How consumers process unexpected online advertisements: The effects of motion and abrupt onset on consumers’ attention and attitude

Emna Cherif and Theirry Baccino

Online advertisements compete for consumer attention. This research investigates the effects of unexpected features in advertising such as motion and abrupt onset.

Management Slant

  • Online advertisements embedded with unexpected features—motion and abrupt onset, for instance—attract consumers’ attention in a bottom-up perspective.
  • Unexpected advertisements more likely will capture consumers’ attention during goal-oriented tasks than free-browsing tasks.
  • Consumers more likely will 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 favorable attitude and less perceived intrusiveness than unexpected advertisements that obstruct the web content.

Introduction

Online advertising is central for both free-content websites and advertisers. According to recent reports, online advertising revenues totaled...

WARC subscribers can sign in to keep reading

Not a subscriber?

Schedule your live demo with our team today

WARC helps you to plan, create and deliver more effective marketing

  • Prove your case and back-up your idea

  • Get expert guidance on strategic challenges

  • Tackle current and emerging marketing themes

We’re long-term subscribers to WARC and it’s a tool we use extensively. We use it to source case studies and best practice for the purposes of internal training, as well as for putting persuasive cases to clients. In compiling a recent case for long-term, sustained investment in brand, we were able to support key marketing principles with numerous case studies sourced from WARC. It helped bring what could have been a relatively dry deck to life with recognisable brand successes from across a broad number of categories. It’s incredibly efficient to have such a wealth of insight in one place.

Insights Team
Bray Leino

You’re in good company

We work with 80% of Forbes' most valuable brands* and 80% of the world's top top-of-the-class agencies.

* Top 10 brands