Preface
This research was completed in May 2005 and submitted to the University of Texas at Austin as partial fulfillment of requirements for a PhD degree in advertising. This research not only proposes a theoretical framework of how Web advertising works but also empirically examines preattentive processing of Web advertising. The model proposes that the Web advertising source and message characteristics, in conjunction with moderating exogenous and endogenous variables, impact Web ad processing (via preattention vs. focal attention) to influence Web ad effects. Furthermore, the experiment explores factors affecting the extent of preattentive processing of Web advertising and examines outcomes of preattentive processing in terms of memory, attitudes, and consideration set formation.
Since May 2005, there have been ongoing academic contributions to our understanding of how Web advertising works.