Pandora has begun testing interactive voice ads, allowing listeners to engage with advertisers. The action is relatively straightforward according to a TechCrunch article: The ads will ask listeners a question, and a listener could answer (and get more information about the product) or simply not answer and the music will start up again.
Wendy’s, Doritos, Ashley HomeStores and a handful of other companies are testing the waters with this technology, but the big question is obvious: Do Pandora listeners want this, and is this a trend that will catch on?
According to a CivicScience study, the early results are promising, with 25% of Pandora users 18 or older saying they’d be somewhat to very likely to utilize this feature while listening to Pandora.
Unsurprisingly, age is an important marker when determining who’s on board with interacting with an advertisement: The younger someone is, the more likely they are to play along.
It’s likely that this exploration of next-gen advertising is a tool to bring in younger users. According to data published by Statista in March 2018, Pandora’s least represented age group among users was Gen Z. And with Millennials making up the largest portion of its user base, Pandora’s strategy looks like it will be successful.
Early AI-adopters Accept Interactive Ads
CivicScience data highlights an interesting finding about consumer preferences for technology and AI-powered tools. When it came to AI-powered voice assistants, like Alexa or Google, satisfaction with the tool was a clear indicator of interest in interactive ads. Pandora users who are happy using voice assistants (as well as people who intend to start using voice assistants) are overwhelmingly more likely to be open to Pandora’s interactive ads than people who didn’t care for – or about – Alexa and her fellow AI.
It is also not a surprise to see the data show people who own or want augmented reality products are more than three times as likely to say they were very likely to utilize interactive ads on Pandora.
Overall, Americans who believe AI voice assistants will become a common tool for most everyone in the next few years are overwhelmingly likely to utilize the interactive ads.
Pandora’s Heavy Users Are Interested In Interaction
Platforms aside, people who say music is a passion of theirs are slightly more likely to say they’d try the interactive ad feature compared to people who just kinda-sorta “like” music.
But Pandora lovers – defined as people who listen to Pandora for more than 5 hours a week – are 68% more likely to check out the ads than people who listen to Pandora for less than 5 hours a week.
Obviously, interactive voice ads are a technology in its infancy, but with the rise of AI interaction, it won’t surprise if the tech takes off, as the early results of this study seem promising.