Online Advertising Recall: What Works – Image or Information? Eric Van Steenburg University of North Texas

Introduction Online ad click-through rates (CTR) are falling (Drèze & Hussherr 2003; Hollis 2005). Trust in the value of online advertising has nosedived, leading to a decline in online advertising expenditures (Business Week 2007). Who decided CTR is the be-all, end-all measurement for the success of an online ad? Who decided that online ads were purely for sales lead generation and could be measured like bingo cards, coupons, and 800 numbers?

Background Researchers divided into two camps: 1. Measure advertising effectiveness by CTR. 2. Measure effectiveness by awareness using recall and recognition techniques. The function of Internet advertising is to influence people in the same way as advertising in traditional media – brand enhancement (Drèze & Hussherr 2003). If the banner ad is repeatedly noticed but not clicked on, recognition and awareness of the ad and brand name is generated (Briggs and Hollis 1997).

Background Should the ads be static or interactive? How big should the ad be? Should they be use color or not? Where should they be located on the page? Should they feature a promotion or not? Should they even attempt to generate CTRs or try to reinforce a brand? Advertisers list brand awareness and recognition among the top three objectives for online marketing activity (Hollis 2005). Yet they tend to follow the CTR method of analysis. That leads to even more questions:

Questions Can online ads support a brand? How well do consumers recall and recognize ads designed to support a brand? How well do consumers recall and recognize ads designed to support a product? Do consumers recall one type of online ad more frequently than another?

Theoretical Framework Elaboration Likelihood Model (Petty et al. 1983) – Consumers use either a central or peripheral route to information processing. It can be a good determinant for advertising effectiveness in a Web environment based on consumer goal-directedness and involvement (Wang et al. 2009). Need for Cognition (Cohen et al ) – Operating at the elemental level, it measures the extent to which consumers have an intrinsic motivation to engage in problem solving activities. Research has shown the effect of NFC on message elaboration, message recall, motivation to process information, attitude change, and message persuasiveness (Haugtvedt & Petty 1992).

Methodology Experimental design (2 x 2 x 3) Ad Type (Image vs. Information) x NFC (high vs. low) x Recall (unaided vs. partial vs. full) Manipulated Ad Type Measured Need for Cognition Measured Recall Drèze & Hussherr (2003) found that Internet users: 1. 1.Avoid looking at ads while online 2. 2.Perceive banner ads in their peripheral vision Affected most by the banner message rather than how the message was conveyed.

Methodology Unaided Recall While looking at the website pages, do you recall seeing one or more banner ad? 1–Yes 2–No If you answered “yes” to recalling seeing one or more banner ad, please enter the brand(s) or company(s) advertised. Partially Aided Recall For the following brands or companies, please click all those that you know or have heard of. For the following brands or companies, please click all for which you could identify the logo. For the following brands or companies, please click all for which you recall seeing a banner ad. Fully Aided Recall While looking at the website pages, do you recall seeing the following banner ad? 1–Yes 2–No If you answered “Yes” please enter the name of the brand advertised. (Drèze & Hussherr 2003)

Methodology This study is being done to examine Internet users reaction to news websites. Please read the following information about a top story in the news before beginning. WASHINGTON, D.C. – In the wake of a growing scandal and the largest car recall in automotive history, Toyota announced today it is considering firing its long-time CEO, Akiro Toyoda, the grandson of the company founder. Should the world’s largest automaker fire Toyoda, it would mark the first time in company history that a member of the family was not at the helm. You will now see a series of web pages where you can read the latest information on this story. After viewing the web pages, you will be asked a few questions to check your reading comprehension. Please click "next" to continue

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Methodology Filter Questions Reading Comprehension Favorite news sites Attitude toward Internet news sites Measured Internet usage Need for Cognition Recall Attitude Toward Brand Demographics

Results General Linear Model (Petty et al. 1983; Lee & Thorson 2009) Within Subjects Recall significant (p-value <.000) Interaction between Recall, Ad Type, NFC significant (p <.05) Interaction between Recall, Ad Type not significant Interaction between Recall, NFC not significant Between Subjects No significance (all ps >.1) Covariate (ATB) not significant

Results Recall – Unaided NFC has negative correlation to message complexity. HighLow

Results Recall – Partially Aided High NFC consumers had much greater recall of complex ads HighLow

Results Recall – Fully Aided Low NFC consumers have much greater recall of Image ads HighLow

Conclusions Image-based online advertisements are more readily recalled by low NFC consumers after provided cues to their message. High NFC consumers recalled complex messages more easily after only a few cues. Level of NFC in consumers appears to go against theory when it comes to complexity and recall of online advertisements. For marketing managers, message association may be more important than message content ~ have an online message strategy to augment mix.

Future Research Do incentives in ads affect recall? Banners that mention neither price nor promotional offers have the most effect on click-through and post-impression rates (Rettie et al. 2004). How does repetition of ads affect recall? There are relatively strong diminishing returns to early repeated exposures that taper off as exposures continue. The rationale is that the first exposure provides sufficient opportunity to elicit a response, similar to print advertising (Calder & Sternthal 1980).

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