Context, motion, and its effects on memory for Web advertisements

Abstract

This study examined the effect of context, motion, and location on the recall of Web advertisements. To examine the effect of context on memory, advertisements were presented on either ¿uninvolving¿ Homepages or ¿involving¿ articles. Past research has demonstrated superior recall for advertisements in cognitively uninvolving contexts. To examine the effect of motion on memory, advertisements were presented in either dynamic (moving) format or in static (non-moving) format. Past research has indicated that moving objects are more perceptually salient than non-moving objects. Advertisements were also presented on both the top and bottom of the Web sites in order to investigate potential differences in recall based on the physical location of the advertisements. The results of the study indicated that subjects recalled significantly more advertisements from the Homepages than from the articles, supporting the first hypothesis. Kahnamen's (1973) attentional capacity paradigm was used to explain this finding. The expected advantage of moving advertisements over static advertisements did not materialize. Possible advantages of static advertisements over dynamic advertisements were cited. Furthermore, it was demonstrated that significantly more advertisements were recalled and recognized from the top of the Homepages than from the top of the articles, a finding attributed to the design of the Homepages and articles. Finally, advertisements were recognized significantly more from the bottom of the articles than from the top of the articles. Dissociation from the act of reading the article was used to explain this finding.