The differential effects of position, ad and reader characteristics on readers' processing of newspaper ads

Building on previous research on the processing of newspaper ads, this comprehensive field study, with 26,556 newspaper readers and 290 unique advertisements, investigated the combined effects of position in the newspaper, ad characteristics and reader characteristics.

The differential effects of position, ad and reader characteristics on readers’ processing of newspaper ads

Edith G. Smit and Peter C. Neijens

University of Amsterdam

Robert Heath

Bath School of Management

Introduction

What are the effects of an ad’s position in the newspaper, ad characteristics and readers’ characteristics on how readers process newspaper ads? An answer to this question is of crucial importance for both advertising theory and practice. Surprisingly, the idea that different factors have different influences on the processing of advertisements has not really been subjected to any rigorous testing. Valuable research has been conducted into...

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