Unexpected ads gain attention but make sure it’s the right sort

Salient advertising features, such as using abrupt onset or motion, increase unexpectedness and attract more attention to online advertisements, according to a paper in the Journal of Advertising Research (JAR).

Why it matters

It seems axiomatic that an unexpected advertisement would be more effective in attracting consumers’ attention than an expected one – when consumers ignore online advertisements it’s often because they know what to expect and can easily filter them out. 

But it’s the nature of the unexpected ad that’s important. Pop-ups (abrupt onset) that get in the way of the information people are seeking are hugely annoying; floating ads (abrupt onset and motion) garner attention with less negativity.

Also important is the mindset of the viewer, whether they’re focused on a task or just browsing.

Takeaways 

• Online advertisements embedded with unexpected features – motion and abrupt onset, for instance – attract consumers’ attention in a bottom-up perspective (as opposed to top-down control of attention which is associated with the viewer’s awareness of the stimulus and its features).
• Unexpected advertisements more likely will capture consumers’ attention during goal-oriented tasks than free-browsing ones.
• Consumers are more likely to disengage from central processing during goal-oriented tasks and, therefore, are more attracted by unexpected advertisements than they might be during free-browsing tasks.
• Unexpected advertisements are associated with a more favourable attitude and less perceived intrusiveness than unexpected advertisements that obstruct the web content.

About the study

• How consumers process unexpected online advertisements: The effects of motion and abrupt onset on consumers’ attention and attitude was written by Emna Cherif (University of Clermont Auvergne) and Theirry Baccino (University Paris 8).
• The authors analysed the effects of three levels of advertising unexpectedness: high versus moderate versus low during both goal-oriented and free-browsing tasks. The context was a series of web pages that mimicked the front page of online newspapers.

Sourced from JAR