The Effects of the Content Elements of Online Banner Ads on Visual Attention: Evidence from An-Eye-Tracking Study

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to examine the influence of the content elements of online banner ads on customers’ visual attention, and to evaluate the impacts of gender, discount rate and brand familiarity on this issue. An eye-tracking study with 34 participants (18 male and 16 female) was conducted, in which the participants were presented with eight types of online banner ads comprising three content elements—namely brand, discount rate and image—while their eye movements were recorded. The results showed that the image was the most attractive area among the three main content elements. Furthermore, the middle areas of the banners were noticed first, and areas located on the left side were mostly noticed earlier than those on the right side. The results also indicated that the discount areas of banners with higher discount rates were more attractive and eye-catching compared to those of banners with lower discount rates. In addition to these, the participants who were familiar with the brand mostly concentrated on the discount area, while those who were unfamiliar with the brand mostly paid attention to the image area. The findings from this study will assist marketers in creating more effective and efficient online banner ads that appeal to customers, ultimately fostering positive attitudes towards the advertisement.

Reklamlarda İnsan Görseli̇ Kullaniminin Ürün Türü Ve Ci̇nsi̇yete Göre Tüketi̇ci̇ni̇n Di̇kkati̇ne Etki̇si̇: Bi̇r Göz Taki̇p Çalişmasi

“…The findings of this study revealed that participants fixed to the image area more quickly when human images were used. This finding supports previous research of (Huang,2018;Peker et al, 2021;Cyr, 2009), which have found that the visual interest given to banner ad increases with the inclusion of images, and customers fixated on image rather than writings and explanations (Rayner et al, 2008;Hernández-Méndez, 2015;Huang 2018).…”

Online newspapers and banner Ads

“…There are different types of online advertisement forms available on the Internet. The simple banner advertisement has been the most persistent format among them since its launch in 1994, and it is a widely used form of online advertising due to its effectiveness in influencing consumers in the advertised products and companies (Cho, 2003;Peker et al, 2021;Shahbaznezhad et al, 2020;Voorveld et al, 2018).…”

“…Determining its critical elements is an important topic for scholars and practitioners. Prior research focused on factors such as visual attention (Muñoz-Leiva et al, 2021;Peker et al, 2021), eye tracking (Nguyen et al, 2020;Peker et al, 2021;Porta et al, 2013), and facial expression (Expósito-Ventura et al, 2021;Nguyen et al, 2020). Nevertheless, only a few have investigated in terms of advertiser credibility and information given.…”