetheless.
Jason’s engagement
with advertising varies.
When he is busy or rush-
ing, he does not pay atten-
tion, but when he is more
relaxed (such as when he
is home watching televi-
sion), he is more receptive.
On weekends, he looks at
New York City
Carly, 28
Office
Assistant

32
entertained, get informa-
tion or relieve her bore-
dom. She has a low regard
for online advertising, but
she concedes that some on-
line advertising can meet
her needs.
Carly is more receptive
to advertising when she
is communicating online
with friends via e-mail or
Facebook. She finds video
advertising less engag-
ing compared with print
ads, given her interests in
design, but recognizes that
video does have the power to
create an emotional connec-
tion to a product or service.
Carly’s news consump-
tion occurs primarily
online and on television
in the evenings and week-
ends. In the morning, she
often scans gothamist.com.
On weekends, she usually
of her way to share adver-
tising or Web links. She
takes a passive role and
relies on others to share
links and information
with her.
Carly is most engaged
with print ads and tries
to avoid online and televi-
sion ads. Over the years,
one of the significant
changes she has noticed
with advertising is the
increased use of what she
calls “absurdism.” She has
mixed feelings about this
advertising approach and
feels it is overused.
In the evenings after
work or on weekends,
Carly is more relaxed, has
more free time and is more
engaged with advertising.
For Carly, advertising
fulfills her desires to be
her neighborhood, which
reminds her of Detroit.
Carly describes herself
as a sociable person who
is very into music and
the arts. In her free time,
she DJs at local bars and
performs in a band. Since
music is a big passion in
her life, she hopes to get
a more substantial job in
the music industry in the
near future.
With a background
in photography, Carly is
focused on design. She
tends to appreciate an ad’s
artistic qualities, rather
than the specific product
or service being adver-
tised. She also appreciates
the entertainment value
of ads, particularly the
use of humor. Carly may
comment on ads that she
finds entertaining to her
friends, but does not go out

33
friends and her colleagues
“are all intertwined.” She
keeps up with her network
via Facebook, MySpace
and Photoblog, and with
her inner circle by phone,
texting, e-mail and Face-
book.
Leslie feels that adver-
tising is everywhere. She
sees it most of all on the
subway and on billboards.
But in many cases, Leslie
says, “I just don’t notice
it.” She blanks out TV
commercials. (“It’s just
noise.”) Most of the time
she watches shows that she
and her partner record, so
they fast-forward through
the commercials.
To Leslie, advertising
is “always about getting
more money.” She feels
that advertisements re-
semble “hands grabbing
not something she discuss-
es with friends. Carly does
not actively seek out news
stories but rather takes a
browse and scan approach.
Leslie is an
event man-
ager with a
side job as
an opera-
tions manager for Victo-
ria’s Secret promotions
and display. She lives
with her partner of nine
months and considers her
immediate family to be
“me, my partner and our
three pets.” Leslie’s family
means everything to her;
most of her extended fam-
ily is in Hawaii. She calls
herself the mediator of the
family. Leslie has a large
network of friends in Cali-
fornia, Hawaii and New
York, and loves that her
reads The New York Times
online, focusing on the
arts and book review sec-
tions. She does not consid-
er herself a news junkie,
but wants to keep in-
formed so that she is “not
walking into the world not
knowing that something
huge happened.” When
consuming news online,
Carly tends not to notice
advertising, because she
knows where to expect it
in the context of the sites
she visits. Similarly, when
watching television news,
she tends not to focus on
the advertising and is
generally put off by com-
mercials.
Carly gravitates toward
entertainment news and
local news rather than
hard news or world news.
For her, news consumption
is a solitary pursuit and
New York City
Leslie, 30
Freelance
Event Manager

34
and in the world. She is
familiar with the formats
of the news sites she fre-
quents and avoids the ads.
Sam recent-
ly gradu-
ated from
New York
University
with a bachelor’s degree
in metropolitan stud-
ies and urban design. He
grew up in a New Jersey
suburb about 40 minutes
outside of New York City.
He describes himself as
an analytical, inquisitive
and sociable person with a
diverse set of interests in-
cluding music, snowboard-
ing, skateboarding and
cycling. For the past year,
he has lived at his parents’
home to save money. He
recently started working
as a front-desk clerk at a
the point. When ads go
further, such as trying to
convince her of something,
she gets turned off.
Leslie hates online
advertising and tries to
ignore it. She despises ads
that move across the page
and hates when online
ads appear in places they
weren’t before. She under-
stands that much of what
she does online is free and
funded by ads, yet she is
irritated by the ads.
Leslie is most likely
to read the news online
on the sites of CNN, The
New York Times and The
Los Angeles Times. She
occasionally gets a paper
version of The New York
Times on Sunday to read
leisurely. She likes keep-
ing up to date on “what’s
happening” around her
out at you,” trying to pull
the consumer in different
directions. Getting used
to a constant barrage of
advertising has pushed
Leslie to gauge her wants
versus her real needs.
Leslie uses friends to
help sort her priorities.
She regularly shares
information about travel,
shopping, events, restau-
rants, jobs and more with
her friends and colleagues.
She likes products to
be vetted by real people
before she purchases them
and visits yelp.com or
other consumer reviews
sites.
Leslie notices ads most
often in the subway and
in magazines. Advertising
encourages her “to look
into that.” She appreciates
ads that are clever and to
New York City
Sam, 22
Hotel Desk
Clerk

35
advertising more.
Sam feels that adver-
tising addresses his need
to be entertained and
informed. The need to be
entertained is largely met
by ads that Sam views on
television. Online ad-
vertising does fulfill his
need to be informed, but
Sam has less patience for
the format of online ads,
particularly if he is fo-
cused on getting to desired
content. He also feels that
the quality of advertising
online is inconsistent and
often gimmicky.
Sam primarily con-
sumes news online in the
evenings. Occasionally, he
will watch the evening
news on television with
his family. On average, he
estimates spending be-
tween 10 and 30 minutes a
that appeal to his sense of
humor, particularly com-
mercials on television. He
enjoys creative print ads
and online ads that use
Flash technology. Sam
feels that online ads that
require him to interact by
clicking are interruptive
and annoying, particular-
ly if he is focused on get-
ting to particular content.
The time of day impacts
Sam’s tolerance for adver-
tising. When he is online
and doing a focused activ-
ity, being forced to inter-
act with advertising in
the form of pop-up ads or
“floating ads that require
X-ing out of” causes him to
become annoyed and frus-
trated. If he is more casu-
ally browsing the Internet
or watching television,
usually in the evenings
or weekends, he tolerates
hotel close to his home in
New Jersey. He sees this
job as a stepping-stone to
property management,
though he would like to
continue pursuing his
interests in urban design
and planning.
Sam regards advertising
as “everywhere” in his en-
vironment. He recognizes
the power of advertising
to inform and influence
people but feels that the
constant bombardment of
advertising can have nega-
tive effects. Sam tends to
share information and
advertising that he finds
entertaining or humorous.
Sharing content allows
him to feel connected with
his network of friends.
The types of advertising
Sam finds most interest-
ing and engaging are ads

36
advertising has become
overwhelming, creeping
into personal lives, but
that some forms of adver-
tising can be entertaining
and eye-opening to new
products or events. Most
advertising annoys Ange-
la because it feels invasive
and does not seem to serve
a purpose beyond “yelling
something at me.”
She explains, “Sometimes
you feel like you’re just be-
ing bombarded by things.
Other times you think that
is really cool, let me check
that out. Other times it’s
just, get that away from
me; I don’t want to see it.
I’m going to change the
channel; I’m going to turn
this off. I’m going to close
the Internet browser.”
Angela just got a
Blackberry that she uses
Angela
works for
a plastic
surgeon
and lives
with her
boyfriend in San Francis-
co. She exudes confidence
and an enthusiasm for
life. She enjoys going to
new restaurants and see-
ing live music. Although
Angela dislikes the term
“foodie,” she spends a lot
of time searching yelp.com
and opentable.com and
values user reviews for
their “unbiased nature,”
in contrast to paid reviews
or advertisements. Angela
feels there is a distinction
between “honest” informa-
tion and “biased” informa-
tion.
Angela has a love/hate
relationship with adver-
tising. She believes that
day looking at news Web
sites, such as CNN and
MSNBC. When checking
these sites, his approach is
to quickly scan headlines
and then read articles or
view video news stories.
While he generally
ignores advertising on
news sites, he understands
the necessity of having ads
with the news, particular-
ly when watching videos.
Sam’s level of engagement
with the news impacts the
likelihood of his noticing
the accompanying adver-
tising. When focused on
getting to news content,
particularly serious news,
he does not want to be
distracted by advertising.
Generally, since he feels he
has limited time, he does
not want advertising to im-
pede his access to the news.
San Francisco
Angela, 24
Operating
Room
Technician

37
Dalton is
a divorced
man who
has lived
in the San
Francisco area all his
life. His son lives nearby.
Dalton is an accountant
for local community-based
foundations. Six months
prior to the interview,
Dalton’s fiancé passed
away suddenly from com-
plications due to high
blood pressure. He went
through a difficult pe-
riod but found some relief
when he befriended a lo-
cal rabbi who introduced
spirituality to his life.
Dalton is attracted to
advertisements as a form
of information and enter-
tainment when they are
relevant to his life and
interests. When asked
what his life would be like
Angela reads The San
Francisco Chronicle and
The Oakland Tribune
in hard copy most days,
although she admits she
skims through the news
for headlines that are of
interest to her. She tries to
force herself to read “news
news,” meaning politics or
world events, but is most
interested in entertain-
ment and local stories.
When reading the hard-
copy newspaper, Angela
always notices the ads
because they are “huge!”
Although she is annoyed
these ads take up more
visual space than the
news, she does skim them
because she is interested
in the clothing sales or
restaurant reviews.
to check her e-mail, read
news and perform other
online functions. More
recently, she has begun
receiving text messages
that are advertisements
for things like ringtones
and wallpaper, which she
feels are “completely use-
less.” Angela expects to
see advertisements while
watching TV or spending
time online and has come
to accept those experienc-
es. However, she is dis-
turbed by the text ads on
her cell phone. She feels
very strongly that her cell
phone should be “off lim-
its” because it feels more
“personal to me.” Since she
carries the Blackberry
at all times, “it is like an
invasion of my personal
space … It is almost like
someone is sticking adver-
tisements in my purse.”
San Francisco
Dalton, 55
Accountant

38
ing with ads during his
news consumption, he is
more likely to notice an ad
that relates to the article,
or if the advertising ac-
companies “fluff.” “The
more serious the news
subject, the less likely I
am to notice advertising …
I’m less receptive to some-
thing that is way off track
… in entertainment my
mind is in a lighter place.”
James is
a Chinese
man who
lives in
a suburb
of San Francisco with
his 2-year-old daughter,
Cassie. James works for
his family’s real estate
business and commutes
into San Francisco daily.
During the past two
years, he divorced Cassie’s
reactions and force him to
watch something he may
not be interested in.
Dalton is well-informed
about local and world
news, and he spends a lot
of time reading and watch-
ing the news. His morning
ritual includes an hour
of preparation, including
exercising and getting
dressed. During this time,
he watches the local news
and weather. He reads The
Examiner during his com-
mute, sees a bit of local
and entertainment news
on a mini-TV in the eleva-
tor in his work office, and
he checks The New York
Times and BBC online
during work hours. His
evenings end with about
30 minutes of news on TV.
Although he does not
spend a lot of time engag-
if advertisements did not
exist, Dalton replied: “I
like communication to see
what’s out there; other-
wise I’d be lost. I might as
well be back in the 80’s! It
is part of living now, there
are so many things you
can take advantage of …
how would you know about
it, if you didn’t see or hear
an ad or media. It’s all
about ads.”
Although Dalton has a
positive attitude toward
advertising, he feels that
it has become more in-
vasive over the years. He
loves TV commercials,
although they sometimes
bother him, especially
when commercials raise
the volume significantly
compared to the TV shows
he’s watching. He is per-
turbed that advertisers
are trying to control his
San Francisco
James, 34
Real Estate
Agent

39
as advertisers across Asia
seem to do. “They have
these videos on their buses
… and they always catch
your attention.”
James was really taken
with a video ad for a new
camera that had video ca-
pability. He spoke highly
about it and even sent
it around to family and
friends. He also continued
his research to find user
reviews and actual videos
that users had taken.
James consumes a lot of
news on his own time. On
the rare occasion when he
does not have his daugh-
ter, James watches the
late news. Otherwise, he
consumes all his news
online. He gave up reading
printed newspapers a few
years ago for convenience.
His phone is able to ac-
James does most of his
research on fatwallet.com
and slickdeals.net. After a
few experiences with the
sites, James became “ad-
dicted” to them and now
spends time on both sites
every night before bed.
He never shops in person
and uses the Web as his
main source of informa-
tion. James trusts these
sites because their users
are people like him, who
are looking for a good deal
and “watching each others’
backs.” It is very important
to James that these sites
remain valid sources of
information, so they don’t
turn into “just advertising.”
James feels that video
provides the deepest infor-
mation and highest enter-
tainment value. He wishes
American advertisers
would use video as much
mother, moved in with his
parents and took full cus-
tody of his daughter. His
life revolves around Cassie
and his new identity as a
single father. He explains,
“Since I became a father
26 months ago, advertising
has become very impor-
tant to me. It informs me
of new products that could
be very useful for my baby.
But I don’t trust adver-
tisements completely ... So
my world depends on user
reviews.”
James is inherently sus-
picious of advertisements
because he knows they
present the positive side
of products. Advertise-
ments do not prompt him
to make purchase imme-
diately but rather encour-
age him to do additional
online research, especially
for unbiased user reviews.

40
worked as a designer for
a company specializing
in window coverings. He
spends half of his time in
the office creating propos-
als and calling clients.
The other half is spent
driving around to com-
mercial and individual
residences to see clients’
windows and design proj-
ects. Daniel’s wife works
at their 3-year-old daugh-
ter’s pre-school and is an
artist.
As a family they try to
“keep our footprint small”
by not consuming a lot.
This mentality impacts
Daniel’s awareness of
advertising and his under-
standing of advertisers’
goals. They do not shop
much unless Daniel is
looking for “gear” related
to outdoor activities, such
as mountain biking or
nals so he can read them
while the signal is gone.
When James gets to work
each morning, he spends
about 30 minutes reading
the news on his computer.
During this time, he is fo-
cused on getting the news,
so he says he does not pay
attention to ads. However,
most of the ads he reports
as getting his attention
occur during this time and
space.
Daniel is a
laid-back
family man
who values
the free-
dom his job
provides. After his college
graduation, he worked for
a few friends in the home-
repair field and traveled
as a carpenter. For the
past five years, he has
cess “mobile versions” of
various Web sites, so he
has a number of news sites
bookmarked. These mobile
sites show a picture and a
headline, and have almost
no advertisements. James
says he uses the sites be-
cause he can “get my news
kick faster and without
distractions.” He does not
usually pay attention to
advertisements while he
is reading the news on his
phone.
James accesses news
about local stories, busi-
ness, real estate, travel,
Asia, the financial market
and the economy. He is
not interested in political
news or entertainment
news. Since his phone does
not always get a signal in
the Bay Area transporta-
tion system, he downloads
articles between the sig-
San Francisco
Daniel, 42
Designer of
Window
Treatments

41
related to his particular
interests. However, ads
engage him in limited
spaces, mostly on Web sites
specifically related to his
interests.
Daniel dislikes the
feeling of being manipu-
lated by advertising. “I
don’t like to be assaulted
or made paranoid about
something. An alarm
company had an ad saying,
‘You don’t love your family
enough to buy this.’ Some-
thing like that … it’s a
little heavy-handed. Stuff
like that really irritates
me.” Daniel has become
adept at ignoring advertis-
ing when it appears where
he expects it, and he is
comfortable with the lack
of advertising in his life.
Daniel’s workday is bro-
ken up with many small
almost impossible not to.
Phone, computer, outside,
turn on the radio. It’s hard
to avoid, you can’t get away
from it … Do I need the ad-
vertisement when I turn
around to grab a paper
towel? When I open my
cereal? I think there is a
place between nothing and
complete saturation.”
Since Daniel views him-
self as someone who does
not consume much and his
family typically purchases
second-hand items, Daniel
does not have a very posi-
tive view of advertising.
He thinks of advertising
as manipulation, to which
he does not want to suc-
cumb. His attitude is not
contingent on the form
of advertising, although
he cited online ads most
often. Advertisements that
catch his attention are
skiing. He enjoys spending
time on Web sites related
to these activities, which
include forums for selling
used gear.
Daniel views advertis-
ing as something that’s
“coming from all sides”
and believes most fami-
lies allow advertising to
dictate their purchases,
especially when children
are in the picture. He ex-
plains, “I see other people
who buy toys constantly,
and the kids just pick it
up and are like, ‘Next.’
We try not to be like that
… we’re not the ultimate
consumers. Try to keep
it simple.” He recognizes
the need for advertising
and finds some of it enter-
taining but worries about
being inundated with
commercials. “You get it
from so many angles, it’s

42
Jack is a cynical per-
son. He is instinctually
distrustful of advertis-
ers and thinks he knows
“a lot about how they
work.” Jack believes that
advertisements show the
public only the positive
side of the story. He be-
lieves that “advertising
is largely manipulative
in my estimation.” But he
acknowledges the role it
plays in society and the
media. “TV, more or less,
does not exist without
advertising. Newspapers,
large media outlets on the
Internet – those places all
require the presence of
advertisers.” Beyond that,
he counts commercials as
a source of entertainment.
He thinks commercials that
are “funny and bizarre” are
the most entertaining, al-
though not necessarily the
most effective.
thing is if it’s a movie
trailer. He explains, “I
have limited time and
watching commercials is
not the highlight.”
Jack has
drifted
through
various
jobs since
graduating from college
with a degree in English
literature. Currently, he
does freelance work for
a variety of contacts and
companies, mostly related
to music or video-game
writing. Although he
enjoys the freedom of this
work, he worries about his
future. Jack is a loner by
choice. He explains that he
is not a “social butterfly”
and is extremely self-
reliant.
tasks, and in between each
one, Daniel typically uses
a Web site or his e-mail
to transition. As he calls
a client and waits for a
response, he may quickly
check his personal e-mail
or open up a news Web site
and read quickly. When
his client answers the
phone, he will close the
site. Daniel is exposed to
advertising in these small
moments online, but he
never notices what the
ad is for or spends time
thinking about it. His en-
gagement level is extreme-
ly low during his at-work
multi-tasking.
The family does not
watch much TV but when
it does, it happens via the
DVR, fast-forwarding
through the commercials.
The only time Daniel will
go back to watch some-
San Francisco
Jack, 24
Freelance
Writer

43
Jac-
queline
is an
“aging
hippie”
living in a large San
Francisco home with her
cat. She grew up in Loui-
siana and went to school
for pre-veterinarian train-
ing. After graduation she
moved to San Francisco for
three years and then lived
in Hawaii for six years
selling college textbooks
and traveling. When her
mother became ill, she de-
cided to move back to the
mainland and returned to
San Francisco, which she
considers “the center.”
Jacqueline has held a
number of jobs in different
industries. She currently
works as a landlord but
spends most of her time
volunteering for local
of his “generation” are
used to multi-tasking and
know how to pay attention
only to what they consider
important. When Jack is
outside his home or online
he expects to be bombard-
ed by messages but knows
how to filter them out.
Jack consumes a lot of
online news throughout
the day, but at a very
shallow level. He prefers
browsing headlines to
reading full articles. Jack
does not read about world
news or politics because he
feels they do not directly
impact him. For his mu-
sic and movie news, Jack
regularly checks message
boards and user-content
sites related to these top-
ics.
Although Jack does not
purchase many items due
to his financial limita-
tions, he has a strong ap-
preciation for the creativ-
ity behind advertising and
will sometimes make a
small purchase because he
likes an advertisement. He
views this as a small “re-
ward” for the advertiser.
Jack acknowledges that
advertising has become
more common, but also
that he has become more
adept at filtering out
what he does not want to
see. “There is also a gro-
tesque element to [adver-
tising] depending on the
extent to which it is taken.
There is one particular
area of town in LA where
you can hardly see the sky
above all the billboards.”
He believes that people
San Francisco
Jacqueline, 55
Landlord

44
up with her computer cal-
endar. Jacqueline does not
check her e-mail on the
iPhone and hasn’t encoun-
tered advertising on it.
Victoria
lives in
San Fran-
cisco with
her hus-
band, their three cats, and
two dogs. Victoria enjoys
her current position at
an online ticket agency,
but feels she has reached
a point of stagnation. In
2001, following 9/11, Vic-
toria decided to go back
to school because she had
always regretted dropping
out of college. After seven
years of night classes, Vic-
toria obtained a degree in
communications.
Victoria married her
Jacqueline feels over-
whelmed by the breadth
of information available
to her. She believes her
age might also be a reason
why she does not see ads
online. Jacqueline feels
“that younger generations
can process so much. I just
get overwhelmed. There
is too much information.
Help! I’m overwhelmed
by too much. You tend to
freeze up and block out …
I’m in the middle of doing
something else and if I
keep stopping to do ads, I
won’t ever get done.”
As a Christmas pres-
ent to herself, Jacqueline
bought an iPhone. It may
have been a surprising
purchase for someone
who is not looking for
additional connections or
information, but she loves
the phone because it syncs
community organizations,
such as animal foster care,
wildlife conservation, vol-
unteer networks and local
schools.
Jacqueline believes
that advertising does not
impact her. At her stage
of life, she feels it’s more
valuable to “get rid of
stuff, not buy anything
more … As much as adver-
tising wants to sell stuff,
to be sane you have to get
rid of stuff. You can’t keep
accumulating.” When
asked about advertising,
Jacqueline says, “I think
I’m someone who ignores
it … I’m just tuning it out.”
Jacqueline does not rush
to make a purchase. She
believes that the largest
impact an advertisement
might have is to trigger a
thought or a note to herself.
San Francisco
Victoria, 35
Web Site
Manager

45
issue for Victoria when it
comes to advertising. She
feels she must conduct
her own research on any
product or service she
learns about from a com-
mercial because, “everyone
makes these claims. I feel
like they are making the
claims to sell products, not
to improve your life or add
value to your life. They
are trying to tell you it’ll
add value to your life. You
then have to ask yourself,
what is valuable to me?”
She uses consumer re-
ports, user reviews and her
social network to find out
about how products are
used.
Victoria appreciates the
information that adver-
tisements often provide,
but dislikes many of the
forms it takes. She feels
that advertising now ap-
Victoria’s household is
covered in pet hair, and
she is constantly on the
lookout for a fix. One
night, while relaxing in
front of the TV with her
husband, “A commercial
came on. It was a woman
and she started using this
thing on the couch and I
was like, ‘I have to have
that’ … and the next day, I
went to get one and used
it and loved it. And, all
my friends who have pets,
I told them about it … I
actually sent an e-mail to
everybody.” The pet hair
commercial experience
was perfect for her, be-
cause it not only fit a per-
sonal need, it arrived at a
time when she was relaxed
at home. It also showed
how the product worked so
she trusted the quality.
Trust is a significant
husband, whom she met
through match.com, in
2004. He works in archi-
tecture. Victoria’s life
motto is “you have to treat
yourself and reward your-
self every day.” To do so,
she takes a daily walk,
cooks good food and spends
time with her husband
and animals.
Victoria and her hus-
band are fairly open to
advertising, as long as
it appears during a time
and place when they are
relaxed. When they get
home from work each
night, they cook dinner
together and then watch
between two to three hours
of TV. They do not have a
DVR, so they watch all of
the commercials. This is
a time when Victoria may
learn about new products
or services.

46
friends. She often e-mails
friends, family or co-work-
ers about news or products.
She explains, “If I see a
news story that I think
somebody might be inter-
ested in or using a product
that I think somebody
would be interested in, I’ll
share it with them.”
return. Victoria does yoga
by watching an on-demand
cable show. She does not
mind ads before and after
the class, “because I know
I’m getting it for free,
rather than pay for doing
that program … I notice
them but I don’t really pay
attention to them.”
Victoria is “known as
the person in the know”
among her group of
pears in new and more
invasive spaces. Victoria
explains, “It seems to be
much more prominent in
places it didn’t used to be
... it just seems to be creep-
ing up in more and more
places … I’m a little both-
ered by this.”
The one time when she
does not mind advertis-
ing “creeping up” is when
she receives something in

47
Few people pursue the
consumption of advertis-
ing, or news, with the
organization and determi-
nation of Donna. They are
more likely to give up in
the face of mounting mes-
sages and disengage from
the experience altogether.
For instance, some of the
study subjects in New York
who encountered advertis-
ing everywhere, including
the subway, reached the
point of “not noticing”
it anymore, according to
their observers.
Not noticing is a step up
from the hostility some
exhibited for unwanted
advertising, but the prob-
lem was the same in any
case. The communication
These broad findings
suggest that the root of
the advertising consump-
tion problem lies in the
current disruption of
predictable modes of
information delivery and
the lack of proper filters
for making sense of the
chaotic new world. The
experience of Donna from
Atlanta was emblematic
of the condition. Even a
super-organized execu-
tive whose friends call her
“Miss Information” found
it difficult to keep pace.
She religiously stacked
published ads into piles
every week for sorting, but
they served as an intimi-
dating reminder of her
constant struggle to stay
in the know.
Consumers May Be Tired
But They’re Still Eager
The subjects in this study
shared two key attributes:
They were tired, even an-
noyed, by the current expe-
rience of advertising. And
they lacked trust in most
commercial messaging.
At the same time, they
also exhibited two prom-
ising motivations: They
were eager to receive in-
formation that met their
needs and just as eager
to pass that information
along to their personal
networks.
Section 3: Conclusions and Recommendations
KEY FINDINGS:
A Model in Transition

48
view the behavior and re-
sponses of the study group
as evidence of a larger
communications disorder
in the evolving culture.
Belinda from New York
summed up the situation:
“I think there is too much
advertising. Every avail-
able space is taken up, and
I feel like I can never get
away from it.”
This plainly constituted
a cry of desperation, and
even the most organized
subject in the study group,
Donna the stockpiler of
print ads in Atlanta, had
to acknowledge the true
dimensions of the consum-
er’s challenge: “I kinda’
look at advertising as a
positive and a negative.
On the positive side, all
day long we have messages
fired at us … I welcome
that in a way because it’s
ment from consumers.
But that idea proved too
limiting in the context of
the ethnographic analysis.
Many of the subjects in
the study said they appre-
ciated good creative forms
of advertising but the
overall environment was
so polluted it didn’t mat-
ter. The good was getting
lost amid all the bad.
In effect, asking whether
it was a good time to talk
wasn’t going to be good
enough. The overall environ-
ment for making a welcomed
connection to consumers
needed to be addressed.
Ad Annoyance Is a Symptom
of a Larger Disorder
As the ethnography
unfolded, the Context
anthropologists came to
appeared to be failing at a
fundamental level.
Better Content or Timing
Are Not Enough to Connect
An initial hypothesis,
formed in the first phase
of this project based on
existing research, was that
people’s disaffection with
advertising could be reme-
died with better content or
better timing. The thrust
of the question – “Is now a
good time to talk?” – was
that advertising might be
welcomed if it were good
enough and arrived at the
right moment.
The early research sug-
gested that more imagina-
tive work from the cre-
ative teams of advertising
agencies and better ad
placement would lead to
a higher level of engage-

49
how would you know about
it if you didn’t see or hear
an ad or media? It’s all
about ads.”
Along these lines, others
grudgingly admitted that
interruptive ads actu-
ally can deliver necessary
and useful information.
In fact, in response to the
question of what they
would do if advertising
went away, many subjects
were unable to describe
what could replace the
function of advertising in
their lives.
While that may be
comforting to publishers
and advertisers, it’s not
a rationale for continu-
ing to conduct business as
usual. The situation begs
the question of what the
creators of commercial
content should do differ-
tempts people make – pas-
sively, actively, consciously
and subconsciously – to
process all the informa-
tion they encounter. In
short, it can’t be done,
which suggests a true dis-
order, rather than a tran-
sitory feeling of fatigue,
Context concluded.
Commercial Speech is
Still Valued
The subjects of the study
made it clear that as much
as advertising and com-
mercial speech may be an-
noying, it is also necessary.
Dalton from San Fran-
cisco, for instance, said: “I
like communication to see
what’s out there; other-
wise I’d be lost. I might as
well be back in the 80’s! It
is part of living now, there
are so many things you
can take advantage of …
a way of me staying con-
nected to what’s going on
... the negative side is that
because advertising is so
prominent, so much so
that your eyes get tired …
sometimes it can be inva-
sive … I feel like their goal
is to get inside my mind.”
Donna’s comments, or
symptoms, suggest that
the information and ad-
vertising “fatigue” that
subjects complained about
was actually something
more serious. What some of
these subjects were really
saying is that they were
more than tired. They were
overwhelmed and, in some
cases, shocked into inactiv-
ity by the amount of infor-
mation they were receiving.
The ultimate shock to
the system comes from the
constant, but futile, at-

50
packagers of information,
such as local newspapers,
which connected read-
ers with advertisers in a
trusted environment.
The ‘Social Contract’ Is in
Need of Repair
The popularity of user-
generated sites and social
networks is a movement
that has meaning for
many aspects of the cul-
ture. But one message it
sends is unmistakable:
People are looking to
establish a new framework
for communication in the
digital age.
Old models, many of
which were characterized
by one party delivering
the information and the
other party passively re-
ceiving it, are not measur-
ing up to people’s expecta-
true and what did not.
The dominant position
of user-generated con-
tent on these sites also
provided subjects with a
sense that they and their
peers were regaining some
control over the communi-
cation process.
From an anthropologi-
cal perspective, the reason
these sites cut through the
clutter is that they are
about creating the right
environment to foster the
right relationships that
establish productive and
efficient conversations.
For the subjects of this
ethnography, these user-
led sites offered a struc-
ture to filter communica-
tions and minimize the
noise. In some ways, these
sites are filling a role his-
torically played by trusted
ently to get people the con-
tent they know they need.
Social Vetting Opens a Path
to Restoring Trust
With the explosion of so-
cial networking as a back-
drop to the timing of this
study, it was no surprise
that the subjects looked
to their friends, family
and like-minded peers for
guidance on how to vet
information and ads.
Subjects in the study
found some clarity in
the chaos by tapping into
Web tools that could clear
away the clutter. Working
through social-networking
sites like Facebook and
consumer sites like Fatwal-
let, people were able to find
information and vet it with
others to ascertain what
made sense and what rang

51
“But that kind of thinking
presupposes that people
are knowingly building
a new way of communi-
cation. For now, people’s
behavior suggests they
are just trying to muddle
through. The process of
building a fully function-
ing new communication
infrastructure will take
some time.”
Blinkoff and his team
used the anthropological
term “Communitas” to
describe the transition the
culture appears to be mak-
ing from one set of communi-
cations standards to another.
“From an anthropologi-
cal point of view, societal
structures disappear when
they no longer provide
the guidance they have in
the past,” said Blinkoff.
“When these structures
done in the information
space. As long as technol-
ogy enabled it, why not
pop up an online ad, paper
over the subway walls and
cars, and generally invade
every available space with
advertising?
Out of Disorder Comes
‘Communitas’
The Context team con-
cluded that a new social
contract was needed in
the information space and
that the people themselves
were starting to take mat-
ters into their own hands.
“One could say that
people are looking to cre-
ate a new structure and
they are not sure how to
go about forging this new
structure,” observed Rob-
bie Blinkoff, Context’s
principal anthropologist.
tions for what technology
should be capable of en-
abling. Why put up with
the torrent of pushed mes-
sages from information
providers and advertisers
when there ought to be a
better way to sort through
it? Providers of informa-
tion are doing what they
do because they can, and
those on the receiving end
are getting increasingly
anxious about managing
the overload.
Based on the observa-
tions from this study
group, the anthropologists
said they saw evidence
that the “social contract”
between providers and
users of information had
been strained, if not bro-
ken. There seemed to be
no boundaries anymore
between what could be
done and what should be

52
emergency is a demonstra-
tion of Communitas, as
like-minded people con-
verged for a common cause.
In the case of the ad-
vertising study group,
people were expressing
similar frustrations and
needs and falling back on
their social networks and
peer groups for help. That
doesn’t mean chaos will
reign. In fact, a robust Com-
munitas can create a solid
foundation for a new in-
formation order to emerge,
Blinkoff maintained.
The News Model Meets
Communitas
The news model that
Context and AP construct-
ed in their first collabora-
tion has direct application
to this line of reasoning.
cess, people re-identify who
they are, and society as a
whole can redefine what
social structures will exist
in the future. Historically,
the kibbutz movement
in Israel or the hippie
subculture in the United
States could be considered
examples of Communitas.
More recently, even the
situation-specific response
to the Haiti earthquake
disappear, anthropologists
suggest an era of Commu-
nitas is taking hold.”
Despite its academic
ring, Communitas pro-
vides a straightforward
framework for dissecting
the situation. In a time of
Communitas, people use
egalitarian communities
to share feelings, ideas
and solutions. In the pro-
The hippie movement was an example of Communitas. (AP Photo)

Understanding Advertising and News Fatigue in the Digital Age

Understanding Advertising and News Fatigue in the Digital Age

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Understanding Advertising and News Fatigue in the Digital Age