Preattentive Processing of Web Advertising By Chan Yun Yoo

With regards to message creation, the findings of the study suggest that marketers and advertisers should be cautious when employing animated Web ads. Animated ads may generate positive effects when consumers pay voluntary attention to and actively process it. However, when consumers are preoccupied by their Web-visiting goals and tasks, animated ads would not generate positive effects or it would be even less effective than static ones. In that case, marketers and advertiser should concentrate more on where to place their Web ads because Web ads embedded in a congruent Web page would generate more positive impact on consumers’ responses. From a media seller’s point of view, the findings of this study may be very useful to persuade potential clients to buy media spots on the Web, especially when the clients doubt an effectiveness of Web advertising and cite dismal click-through rates. Furthermore, in terms of pricing, the practical implication for Web advertisers is that emphasis should be placed on a Web ad’s reach (or impression) rather than its click-through rates or conversion rates, which may underestimate the effectiveness of Web advertisements.