Sunday, February 22, 2009

An Advertising Experiment

I'm going to try an experiment with advertising over the next week.
  • I'm going to record every advertisement that I consciously perceive.
  • I'm not going to purchase any product or service advertised in the list above.
Now, the caveats:
  • I'm not going to stop purchasing or using products and services I'm already using. For example, if I see a Netflix ad, I won't cancel my Netflix subscription.
  • I'm not going to count advertisements that I see at the place of business. A Shell station advertising Shell gas via its signage does not count.
  • I'm going to focus on perceived advertisements. Yes, I realize that the subconscious plays a part, but I'm not going to count those ads. This will be especially true in the Internet ad space.
Why am I doing this? Two reasons: I want to see how many advertisements I perceive over the course of a week, and I want to see how it changes my habits, if at all. I'll post updates as I go.