Why Shorter Advertisement Breaks Reduce Radio Advertisement Avoidance

Low-clutter radio stations have shorter advertisement breaks to attract listeners, increase advertisement effectiveness, and potentially reduce mechanical advertisement avoidance (i.e. swithcing stations). This research introduces a two-factor theory explaining why mechanical advertisement avoidance has an inverse U-shaped relationship with advertisement position in the break, and advertisement break length in advertisement units. The theory was supported by portable people meter (PPM) ratings data. Peak mechanical avoidance occurred at the fourth advertisement position, similar to the average advertisement break length perceived by radio listeners from the same city as the PPM data. This explains why the two-advertisement breaks that are typical for low-clutter radio stations minimize mechanical avoidance.