ABSTRACT

This research investigated the attitude of television audiences towards commercial breaks in programmes through a survey of 200 respondents from University of Ghana. Multi-stage sampling was employed which involved the use of purposive sampling and systematic sampling. Findings indicated that majority of the respondents watched commercial breaks. It was revealed that most of them made a motivated choice as to whether to watch or avoid commercial breaks. Also majority of them did not like commercial breaks within television programmes but preferred them to be aired before a programme starts and when it ends. The major motivations for watching commercial breaks were information, product category, entertainment and the desire not to miss the next scene in a TV programme whilst those who avoided did so because there were too many commercials in commercial breaks. Respondents were more engaged in mechanical avoidance than cognitive and physical avoidance. Majority of the respondents switched the channel or stayed in the room but diverted attention during commercial breaks. There were some differences too in terms of age and gender. More females than males watched commercial breaks and more males than females avoided too. The major motivations to watch commercial breaks were the same for both genders but in terms of avoidance behaviour, more females than males engaged in physical and cognitive avoidance whilst males engaged mostly in mechanical avoidance. Furthermore, during commercial avoidance, more females than males stayed in the room and diverted attention and more males than females changed the channel. Regarding the age groups, there was less difference in response rate among those who watched commercial breaks but majority of the respondents who avoided commercial breaks were 30 years and above. This has implications for organisations that use TV for advertisements and for TV stations as well.