Preattentive Processing of Web Advertising By Chan Yun Yoo

Messages in Web advertising can be prominent by virtue of movement, scene changes, color, size, intensity, surprise, distinctiveness, entertainment (Blackwell, Miniard, & Engel, 2001; Petrevu & Lord, 2003), and the number of times they are shown (Stewart & Furse, 1986). Anything that increases attention to an advertising message should facilitate ad effectiveness. Indeed, Gardner (1983) finds that individuals pay more attention to and process more deeply attributes that are more prominent than those that are less so, in the traditional advertising context. The results indicate that message prominence increases an individual’s ability to recall, and prominent attributes are also more likely to affect attitude toward the brand, particularly when individuals are familiar with the product category (Gardner, 1983). In the Web advertising context, advertising with either bigger size or dynamic animation, that is, vividness, as in Coyle and Thorson (2001), generates favorable attitudes and click–through rates, particularly in low–involvement situations (Cho, 1999). Furthermore, the three–dimensional presentation of a message, which is novel and distinctive compared to the traditional banner advertising, produces better knowledge and a more favorable brand attitude (Li, Daugherty, & Biocca, 2002).

Message Mode: Informational Versus Transformational

A second message characteristic is message mode. There are two most common advertising message modes depending on whether the message mainly involves informing consumers of one or more key benefits that are perceived to be highly functional (or important) or building a “personality” for the product or creating a brand image.