Banner Ad Psychology
The Internet turned display advertising into a measurable campaign. Or so we thought. The low banner click through rates, nearly brought online banner advertising to an early demise, if it weren’t for researches studying the effects banners have on consumers, beyond the click that is.
Research into the psychology of banner ads suggests that repeated exposure to a brand enhances familiarity and therefore encourages positive feelings towards that brand.
Here are examples of studies and their results:
Research published in Journal of Consumer Research in June 2007
The experiment:
Students were required to read a multi-page essay, being told they would be quizzed on its content. After reading the essay, they were instead questioned about a pretend brand camera which appeared in the banner ads on the pages of the essay.
Different groups of students were exposed to the banner advertisements either five or 20 times whilst others weren’t exposed to the brand at all.
The results:
The number of exposures had no effect on the negative feelings towards the brand. However, the number of ad exposures did have a correlating effect on their positive impressions. Even after 20 exposures, the positive vibes kept increasing.
The study did not delve into whether there was a leveling off point.
However, the authors went on to test whether the positive feelings were as a result of familiarity or actual positive evaluation. After conducting further tests, it was found that the feelings were merely based on familiarity and not supported by any real positive evaluation.
The benefit for advertisers is that increased exposure does influence consumer’s familiarity with a brand. Unfortunately for the advertiser, this feeling can be quickly overcome with a closer look into the offer. This means the familiarity concept works best with impulse buys where closer assessment is unlikely to occur.
Read more: http://arstechnica.com/old/content/2007/05/the-psychology-of-banner-ads.ars
Banner Psychology Study by Eyeblaster
The marketing firm analyzed time spent with display advertising as opposed to the click through rate (CTR). They found that consumers intentionally and actively engage with display advertising at a rate of 8.71%, that’s nearly 25 times more than the average click rate of 0.35%.
They also found that the “dwell rate” as they call it, is highest in the morning, peaking at 9am. Consumers do however spend a longer period of time interacting with ads during lunch time. They found the click through rate increases early evening and both the CTR and the Dwell Rate reduce throughout the evening, dropping about 8pm.
Banner ad psychology is an important consideration when determining the effect of banner advertising. Recently, using eye-tracking goggles, Walt Disney undertook secretive research into how people responded to ads of varying sizes. Unfortunately, Disney did not disclose its findings to the public since many of the tests were co-funded by its advertiser clients and therefore remain “proprietary”.
It goes to show however that banner advertising is more effective than first thought and advertisers are keenly interested in the topic.