Firm bares findings on billboards
By LEONARD D. POSTRADO
June 8, 2011, 7:51pm
MANILA, Philippines — Billboards or out-of-home (OOH) media erected along the thoroughfares in Metro Manila do not cause traffic accidents contrary to the belief of the Metro Manila Development Authority (MMDA) and the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH), a media research firm Wednesday said.
In a metro-wide survey commissioned by media research group Philippine Center for Out-of-Home Media Research and Science (PhilCourse) among 600 respondents in Metro Manila last year, the billboards along the side of the roads were actually made for commuters and not for drivers.
At least three percent of the respondents who drives indicated they were more focused on the road than actually taking a long look of billboards.
But at least 97 percent of the subjects who either commute or ride their own vehicle but doesn't necessarily drive it said that they look at the OOH while they were on their way to their respective destinations.
According to PhilCourse executive director Lloyd Tronco, the research was done last year using survey questionnaire of which 400 of the respondents answered in paper while 200 of the subjects answered an online form.
Tronco said that the research was patterned after the same research study on billboards that was conducted in the United States.
“The result only proves that Billboards does not cause accidents as claimed by the government agencies that eyes of drivers were distracted because the gigantic billboards. So what could be the cause of accidents then? As for our research, result said that they can't blame the billboards,” Tronco told reporters in a forum in Manila during the release of the result of the said research.
“There's no proof that drivers get into accident because of Billboards,” he added.
Tronco agreed to lawmakers that the country should have a certain degree of billboard regulations like any other countries
The regulations to be imposed by legislators, according to PhilCourse executive director, should be backed with substantial research first before it would take into effect.
“Regulation of billboards is actually a positive thing for advertisers in the sense that they can dictate on the prices of their space since there will be lesser competition among businesses,” he said.
