Social media users are 46% more receptive to online ads

Notably, among those who access social media platforms more than ten times a day,  respondents were 46% more likely to say that they found online advertising ‘entertaining’, whilst infrequent users were 34% less likely to feel the same.

Heavier social media users were also less likely to use ad blockers, with the opposite trend found among less frequent users.

More broadly however, social media users’ general views on advertising were found to mirror the majority of the population’s with 65% of Facebook and users finding online ads ‘increasingly more intrusive’. This figure also stood at 65% for Instagram and 63% for TikTok.

These developments will be of particular interest to several social media network, especially in light of TikTok’s decision to test a subscription-based ad-free model and Meta’s intention to charge users in Europe who opt out of personalised ads on its platforms.

Interestingly for advertisers, the research uncovered that frequent social media users were also particularly likely to be amongst the heaviest consumers of media through gaming and outdoor media, being 77% more likely than the average adult to be heavy users of gaming. This figure also stood at 58% for outdoor media and 35% for cinema.

Marketing Beat