Public Opinion

Polls and Surveys

The outdoor advertising industry has monitored public opinion toward billboards for over 25 years. The following recent polls, taken by various independent research groups show that Americans like billboards, believe they promote business, and are useful to drivers.

Analysis of Polling Data
 

Background

For decades, public opinion has been consistent with the policy goal of the Federal Highway Beautification Act of 1965, which is regulation, not elimination of billboards.
 

The Taylor Study

Since its passage in 1965, the Highway Beautification Act (HBA) has been the single most important piece of legislation regulating outdoor advertising. Professor Charles Taylor, PhD, Professor of Marketing at Villanova University, completed an assessment of the HBA’s consistency with American public opinion (April, 2002). This study analyzes the collective results of major public opinion polls conducted over 30 years. Collectively, these studies contained responses from more than 26,000 Americans.

The findings of the Taylor study suggest that the HBA’s provisions are remarkably consistent with public opinion:

• Across the public opinion polls conducted over 30 years, support for a ban on billboards in recent years (i.e., the 1990s and 2000s) is lower than was the case in the 1970s.
• In terms of zoning restrictions, most than 75 percent of Americans surveyed say billboards should be allowed in commercial and industrial areas.
• A majority of the public supports billboard owners and landowners being provided with just compensation if a legal billboard is removed.

The results of this study clearly demonstrate that a substantial majority of Americans believe that the benefits of billboards outweigh any costs associated with them:

• More than 85 percent believe that billboards are useful to travelers.
• More than 80 percent agree that billboards both help create jobs and help businesses attract customers.
• Over 83 percent agree that billboards are informative.

While public opinion on most of the issues has remained stable over time, a few trends are worth noting:

• The proportion of the public favoring a ban on billboards has actually been lower in the 1990s and 2000s than was the case in the 1970s.
• Consumer agreement that billboards are informative has increased in recent years.
• The public increasingly agrees that billboards help businesses attract customers.

Other Significant Polls Gauging Public Opinion

Arbitron – 2009 – Los Angeles Digital Billboard Survey

• 73 percent of Los Angeles county residents felt digital billboards can be of service to the community by providing important and timely emergency information such as AMBER Alerts.
• Nearly 50 percent viewed digital billboards as attractive (with 20 percent being neutral to their appearance)
• 42 percent said the signs make their commute more interesting (with 18 percent feeling neutral).
• Only 22 percent of Los Angeles residents are aware of any political or legal issues related to roadside billboards; and, just 6 percent rated the issue as important or very important to their daily lives.

• Digital billboards are a new “cool” method to deliver news and advertising, as well as public notices such as AMBER Alerts
• Viewers feeling strongly that digital billboards provide helpful information about their community and drive traffic to local businesses
• More than 80 percent of viewers recalled at least one ad.
• Nine out of 10 motorists notice digital billboard advertising messages at least some of the time.
• More than four out of five surveyed said digital billboards display timely news, traffic, weather, and emergency information important to the public.
• Arbitron – 2002
  
• Public opinion research conducted indicated 71 percent of Americans find billboard messages useful.

• Sixty-seven percent believed that billboards were very or somewhat helpful to tourists or visitors to St. Paul.
• Fifty-seven percent felt that it was unfair for government to eliminate a legal business.
• Sixty-four percent of the respondents did not feel that billboards were a problem in St. Paul.

• Seventy-one percent use billboards to locate dining, entertainment and lodging when traveling.
• Nearly seventy-three percent do not support a ban on billboards within their communities.
• Nearly fifty-five percent said they believe billboards are helpful to travelers.
• Over seventy-two percent of respondents believe billboards generate business.

• Three in four (76%) Americans say the information on billboards is useful.
• Nearly two in three (64%) favor compensation to businesses and landowners for the removal of their billboards.
• Nearly three in four (71%) favor businesses trimming tree limbs to maintain clear views of their billboards.

• 7 out of 10 Virginians agree the benefits of outdoor advertising outweigh the negative aspects.
• Nearly ninety percent (87.9%) say billboard help travelers find traveler services.
• Over sixty-four percent say billboards break up the monotony of long drives.
• Fifty-seven percent agree most of the billboards they see are interesting.