The halo effect

Every time I launch a campaign for a client, they focus on one key metric from the online media plan, clicks. The problem with this is that clicks are only one part of the results that we should be targeting as interactive marketers. There is something that I have been trying to explain to clients about the post impression value of banner ads.  Sure, not everyone clicks, but consumers also don’t click on billboards along the side of the highway. I try to call this the “halo effect.”

I finally found a ‘scientific’ report that gives validity to this theory.  Many of the media companies take it upon themselves to run surveys that highlight the value of running banners.  Problem is, they have a lot at stake to ensure the results are in their favour.  Much like pharmaceutical companies only showing the results of the positive studies, I have to think media companies ‘skew’ the information presented to market.

So here is the synopsis of an article from ScienceDaily on May 11, 2007.

The majority of advertising exposure occurs when the audience’s attention is focused elsewhere, such as while flipping through a magazine or browsing a web site. However, a new study reveals that even this incidental exposure to advertising may have a positive effect on consumer attitudes.

Effects of mere exposure are expected to grow in a marketplace where consumers’ attention is often focused elsewhere. Regardless of measured click-through rates, banner ads may still create a favorable attitude toward the ad due to repeated exposure.

The researchers investigated whether “mere exposure effect,” a condition in which people develop a positive perception of stimuli not presented to them on a noticeable level, was also applicable to incidental advertising. In a series of experiments, the researchers discovered that even if people could not recall the content of the ad, repeated exposure led to familiarity, which then led to positive feelings.

Participants had more positive evaluations toward the target banner ad as exposure frequency increased. Surprisingly, participants also showed high levels of tolerance for banner ads on which they were not directly focused. According to the researchers, even after twenty exposures, common wear-out effects were not apparent.

Results suggest that the fluency resulting from frequent passive exposure and the consequent spontaneous affective reaction provide a crucial link between exposure and positive impressions. Such spontaneous affect influenced evaluative judgments through a more complex process, likely by coloring the interpretation of the fluency experience and the nature of resulting metacognitions relating fluency with liking.

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