The high value of low attention

Advertisers can achieve consumer behavioural outcomes even when video viewers are not in a state of high attention, a new study has revealed.

Smarter video planning

This article is part of a series of articles on smarter video planning. Read more.

We live in an age of extreme distraction where our cognitive limits force us to take decision shortcuts. The human mind necessarily restricts itself and we cope by allocating just enough attention to make decisions that are ‘good enough’. Nobel-awarded economist Herbert Simon calls this ‘satisficing’, a combination of satisfy and suffice.

Combining limited human capacity and the reality that consumer buying behaviour is largely habitual and trivial, advertising, by definition, is incidental in our lives. This attention crisis is...

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