New research from the Out of Home Advertising Association of America (OAAA) and The Harris Poll finds that 86% of consumers say they would take action after seeing a retail OOH advertisement that interests them.
OAAA’s announcement dated 17 September 2026 reports the finding as part of research into experiential and retail advertising. The conditional wording matters: this is a survey response about an interesting advertisement, rather than a measured conversion rate across campaigns.
The sample and period define the evidence
The survey ran online in the United States on 4–5 August 2026, among 2,015 adults aged 18 and over. OAAA says the report’s analysis focuses on 1,474 adults aged 18–64. FOARE, the Foundation for Out of Home Advertising Research and Education, sponsored the study.
This article uses OAAA’s public release. The full research resource is restricted to OAAA members; the underlying questionnaire and detailed tables have not been reviewed here.
That distinction is useful when citing the findings. A research summary can inform a planning discussion, while a more detailed statistical comparison may require the complete methodology and question wording.
Intent gives planners a hypothesis to test
BillboardGuide’s interpretation is that the headline finding provides a reason to investigate how retail creative prompts a useful response. It does not specify what another advertiser will achieve with a particular media package.
For a campaign brief, the next question is what action the advertiser wants to encourage. Visiting a store, checking availability, exploring a website and remembering a brand are different objectives. Each needs an appropriate message and a way to assess the result.
The interest condition also belongs in the interpretation. An advertiser still needs to establish whether its own offer and execution are relevant to the audience encountering them. The survey does not remove that creative task.
Make the next step clear and accurate
A retail advertisement should provide information that remains useful when somebody responds. If it promotes a product, the destination needs to carry that product. If it names a promotion, the timing and participation terms need to match the campaign.
For another advertiser, a practical preflight would connect the creative approval with the store list, stock position and offer calendar. This can prevent an outdoor message from continuing after its destination has stopped supporting it.
BillboardGuide’s grocery and supermarket advertising guide provides related planning context. The survey covers retail OOH broadly and should not be treated as a performance benchmark for one grocery format.
Design the evaluation before buying the media
A useful measurement plan starts with a defined objective and the evidence needed to assess it. Media delivery should be reconciled separately from the response the advertiser hopes to generate.
For an offer campaign, that might mean recording redemptions and comparing them with an appropriate baseline. For a brand campaign, it might mean a recall or consideration study. A store-visit claim needs an agreed method that addresses whether the visits are incremental.
These are BillboardGuide’s suggested evaluation approaches, rather than methods or outcomes established for an individual campaign by the OAAA release. Its guide to OOH metrics beyond impressions explains how to keep delivery, audience estimates and outcomes distinct.
Apply the findings within their geographic scope
This is a U.S. consumer survey. Brands working in other markets should investigate local shopping behaviour, creative expectations and media environments before assuming the same responses apply.
Even within the United States, the campaign’s audience and setting need their own brief. A person encountering a message inside a store has a different immediate opportunity to act from somebody seeing it elsewhere in the journey.
BillboardGuide’s DOOH and in-store retail media playbook resource provides further context for planning around physical retail encounters. The new research is most useful as a starting point for a clear creative and measurement brief, with its stated-response wording preserved.
