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Based on a general framework of consumer perception and processing of advertising, this study examines the impact of animation and ad format on the attention and memorization of online ads. Consumer attention to a variety of real-world ads was measured with eye tracking and ad memory was assessed with recognition and recall tests. The results suggest that on average, animation had little or no effect on attention. We did nevertheless observe a strong interaction effect between animation and ad format, which suggests that the effect of animation is conditioned by ad format. Animation has a positive effect on attention to skyscrapers, but a negative one on attention to banners. As to memorization, animation improved recognition effects, but mainly for banners. Surprisingly, consumers could recognize ads without having looked at them, which suggests that online consumers are especially parsimonious in allocating their focal attention and memory resources to irrelevant ads when they are involved in other tasks.

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