The influence of banner advertisements on attention and memory: human faces with averted gaze can enhance advertising effectiveness

Abstract

Research suggests that banner advertisements used in online marketing are often overlooked, especially when positioned horizontally on webpages. Such inattention invariably gives rise to an inability to remember advertising brands and messages, undermining the effectiveness of this marketing method. Recent interest has focused on whether human faces within banner advertisements can increase attention to the information they contain, since the gaze cues conveyed by faces can influence where observers look. We report an experiment that investigated the efficacy of faces located in banner advertisements to enhance the attentional processing and memorability of banner contents. We tracked participants' eye movements when they examined webpages containing either bottom-right vertical banners or bottom-center horizontal banners. We also manipulated facial information such that banners either contained no face, a face with mutual gaze or a face with averted gaze. We additionally assessed people's memories for brands and advertising messages. Results indicated that relative to other conditions, the condition involving faces with averted gaze increased attention to the banner overall, as well as to the advertising text and product. Memorability of the brand and advertising message was also enhanced. Conversely, in the condition involving faces with mutual gaze, the focus of attention was localized more on the face region rather than on the text or product, weakening any memory benefits for the brand and advertising message. This detrimental impact of mutual gaze on attention to advertised products was especially marked for vertical banners. These results demonstrate that the inclusion of human faces with averted gaze in banner advertisements provides a promising means for marketers to increase the attention paid to such adverts, thereby enhancing memory for advertising information.

Judgments at Gaze Value: Gaze Cuing in Banner Advertisements, Its Effect on Attention Allocation and Product Judgments

“…This is in line with previous research that suggested that the observation of gaze cuing leads to an attentional shift toward the looked-at region (Hutton and Nolte, 2011; Sajjacholapunt and Ball, 2014; Droulers and Adil, 2015). Increasing the likelihood that a product will be noticed already constitutes an important first step for advertisements to arouse a consumer’s interest.…”

“…There are a few factors that may explain this deviation from Sajjacholapunt and Ball’s (2014) original findings. First, the banner advertisement that we used was smaller in size than the advertisements that were used originally.…”

“…One factor that has only recently been suggested to improve banner ad effectiveness is the inclusion of human faces in the advertisement (Sajjacholapunt and Ball, 2014). The rationale behind presenting human faces in banner ads follows three basic assumptions: First, because of their social and emotional significance (Vuilleumier and Schwartz, 2001; Palermo and Rhodes, 2007), faces possess the natural ability to capture an individual’s attention more rapidly and automatically than other nonsocial stimuli (Bindemann et al, 2005; Langton et al, 2006).…”

The effect of web advertising visual design on online purchase intention: An examination across gender

“…Against this backdrop, web advertising has gained a great deal of attention in recent years due to its potential effect on online shoppers' responses (Almendros & García, 2014;Ching, Tong, Chen, & Chen, 2013;Flores, Chen, & Ross, 2014;Goodrich, 2011;Kuisma, Simola, Uusitalo, & Öörni, 2010;Saadeghvaziri, Dehdashti, & Askarabad, 2013;Sajjacholapunt & Ball, 2014;Sokolik, Magee, & Ivory, 2014). While previous studies have identified the impacts of web advertising on basic consumer reactions such as click-through rates and consumer recall, a significant gap remains in the theoretical understanding of how WAVD influences online purchase intention (Cyr, Head, Larios, & Pan, 2009;Goodrich, 2011).…”

Towards Global Optimization in Display Advertising by Integrating Multimedia Metrics with Real-Time Bidding

“…For all other uses, contact the owner/author(s). MM'17, October [23][24][25][26][27]2017, Mountain View, CA, USA. © 2017 Copyright held by the owner/author(s).…”