What makes Australians react to car commercials?

Hundreds of Australians have given their reactions to some of Australia’s most frequently aired car ads on TV.

Commercials for Holden, Honda, Hyundai, Mitsubishi, Renault, Subaru and Volkswagen were tested with the Roy Morgan ‘reactor’. This ad testing technology captures the second-by-second reactions of people, who score the appeal of the ads with the ‘reactor’ slider-bar on their computer or smartphone.

Playing to people’s emotions features heavily, probably most notably in the commercial for the still-to-be released Holden Volt.

This ad was received quite well with an average ‘reactor score’ of 58.  Its emotional imagery and Australian references appealing slightly more to women (‘reactor score’ 60) than men (‘reactor  score’ 56).

The use of hit songs is also another cue used with the Honda Civic hatch commercial, featuring music from New Zealand’s The Naked and Famous, drawing a positive reaction (score 55) across all segments.

Surprisingly, the Honda Civic ad was favoured more by men than women (the male peak score was 59, compared to females with 55.  Likewise, Renault uses Sydney band Nantes, but does not seem to draw the same attraction.

The reactor scores were fairly even for the different age groups among the ads in this reactor test. The notable exception was for Hyundai’s i30 commercial ­— the over 50 segment dropped below the ‘50’ line for most of the ad, with respondents possibly struggling to associate themselves with the playful take on Queen’s I want to break free,

“Our reactor test shows us that commercials with an emotional focus are generally more appealing to most market segments than purely informative or feature-heavy commercials,” says Marcus Tarrant, Roy Morgan’s ad research director.

“Using hit songs alone does not seem to guarantee a positive reaction. Strong, easy to understand visual elements, not necessarily of the car, are important for the whole experience.”

“And, of course, as the Volkswagen ad shows us, well executed comedy can create positive reactions in everyone.”