What consumers like and dislike about advertising today

As part of our research into the state of creative effectiveness in 2025, we wanted to learn what consumers look for in advertising today to better understand what they typically like or dislike. 

To uncover this, we analyzed all the verbatim responses to all ads in our database to uncover the most common likes and dislikes.

The important thing about this approach is that we haven’t steered respondents toward these answers — we simply looked at what people spontaneously stated they liked or disliked after seeing an ad.

You can discover more about the current state of advertising effectiveness in our full report, but here’s some insights into the top likes and dislikes from consumers.

Starting with the bigger picture, we’re pleased to share that overall, there’s a lot more consumers like about ads than dislike!  

As you can see from the chart above, there are far longer pink bars (Likes) than blue bars (Dislikes) which indicates that consumers think there’s much more to like about ads today than not. 

In particular, they seem to appreciate ads that are emotionally appealing and dislike ads that are difficult to understand. 

Let’s dive a bit deeper into the likes and dislikes. 

As mentioned above, consumers appear to enjoy ads they find emotionally appealing the most, followed by the people or characters and the visuals in the ad. 

The biggest driver of advertising likes, emotional appeal, is spontaneously mentioned by about 20% people across all ads, which means that people talk about ads being cheerful and fun, making them feel happy or joyful, having a positive vibe and/or being upbeat, refreshing, amusing, captivating or relaxing. 

That means it’s important to always consider the feel of the ad and the feeling you want to leave people with. Which also means getting the right characters and people (mentioned by about 15% of people across all ads), in the right place with the right plot (mentioned by 11% of people) is a key factor. 

“If you want people to actually care about your ad, it has to be relevant. Full stop. It’s not about selling — it's about storytelling that connects. Real emotions, real value, real people.”

- Gary Vaynerchuk

Ultimately, when you get the “who” and “what” right, they’re mentioned as top likes. But when you get them wrong, they’re mentioned as top dislikes.

When it comes to dislikes, consumers don’t like it when they find ads difficult to understand, have too slow or fast pacing or poor character choices.

Unsurprisingly, when people don’t “get” the ad, they don’t like the ad. It’s the single biggest driver of dislikes (5%) when people don’t understand, but a strong driver of likes (9%) when they do. The lesson here? Just don’t lose people. 

That doesn’t mean you can’t have a moment that not everyone gets, but it means that no one should be left feeling confused. During ad development, do your research to make sure the ad is actually understood by your audience. 

It’s worth mentioning that the pacing of the ad (the second biggest driver of dislikes at 3%) is also essential. When you get it right, no one mentions it because it just feels right. But when you get it wrong, the ad can feel too slow and unengaging or too quick so people can’t keep up. So make your ad just the right length for the story you need to tell and no longer.

Consumer behaviors and trends are shifting everyday. That’s why it’s so important to connect with them frequently to ensure you understand what resonates with them today and what they want to see from your brand. 

This is just the tip of what we’ve uncovered from our research into the state of creative effectiveness this year. Download our report for a deeper dive into our findings, including: 

• How creative effectiveness varies among different ages and genders 

• The impact of various advertising characteristics on effectiveness, like the use of celebrities, music, AI, etc.

• Strengths and weaknesses of different categories including CPG food, QSR, alcoholic beverages, financial services, telecommunications and more

• Helpful tips and examples to help you develop your most effective creative — including guidance from our partners at VaynerMedia, an integrated strategy, creative and media agency