Interactive ads boost engagement and recall
Michelle Clancy
| 18 March 2016
Interactive ad features significantly increase attention, recall and message breakthrough, according to a new study by YuMe.
Presenting 550 people with 11 different ad formats, representing five brands, on PCs, mobile phones and connected TV sets, the study was predicated in part on the concept of implicit reaction time, or IRT. This measures how quickly and closely a respondent’s brain connects distinct, intricate networks of associations that are the foundations for our images, feelings and intentions.
The survey also found that the faster a user responds indicates a stronger and more emphatic connection with a brand or product and therefore, the higher the conviction to purchase it. Interactive ads, according to this theory, succeed in these case studies because they increase certainty, illustrated by a shorter reaction time; thus, facilitating higher conviction and less inhibition.
The study discovered considerable positive impact of interactivity on ad engagement. The study also found that a positive media experience increases the chances for higher ad transference, resulting in stronger brand impact.
Specifically, the research revealed that Interactive ad units enhance the ability to convey information about the product or brand and generate higher brand metrics. Overall, the study was able to measure increased levels of conviction for brand association as a result of exposure to the ad units.
Conviction calibration was most useful for more involved, complex metrics such as purchase intent. The more interactive the ad units, the greater the impact on conviction across all brand associations. As a result, the level of interaction can potentially create stronger brand associations and connections.
Ad engagement was particularly effective, the study found, when the ad was viewed on mobile devices. Respondents who watched interactive ads for a high-end technology brand, for example, reported a 12% higher ad engagement rate when viewing the ad on a mobile device, a platform which also improved the context of the ad by more than 50%.
“As an audience technology company, our goal is to deliver not only big data but smart data, helping our partners really understand audience expectations and demands,” said Paul Neto, research director at YuMe. “This study is immensely helpful, and confirms our conviction that advertisers, publishers, and consumers alike benefit when ads are interactive and engaging.”
The research is a good companion piece to a recent study by Viant, which found that nearly a fifth of all impressions (18%) were served to smartphones and tablets, up 59% from the previous year, when mobile accounted for 11% of the total.