Ad Standards has released its latest research on community perceptions of advertising. The report offers valuable insights into general attitudes to advertising and Australians’ threshold for offensive language and violence.
Richard Bean, Executive Director of Ad Standards, emphasised the importance of the research and the strong support for the role of Ad Standards.
“The community places great value on the role of Ad Standards in ensuring ads meet community expectations. This research helps us and the independent Ad Standards Community Panel to better understand current perceptions, areas of concerns, and thresholds for certain content,” he said.
The report highlights several key findings about Australians’ views on advertising:
- Although Australians say they are frequently exposed to advertising across a range of channels, many claim to be disengaged from advertising.
- Despite this, Australians care that ads are held to high standards, with 3 in 4 Australians agreeing that advertising should reflect community standards.
- Gambling and misleading or deceptive advertising are the most concerning issues for the community.
- 1 in 4 people expressed concern about violent or scary content in advertising, while 1 in 5 identified offensive language as a concern.
- An overwhelming 9 in 10 Australians agree that Ad Standards’ role in handling complaints is important.
- Those aware of Ad Standards are significantly more likely to trust advertising.
Richard Bean commented on the complexity of community standards and noted that Australians can have a love-hate relationship with advertising.
“Australians appreciate creativity, memorability, and humour in advertising, but can be distrustful when ads fail to meet high standards. Context, creativity, and humour can all play a role in determining the acceptability of things like violence and offensive language in advertising, but these factors can vary depending on individual perspectives and values.”
“When it comes to language, most Australians believe that certain words are never acceptable in advertising, even if censored or bleeped. People described ads that use offensive language merely to shock as lazy and uninspired,” he said.
“While the line for language is quite definitive, the acceptability of violence is more subjective and requires a broader frame of reference. The normalisation of violence, insensitivity to social issues, and provoking or upsetting audiences are key concerns.”
Richard Bean said it is crucial advertisers stay in tune with community expectations.
“There is strong support for advertising to reflect community standards. The ubiquity of advertising means that advertisers cannot always know or control who will see their ads, and it’s much safer to be cautious than risk offense, which benefits no-one.”