I've wondered this, too. There have been maybe a handful of things I've found out about, gotten excited about, and went and purchased. At least since the days

I've wondered this, too. There have been maybe a handful of things I've found out about, gotten excited about, and went and purchased. At least since the days when I had to bug a parent to buy it for me (I'm in my 50s). In each case, I proactively went out and bought it on my own. I never clicked on the ad. I don't know if I ever have clicked on an ad, let alone bought something that way. I've been assuming I'm somewhere close to normal (definitely debatable) and that most people when they want to buy something just go and do it. How many people actually see an ad, get excited about it, click through, buy the product, and then come out of a kind of trance or something and wonder what caused them to do that? I'm probably more susceptible to candy displays at grocery check out counters than I am to online advertising. I'll occasionally buy one of those and tell the clerk it's an "impulse buy". I assume there's a reason this is a billion dollar industry, but if I'm the poor schlub they are targeting then I wonder how they even stay afloat.