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Assessing Advertising Effectiveness: The Potential of Goal‐Directed Behavior
Author(s) -
Berger Sebastian,
Wagner Udo,
Schwand Christopher
Publication year - 2012
Publication title -
psychology and marketing
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.035
H-Index - 116
eISSN - 1520-6793
pISSN - 0742-6046
DOI - 10.1002/mar.20530
Subject(s) - foveal , eye tracking , eye movement , psychology , gaze , cursor (databases) , cognitive psychology , computer science , computer vision , neuroscience , retinal , biochemistry , chemistry
Advertising clutter and declining audience attention means advertisers need pretesting to ensure the effectiveness of their advertisements. This study uses, for the first time, a variable‐resolution display to measure viewers’ visual attention to advertising. The display features only the part of an ad that corresponds with the observer's eye gaze with high acuity, whereas the resolution of the other parts reflects the decline in spatial resolution of the human visual system. Participants keep the highest resolution area aligned with their foveal vision using manual cursor movements. In accordance with neuroscientific theory, recorded cursor movements parallel the eye gaze patterns observed in a control group. However, unlike tracking eye movements, the instrument offers a simple, unobtrusive, low‐cost, and time‐efficient way to measure the effectiveness of visual advertising. The results encourage the use of goal‐directed manual pointing movements to indicate attentional signals generated in the brain.