Quu says that visual advertisements displayed on a radio in a car help drive awareness, consideration and consumer action — particularly among loyal listeners.
That’s the result of a study that reviewed the habits of both frequent and infrequent radio listeners after they were exposed to ads on their vehicle’s dashboard. The technology company, which offers visual ad services to the radio marketplace, commissioned the research through Quantilope.
The project utilized Quu’s content partnership sponsorship, which is available through its Visual Network.
The study found that 83% of consumers pay attention to what’s on screen while listening to the radio.
Among what the study refers to as “exposed” listeners, visual displays resonate most: 89% of core radio listeners said visual messages from brands increase their purchase intent.
[Related: “Discovering the Dashboard 2025: A New Ebook”]
Quu CEO Steve Newberry said in a release that the findings confirm visuals displayed on dashboards “move consumers from awareness to action.”
Listener loyalty resonates
The study categorized exposed listeners as those who listened to the radio for nine or more hours in the past week, and unexposed listeners as those who listened for fewer than three hours.
Exposed listeners, Quu said, account for two-thirds of a station’s listenership.
An exposed listener is 80% more likely to intend to purchase from an aftermarket automotive retail outlet, for example, compared to 39% for an unexposed listener, the study found.
Visual radio ads overall boosted an advertising brand’s slogan familiarity by 57%, according to the study.
The graphic below illustrates the gains brands experienced from exposed listeners who saw visual ads.
Consumers with text-capable dashboards saw brand messages, while those with image capability also saw brand logos on-screen. 80% of vehicles on the road today can display text, Quu said.
All of the top 100-best selling new car models in the U.S. can display text and half of those can show images, according to Quu’s In-Vehicle Visuals Report for 2025.
Methodology
The study was conducted in March and April, with a sample of approximately 1,200 respondents.
It measured the impact of visual ads for national advertisers across the following categories:
- Retail convenience
- Consumer packaged goods
- Insurance
- Financial services
- Automotive aftermarket retail
- Quick-service restaurants
Brand messages appeared on vehicle dashboards across 374 stations in 75 U.S. markets. Quu said each brand averaged more than 2,000 minutes of screen time per station during programming, with about 4,000 visual ad impressions per station per month.
Quu said there was no accompanying commercial audio, to ensure the visual impact was measured in isolation.
