Question

Outdoor Advertising is Perfectly Safe with Moderation

1. Through research, I believe that billboards add more value to the consumers rather than be considered "sky trash". Billboards act as signs and give brands the opportunity to gain new customers. These signs help create retention and help other marketing variables as part of the IMC. The billboards also become unnoticeable for drivers that see them frequently so they are not distracting. For drivers that do not see them frequently, billboards act as a sense of direction and work as "wayfinding devices".

2. I believe that the regulation of billboards on private property is a case-by-case situation as other factors could prove important to whether regulation is necessary. Important variables such as the amount of traffic flowing past the private property, the road condition, and the content of the billboard should be considered. If the traffic flow is high then the billboard should not be overbearing to drivers so they can continue to drive without the dominant pressure of constant distraction. The road condition is important because if the road lacks street lights or can be extremely hard to navigate, then an additional distraction may be detrimental to the drivers. Finally, since the billboard remains outdoors available to all to see, it should be mindful of the content so that it does not leave negative effects on any possible minors.

3. I have not ever been too distracted by a digital billboard. I do not believe that digital billboards are distracting. Studies have shown that digital billboards are no more distracting than conventional billboards so the fact that they are digitalized would not make them any more dangerous. I believe this is due to the natural instinct of drivers to focus on their main objective, which is driving safely to their destination. Therefore, whenever something has the ability to grab their attention, they will only be distracted enough for the distraction not to impose on their safety. This is applied with several other road distractions such as passengers, side-road antics, and conventional billboards.

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Answer 1

Billboards help companies to reach the masses and get consumer attraction. Billboards help companies to get new customers and at the same time it also provide information to the consumer that a particular product is available for consumption. For regular commuters it does not create any kind of distraction and for others they can act as identification mark for particular places. Even though billboards are large it does not impose any threat on the safety as drivers only give a glance at it and not full attention.