Harris Poll : OOH Ads Yield Strong Results
The Out of Home Advertising Association of America (OAAA) conducted a Harris Poll and found that—surprise—the channel delivers desirable results across various product and service verticals. Job recruitment, beverages, personal care, real estate, and fine dining ads all perform well in OOH and DOOH, the report said.
Some 86% of adults reported taking action after seeing ads for sit-down restaurants in the OOH channel. Another 83% said they act on ads for personal-care products. And one in three respondents said they apply for job positions after seeing an recruitment ads. Non-alcoholic beverages seem to perform well in OOH, with 43% of respondents saying they make a purchase in the category after being exposed to a OOH ad. Nearly 60% said they take some kind of an action after seeing real estate ads.
The Harris Poll conducted this survey online in the United States on behalf of OAAA from February 25-27, 2025, among 2,088 U.S. adults ages 18+, of which 1,632 were ages 18-64.
The sampling precision of Harris online polls is measured by using a Bayesian credible interval. For this study, the full sample data is accurate to within + 2.5 percentage points using a 95% confidence level and + 2.8 percentage points for the 18-64 sample.
While this survey was conducted among 2,088 U.S. adults ages 18+, this analysis focuses only on the 1,632 adults ages 18-64. This audience is referred to as “adults” throughout the report. The Boomer+ generation is typically defined as adults ages 61 or older but will only represent adults ages 61-64 in this report.
Steve Nicklin, SVP Marketing and Analytics of the OAAA, went deeper:
How can you tell if consumers engage with an OOH ad? For example, there seems to be a high recall of non-alcoholic beverage ads.
The Harris Poll study is a survey of consumer ad recall data and the follow-up actions consumers take after seeing them. For example, in the case of non-alcoholic beverages, 73% of consumers recall seeing these types of ads, and notably, the same percentage, 73%, also engaged with the ad they saw. This includes nearly half (43%) of consumers making a purchase of the product or brand. Those high recall and engagement numbers aren’t just coincidental; they point to a strong connection between ad visibility and consumer action.
What makes out of home (OOH) especially effective is that it reaches people during key moments in their day, while commuting, running errands, or going out, when they’re both mentally available and physically positioned to act, and almost always near a point of sale. In addition to self-reported behaviors like searching online, talking to others, or visiting a website, digital OOH formats now offer even more ways to measure engagement through technologies like geolocation tracking, QR code scans, or app visits after exposure. Together, these qualitative and behavioral signals provide a full picture of how OOH drives real-world outcomes.
86% of adults take action after seeing sit-down restaurant OOH ads. How do we know this?
During the recent Harris Poll commissioned by OAAA, consumers were asked to self-report their behaviors after seeing OOH ads for sit-down restaurants. A striking 86% of those who recalled viewing a restaurant ad took action, whether it was searching for the restaurant online, reading reviews, visiting its website, or dining there. This highlights OOH’s unique ability to drive both real-world and digital engagement, acting as a catalyst during key decision-making moments, such as commutes, lunch breaks, or when passing a retail center.
Engagement extends beyond just the physical visit; many consumers took additional actions like using promotions, downloading an app, or joining a loyalty program. Social engagement also followed, with 31% of Gen Z downloading an app and 28% of Millennials following the restaurant on social media. These numbers show how OOH ads bridge the gap between physical and digital engagement, deepening the connection between consumers and the brand.
What’s particularly telling is the alignment between the ad messages that most resonate with consumers and the actions they take. Key information, like restaurant locations, price points, and new food offerings, directly translates into action. With 71% recall overall for sit-down restaurant ads, the pathway from seeing to doing is clear, measurable, and consistently effective.
Personal care product ads also have a high recall. With these categories—the ones with high recall among consumers, would you attribute it solely to the OOH channel? How much does the quality of the creative factor in? Or the use of digital OOH?
OOH undoubtedly plays a central role in driving awareness and action in categories like personal care, but performance is amplified when paired with high-quality creative and, in many cases, digital OOH. For personal care products, 70% of adults recall seeing the ads, and a 83% report taking action, ranging from purchases to social media engagement. Urban audiences in particular (especially in cities with over 1M residents) show even higher engagement rates, which points to the effectiveness of dynamic, high-traffic placements.
But it’s not just the format, it’s also the messaging behind the ads consumers see. The most compelling creative leans into price-saving opportunities and clear product benefits, which 42% and 41% of consumers respectively say catches their attention. DOOH adds another layer by enabling real-time messaging and more personalized creative, which can further increase both recall and responsiveness. So while OOH lays the foundation, creative relevance and digital amplification are what take performance to the next level.
