Highly creative online advertising just edges personalized ads in terms of effectiveness, in a study that looked at banner advertising.

According to the Journal of Advertising Research, creativity has a stronger effect on attention when people are both casually surfing the web and engaged in a goal-oriented task, such as search. In contrast, the influence of personalization on attention is smaller but it does help to improve memory. 

Why it matters 

With the rise of digital media, advertisers are constantly looking for new ways to engage consumers who have become used to blocking advertisements or ignoring them completely. 

While...