Have you ever purchased anything because of a Super Bowl ad? If you have, then you’re in the minority of people at Southeast High School. According to a recent survey taken of LSE students, only 31% of students have actually done this. This raises the question, “Are Super Bowl ads (and ads in general) actually effective for teens?”
Before we get any further, let’s talk about some of the psychology behind TV advertisements. Commercials are not necessarily supposed to make you purchase the product or service right away, but they do raise awareness for that brand. For example, if you’ve seen numerous ads for a car company, later when you are ready to get a new car, you might think of that brand. 46% of LSE students say that seeing a brand in store has made them think of its Super Bowl ad.
The Super Bowl is notorious for its fun-to-watch ads, but what about the normal ads that you see every day? Network television has decreased in popularity significantly, with nearly 5.7 million people stopping their subscription to network TV in 2024, according to Forbes. At LSE, only 11% of students watch network TV, and the other 89% watch streaming services (like Disney+, Netflix, Hulu etc.). Most students said that network TV ads were not effective forms of advertising for them.
Traditional forms of advertising are dying out, especially for younger generations. Now, a different format has been introduced in the past twenty years: influencer sponsors. With countless teens spending hours on social media every day, they’re going to see a lot of advertising, just in more of an unconventional way than in the past.
Teens will see their favorite influencers gushing about some brand that sponsored them, telling the viewers to “click the link in the description” to purchase it. Many times, there will even be a discount included if they use a special code.
Seeing an influencer whose opinions you value and trust has an impact on how you view the brand that’s sponsoring them. This is the kind of advertising that can cause people to buy that product right away, as well as the previously mentioned awareness of the product.
Many students said that sponsored brands are more effective forms of advertising for them because they look up to those influencers and it’s more curated to their tastes.
At the end of the day, we can see that traditional advertising on television is dying out with younger generations. A 30 second Super Bowl ad costs $8 million; will this even be worth it in the next 10 years?
