capturing your attention

7/30/2019 Capturing Your Attention

1/47

Capturing Your Attention

Christopher BakerQueens University of Charlotte

[email protected]: April 18th, 2013


2/47

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Abstract 1

Introduction 2

Literature review 4

Methodology 13

Results 15

Analysis 21

Conclusion 32

Limitations of the Study 34

Suggestions for Future Research 36

References 37


3/47

Abstract

Over the last five years, the internet has expanded rapidly. With new web applications

such as social media, users are now using many platforms to receive all of their information.

This can include staying up-to-date with their friends lives, developing new friendships, and

staying up to date on the latest news, whether it is sport, political or current affairs. The

internet has everything to provide the modern generation to suit their interests and has now

become a major part of our lives. With so many consumers being online and using the

internet, it has created a new path for advertisers to reach out to them. This has prompted my

research study to explore how effective is online advertising and what are the most effective

ways for organisations to advertise via the internet. Information obtained was through

extensive investigation that benefited the research findings and gave us a diverse collection of

viewpoints on the topic. Sources indicated that there were many effective ways of online

adverting, while others found that online advertising was not cost effective and did not lead to

sales or profits.

By generating questions and conducting focus groups, this paper examines what

makes an effective advertisement by asking the users who spend time online and who are

target by these advertisements. Twelve focus groups compromised of six to eight students

who are frequent users of the internet and are targeted by advertisements. Up to hour-long

sessions were conducted with students from Queens University of Charlotte which will

provide researchers, organizations, and businesses with the most effective way to advertise on

the internet.


4/47

Introduction

Advancements in technology have changed the methods in which organisations and

businesses have reached out to their customers. The internet has changed the way we live our

lives. Users from all around the world of different societies, races and religions can all reach out

to a universal audience to express their message, points of view. With the introduction of social

media sites and other free applications, this has only encouraged users to put their lives online

and share their content with their friends, family and followers. The internet has made it easily

accessible to connect with anyone and everyone. With so many users all around the world being

online and sharing their information and interests to the public, this has opened a new channel

for advertisers to reach out to inform users of their latest products or services.

Advertisers are using many different ways of trying to capture the attention of users on the

web, as advertising is the new concept via the web. There are many different approaches which

organisations and business have been using to try and see what the most effective ways to reach

out to the users using the internet. The main purpose of these advertisements are to inform users

of the latest products, services or information about their company or brand. The majority of the

users were subjective of adverts via social media and other free applications, such as YouTube.

The other advertisements were seen through search engines.

Understanding exactly what makes an advertisement effective or not by asking users, who

are approached by these marketing campaigns, will give this research topic a better

understanding of what truly makes an effective advertisement online. Ineffective, inefficient,

costly, time wasting, were just a couple of terms that were associated when discussing online

advertisements. Many users found advertisements to be just more concerned about taking your

money than offering a service or product that is actually of interest of them. Advertisements

were not categorized and served no purpose, they just filled a space. By understanding what the


5/47

users of the internet found to be effective or not, corporations and business will be able to

employ these new strategies to create effective online advertisements.

RQWhat are the most effective ways for organizations to advertise via the internet?


6/47

Literature review

Internet Timeline History

The internet was invented in 1969. It was originally used and designed to connect four

major universities in United States of America (Gust, 2006). The idea was to provide a

communication system in the event of military attack were to destroy conventional

communication systems. The internet was originally called Advanced Research Projects

Agency(Gust, 2006). In 1972, the first electronic mail was used to send a message of

information via the internet (Gust, 2006). The internet was being revolutionized every year,

new ideas and concepts were being put in place. The internet first came available to the

public in 1989 by a gentleman called Peter Deutsch at Montreals McGill University, who

developed a new technique for distributing information via the internet, and Advanced

Research Projects Agency was renamed World Wide Web (Gust, 2006).

The World Wide Web was developing exponentially and in 1994 the White House

launched their own web page (Gust, 2006). Commercial web sites are established and are

available for the public to share information online. With the development of the World

Wide Web now being accessible to the public, over 45 million people were using the internet

in 1996; 30 million of these users were based in North America (Gust, 2006). The internet

started to change the way people looked for information and provided new opportunities to

many different organisations, business and users. In the early 2000s business started to

implement the benefits of the internet (Updegrove, 1996). Online conference meetings

enabled companies around the globe to connect and build relationships with one another,

developing new business and trade around the world without leaving their office. The

internet would revolutionize the way businesses would think about communicating with one

another (Updegrove, 1996) .


7/47

In 2002 the use of the World Wide Web was now being implemented into the

education system. E-mail would enable students to contact professors at anytime of the day.

The World Wide Web was developing into not just a way to send a message via email, but an

application to support and benefit our lives (Updegrove, 1996). Despite the growth of the

World Wide Web, many questions were being asked, the two major concerns were. How will

schools, universities and businesses restructure their environments to accommodate this new

application? And how will the World Wide Web protect the conception of privacy,

copyrights and ownership of information? (Updegrove, 1996).

Internet Advertising

Internet advertising is defined as any form of commercial content available on the

internet that is designed by businesses to inform consumers about a product or service.

Hence, internet advertising can be delivered via any channel (e.g. video clip, print or audio),

in any form (e.g. an e-mail message or an interactive game), and provide information at any

degree of depth (e.g. a corporate logo or an official Web site) (Yaakop, 2013). Due to

globalization, businesses have had to result to expand their audience to a global scale, which

has meant that online users have had to become aware of the services or products being

offered (Gilaninia, 2011). Advertising is process which informs users about goods and

services over time to encourage or persuade consumers to buy goods or services (Gilaninia,

2011).

Advertising via the World Wide Web first started in the early 1990s when the website

was made commercially available to the public (Gust, 2006). With nearly over 45 million

people sharing their information and using the World Wide Web as an application,

advertising companies saw this as a platform to reach out to the users (Gust, 2006). A new

platform of interactive advertising, such as banners, sponsored ads, social ads, and display


8/47

ads revolutionised the way companies focused their attentions to capture the World Wide

Web users attention (Hairong, 2011). Advertising via the internet has been found to be both

beneficial at communicating corporate messages and brand values (Wakolbinger, 2009).

The web first started off like a word document, with just pages and pages of

information. As technologies have developed over time, web pages and designs have

developed new features and the ability to perform various functions, which enabled adverts to

be placed on the web (Hairong, 2011). The importance of creating a visually effective advert

which carries an important message to a specific audience is seen as significant (Greenberg,

2012). Spacing, colour, shape, depth, spatial frequency and complexity are all vital

components for an effective advertisement on the web (Greenberg, 2012). The physical and a

clutter free appearance of the advertisement is vital to get right when capturing the audiences

attention. Results of cluttered and less atheistically pleasing advertisements were less

effective in delivering important information (Greenberg, 2012). Advertisements must be

carefully balanced between information and images to be effective (Greenberg, 2012).

Advertisement placement is also another important factor when it comes to the

effectiveness of the campaign. By studying where participants eyes were getting attracted to

on the screen, Greenburg could discover where the best locations for advertisements to be

(Greenberg, 2012). Advertisements that were shown in the top and right hand side margin of

the computer screen were most effective (Greenberg, 2012). However, animated adverts in

these positions were not effective and may become easily ignored when the viewer is

engaged in his/hers work (Greenberg, 2012).

Advertisements are not necessarily designed to have instant results but to implement

new ideas and concepts that provoke thought at a later stage (Greenberg, 2012). This is

known as advertising recall which provides familiarity with the product or service being

offered. Advertisement placement and visibility are of critical importance to ultimate ad


9/47

effectiveness (Greenberg, 2012) There two aspects for online advertisements, low-level

visual and high level visual. Research shows that less is more when it comes to contextual

adverts and the uses of images are not a necessary important to capture the attention of the

audience (Greenberg, 2012).

Users of the internet also found that banner advertisements can have a negative effect

on the website which could make it less appealing for users to revisit the webpage in the

future. (Chaturvedi, 2012) A banner advertisement usually contains 468 x 60 pixels which is

located on the hosts website. Banner advertisements are usually located on websites that

share common interests. For example, the latest Nike golf club is likely to be located on

forum websites discussing golf. So the product being advertised has interest for the internet

consumer (Chaturvedi, 2012). A successful internet banner advertisement for marketers is to

select high traffic websites which carry the similar interests of the user (Chaturvedi, 2012).

Increase in sales, brand image and product awareness will be seen as a result of a successful

internet campaign. Banner advertisements that carried flashing images that interacted the

consumers were seen to be most successful at capturing the users attention and remembering

the campaign at a later stage (Chaturvedi, 2012). However, this initial distraction which

caught the users attention when seeing the advertisement had negative effects when it came

to the credibility of the advert and information or product being advertised (Chaturvedi,

2012). Pop up advertisements were seen as negative aspect of online adverting (Chaturvedi,

2012)

With this in mind website hosts should also consider which advertisements they

should choose to have positioned on their website as the advertisement banner could have

negative impacts on the website if users find the campaign irritating or not credible. Websites

that do not wish to place advertisements banners on their websites, can charge for users to list

products or require membership for full access (Chaturvedi, 2012). A perfect example of this


10/47

is Craigslist, which does not allow internet banners on their website, but charges the user a

fee to list products on their website (Krill, 2008). Craiglist and other websites like this decide

to implement this strategy as they feel internet banners could have more of a negative effect

on their brand and decrease their customer base (Krill, 2008). A possible solution to resolve

the decision to apply advertisement banners or not is to ensure that advertisement banners are

target to the current page and which interests the user.

Internenet Applications

Email was one of the first ways of advertising via the internet. Businesses and

organization used to send email offerings and promotions to online users whether they signed

up to subscriptions or not (Cho, 2004). Today users of the internet have the choice if they

wish to sign up to a companys subscriptions or not. Users can choose between subscribe

and unsubscribe if they choose to be informed on the material (Cho, 2004). YouTube is the

internets most popular online video source and the second most-visited web site on the web

(Dominic, 2012). With over 4 billion hits a day on the website its massive popularity has

attracted the attention of marketers (Dominic, 2012)..

The online application effectively portrays advertisements via the internet by offering

two types of adverts on their webpage to the viewers (Pashkevich, 2012). When you click on

a video via YouTube the viewer is presented with an advert. These adverts can be skippable

and non skippabble. Skippable enables the user to skip the advert and direct them back to

the content they had chosen (Pashkevich, 2012). Non-skippable prevents the user from

skipping the advertisement which means they have to wait for the advert to completely finish

before watching their content (Pashkevich, 2012). Max Pashkevich, who works as a

developer at Google, compared how effective each method of advertising was. With the

skippable ad option, results proved that user happiness was met (Pashkevich, 2012) Being


11/47

able to allow the user to have control in what he/she appears to be interested in, did not

effective the users experience and also increased advertising effectiveness (Pashkevich,

2012). Adverts with the non skippable feature were less effective when trying to capture the

users attention. Results have indicated that YouTube skippable in-stream advertisements

were the most effective (Pashkevich, 2012). Advertising via social media is another

application used by advertisers as a method of reaching out to users. Social media advertising

is a term used to describe a form of online advertising that utilizes social networks. Users

personally share advertisements with their friends which they are interested in (Li, 2012).

Facebook is the fastest growing social medium with over 900 million users (Sharp,

2012). Facebook also generates traffic of over 160 million visitors in America alone each

month (Lipsman, 2012). With such large traffic generated by online users this has attracted

the attention for companies and organisations to reach to use Facebook as a platform to

market their products and services to their consumers. The Newsfeed is where online users of

Facebook spend up to 25% of their time (Lipsman, 2012). This is the area in which Facebook

has introduced branded and advertisement content. Users are 40 to 150 times more likely to

consume product or brand endorsed content in the Newsfeed compared to the Fan Page.

Karen Nelson -Field states that Facebook is the most cost effective way for businesses

to reach out to their consumers and develop their business brand (Field, 2012). Field has also

calculated that by 2015 social media will be the most dominate way of communicating on the

internet which will engage nearly onethird of the worlds population (Field, 2012). This

would enable businesses to nearly 80% of the global consumers, which is an estimated

market worth of nearly $29 trillion (Sharpe, 2012).

Advertising via Facbook is conducted by businesses, organisations and individual

users creating a Facebook Fan Page. Users of Facebook are then asked to click the like

button on the Fan Page to then be connected to the businesses, organisations or individual


12/47

offers (Sharp, 2012). The total number of the likes connected with the Fan Page is an

indication of how successful the page is (Sharp, 2012) . The value of a fan via Facebook can

be regarded in three ways: increasing the depth of engagement and loyalty among fans this

builds and develops your relationship with you and you customers (Sharp, 2012).

Generating incremental purchase behavior by reaching out to your customers via a

Facebook companies and business can inform users of their latest offers and products

increasing purchasing spending (Sharp, 2012). The last value of a fan via Facebook is

leveraging the ability to influence friends (Sharp, 2012). With companies being able to

calculate how many users they are reaching each week, Facebook is a fantastic way to

effectively optimize a business or organization presence amongst online users (Sharp, 2012) .

Non buyers, these are users who never buy off the businesses, organisations and

individual but have just liked their page. Light; these are users who have purchased a good

or service once, Moderate two or three times and heavy buyers four or more times in a

month (Field, 2012). When sporting events were being shown on television, businesses Fan

Pages which were related to these sporting events increased their brand awareness and public

following (Field, 2012). However users are also given power in the form of, blogging, forums

and social media sites to connect to one another to discuss all about the latest products,

brands and businesses (Powers, 2012). With the consumers having so much control via these

applications, companies now have to ensure that what they are advertising is not going to

affect their brand or company image (Powers, 2012).

Advancements in technology also means that many companies which we used to buy

from are now offering their services online. Companies are now having to evolve to expose

their brand online (Powers, 2012). When consumers are targeted with an advertisement

online, consumers respond when the advertisement has significant interest to them (Powers,

2012) . Consumers do not want to be bullied into buying a product off a company, but to feel


13/47

relaxed and feel like they are shopping on their own terms (Powers, 2012). Companies should

also be communicating with shoppers both early and late into the buying process. Successful

internet advertising is not just about product or brand awareness, but a relationship with you

and your consumer (Powers, 2012). It is imperative that companies make advertising simple

and effective when delivering their message to the consumer. Most important of all keep the

consumers happy (Powers, 2012) .

Advertising Spending

Advertising spending over the last five years has increased significantly. Advertising

expenditure via the internet is expected to grow from $23.4 billion to $34 billion in 2014

(Hallerman, 2009). The corporations, companies individuals who contribute to this sum of

money of 40% is spent via sponsored search engines such as Google, MSN and Yahoo. Users

pay money to these search engine companies to advertise their websites on the internet. Pay

per click is the way in which users advertise, this is where every time a user clicks on a link

shown in a search engine, a sum of money come out of their advertising budget (Hallerman

2009).

When consumers begin a search via a search engine, sponsored advertisements (pay

per click) are shown. Users then click on these sponsored links and then redirected to the

advertisers website. Consumers visit lower positioned advertisements for more informational

related search terms (Hallerman 2009). Subsequently product endorsed advertisements were

given more attention at the top of the search engine pages. However product advertisements

incurred a very low conversion rate, only converging 1% of every 1000 clicks into a sale

(Hallerman 2009). This is also referred to as the CPM model, (cost per thousand) which

charges advertisers purely on the basis of the number of ad impressions (Lin, 2012). This also

informs that being at the top of the search engines is not necessary most effective. With such


14/47

a low conversion rate of only converting 1% of every 1000% impressions to your website,

using search engines as the only form of advertising to generate revenue or users to your

website is not the most efficient way of building and developing your brand (Hallerman

2009). proportional to the number of consumers adopting the service

Pay-per-click online advertising, has been highly publicised as the most effective way

of advertising via the internet (Dellarocas, 2012). It is also the main source in which search

engines such as Google and MSN rely on for the main source of their income (Dellarocas,

2012). Pay per click has become the latest craze according to research Chrysanthos

Dellarocas, who is a professor at Boston University, School of Management. Before pay-per-

click the main way of adverting via the internet was pay-per-impression, pricing was based

on performance (Dellarocas, 2012). Advertisers would only get billed for measurable actions

by the consumers. However this was seen as ineffective converging rate for the firms and

businesses (Dellarocas, 2012). .

Advertisers would pay a lump sum for the privilege of exposure. Pay-per-expose was

a very broad way of advertising and this is why pay-per-click has been introduced.

Dellarocas, has conducted research to see the benefits of pay-per-click advertising, and what

the benefits are compared to its predecessor (Dellarocas, 2012). The advancements in

technology have also made it easier to track the impact of advertising banners and messages.

Pay-per-click enables advertisers to set a budget limit for their advertising campaign, this

works in favour for the advertisers as it enables them to control their burn rate and limit their

risk (Dellarocas, 2012). Dollarocas, also states the importance of potential advertisers to

know exactly what audience they are marketing at to maximize the potential of their ad

campaign (Dellarocas, 2012). Dollarocas suggested two ideas which he conducted research

on. The first step was for the advertiser to inform search engines the budget amount over a

specific amount of time. The second step was to construct a mechanism whereby advertisers


15/47

are charged only when no actions are being triggered to that advertisers ad, for example

clicks and sales. This way advertising budgets can be calculated by results and not just page

clicks which do not lead to a sale. This means that there is less risk attached for the

advertisers (Dellarocas, 2012)..

A study of 500 adverts was used to test Dollarocas two step process. Results were

collected and the effectiveness of the campaigns was indicated by the sales. Payment was

taken out of the advertisers account when users purchased or bought a service from their

website. The results indicated that this was more beneficial to pay search engine companies

to publish their advert fewer times but increase their sales (Dellarocas, 2012). Dollaracous

also stated for this to work and be beneficial for the search engine companies to implement a

charge if there were no sales made by the adverts (Dellarocas, 2012).

Advertisements via social sites such as Facebook or Twitter are referred to as

sponsored stories (Sharp, 2012). These are small advertisements that appear on the right hand

side column of the Newsfeed. Businesses will allocate a budget amount and then target their

required audience. With users displaying so much personal interests via Facebook, companies

can select users who have interest in what products or services they are offering (Sharp,

2012) .

Advertising Effectiveness

The most important aspect of internet advertising is users remembering the product or

service being offered. This is also referred to as total brand recalland is defined as the

recall of a brand and recognition of an advertisement (Wakolbinger, 2009). Advertising

effectiveness is measured by brand recall and if the users are more likely to buy the product

or service after seeing the advertisement (Wakolbinger, 2009). Internet promotions and

advertisements campaigns have increased each year on the web, trying to capture the


16/47

audience attention. This has became apparent by the use of social media which has made the

connection between users and businesses (Yaakop, 2013). However, the knowledge and

effectiveness of this medium of advertising is somewhat limited as advertising online is a

new concept (Yaakop, 2013). Gaining knowledge of the ability and functions the internet has

when it come to advertising effectiveness is important to understand how efficient internet

advertising is. The relationship between advertisers and consumers demonstrate the bond and

connection between both parties, which will indicate how effective an advertising campaign

will be (Yaakop, 2013). Internet advertising provides a direct avenue for marketers to have a

direct relationship with their consumers (Yaakop, 2013). Understanding your customers and

their interests is the most important aspect when launching an internet advertising campaign.

With the internet providing such a direct avenue to consumers attitudes, online adverts were

influenced by two major factors (Yaakop, 2013). Advertising content was a concern with

the consumers and having trust in that online medium. Developing trust among online users

is vitally important when trying to build a relationship (Yaakop, 2013).

The other determining factor of advertising online is the environment of the

campaign. Users of the internet are more likely to respond to internet campaigns with

websites they are familiar with, such as Facebook, Twitter and YouTube (Yaakop, 2013).

This also refers back to the trust relationship between marketers and the users feeling more

comfortable responding to an advertising campaign in a familiar environment. With so many

users being associated with websites such as Facebook, Twitter and YouTube users of these

applications feel comfortable that the advertisements are not going to be of any harmful

content, as the websites are well established and have gained trust with users online (Yaakop,

2013).

There are also five other components that consumers were dependent on when it

came to advertising effectiveness. These were: advertising utility, indignity, trust, price


17/47

perceptions and regulation (Yaakop, 2013). Internet users as a whole found that internet

advertising was more trustworthy and informative and less intrusive than other medias. Users

of the internet also perceived that cost of internet advertising does not have a direct increase

in product prices, ensuring the consumers that internet purchasing was more expensive or less

expensive than direct purchasing from stores, shops or warehouses (Yaakop, 2013).

Advertising via television is still seen to perform significantly better than web

advertising in grabbing the attention of the audience. However internet advertising was seen

to be superior in conveying service and product information (Yaakop, 2013). Internet

advertising is a fantastic way of enriching the audiences mind with information. The

combination of trust worthy content, familiar environments and enriching content is the most

effective way to advertise online.


18/47

Methodology

RQWhat are the most effective ways for organizations to advertise via the internet?

Survey Objective

The object of this survey is to examine what are the most successful and effective

ways for organizations to use, to advertise their products or services via the internet. With so

many different applications which are accessible and free for organizations to choose from,

this survey will expose exactly which applications are most effective, by collecting results

from focus groups.

Participants

In order to find out the most popular and effective applications to advertise with, I had

to identify what type participants to target. According to research the most popular age group

which uses the internet is 18-30 (Zickuhr, 2012). Focus groups were the only method used to

collect results and were conducted at Queens University of Charlotte. The participants only

requirements were that they have a registered social media account, frequent users of the

internet and they fall in the age bracket from 18-30. There were six participants in each focus

group and eight focus groups all together. This provided sufficient amount of results to

analyze the data and gather a wide range of responses.. Participants were treated fairly and

with respect. Each participant was granted the right to decline a response. Data was collected

to examine what the most successful ways for organizations to advertize via the internet. A

scribe was used to collect the data from the focus groups; transcriptions were shredded after

data was recorded.


19/47

Focus Groups

During the focus groups participants will be asked how effective is online advertising

via mediums such as Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and search engines. Each participant will

be granted the right to decline a response. Participants will be treated fairly and with respect.

This will make sure that there is an unbiased environment, where free thought and opinions

will be encouraged. Through the process of the focus groups, our results were able to show

how the most active internet users truly felt about online advertising and how effective they

are.

Questions

Participants in the focus group were encouraged to express their points of view

amongst each other and answer the questions as truthfully as possible. This ensured that the

data collected was as accurate as possible. There were ten questions in total and all the

questions were non biased or leading questions and were asking no personal information. The

ten questions provided a wide range of positive and negative feedbacks, ranging from the

most effective use of colors, images and content. The focus group questions enabled a greater

understanding from the users perspective of what makes an affective advertisement.

Analysis

The data gathered was compared and contrasted on the answers given by the

participants. Transcriptions were then carefully examined and placed into themes.

Research Sub-Questions

RQ1: Does internet applications generate new customers or profit for your business?

RQ2: Does an increase in advertising spending create more sales for businesses?

RQ3: Does the type of advertisement affect the success of the message?


20/47

Results

Conducting focus groups were extremely beneficial in obtaining how users truly felt

about internet advertisements. Having obtained participants who are frequent users of the

internet, the focus groups were a perfect time for users to express and share their ideas of

what makes a successful and unsuccessful advertisement. Participants were honest and shared

their points of view amongst each other. The main objective of the focus group was to see if

our findings answered our research question and either support or fail the sub research

questions.

1. How much time roughly a day do you spend on the internet?

Participants range of time spent on the internet ranged from three hours to ten hours,

the mean time spent on the internet by participants was four hours. Participants all seemed to

spend roughly the same amount of time on the internet. However, participants who used

smart phones such as iphones or androids significantly increased their time spent on the

internet. With internet now being as accessible on mobile phones as computers, participants

stated that the majority of their time spent on the internet was coming from their phones.

2. What websites do you use the most?

Participants main use of the internet was entertainment, coming from internet sites

such as Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Tumblr, Pinterest, Spotify and Pandora. The other

remaining time was spent on websites for work such as email, Moodle (school database) and

news. Participants stated that they would use websites that would involve some sort of

interaction with other online users. Participants enjoyed meeting, developing friendships

online and receiving some sort of feedback or attention from online users. Evenings and

weekends were the most frequent times users spent on the internet, when they had more time.


21/47

Participants stated that during the week the most popular time of internet usage was between

the hours five to twelve.

Collecting data from 8 focus groups which had six to eight people in each one, a total

of 56 participants were used for the research study. Out of the 56 participants 24 stated that

Facebook was their most used website. Twitter was the next popular website with 16

participants stating it was their mostly used website. Pinterest came third with eight, four

people used tumblr the most and the final four mentioned email.

3. Do these websites use online advertising?

When participants were asked if these websites carried advertising, all participants

agreed unanimously that the websites implemented advertising in one way or another. Every

website that was used by participants carried some sort of advertising on their site; Outlook

and Moodle were the only exceptions. However, participants did not seem to mind websites

that implemented advertisements. As long as the advertisements did not distract participants

from the content of the website, advertisements do not to have any negative effects on the

users experience. However, participants associated websites that had pop up advertisements

as unbeneficial and ones which may contain viruses. This form of advertisement was seen as

negative way of internet advertising. Participants impressions were that websites with pop

up advertisements were annoying and carried no credibility, and were usually just after your

money, or information. For successful or effective internet adverting campaigns pop up

advertisements should not be implemented into any advertising campaign. Partipants also

mentioned that applications do not carry advertisement only internet websites.

4. What adverts capture your attention?

Advertisements that caught participants attentions carried some sort of interest in one

way or another. Advertisements had to be of some beneficial use to the participant in order

for the online users to have some sort of interaction with that advertisement and in order for


22/47

the user to click on the advertisement. Advertisements that implemented bright bold pictures

were also seen as effective by the participants as they captured the users attention. The

importance of the image being used for an advertisement was also seen as being important.

The image did not necessarily have to have any connection with the advertisement. Both

sexes agreed that the use of sexy images were seen as effective when capturing the online

users attention and this did not have to have any connection or relation to the product or

service being offered. Advertisements that also used a bold frame around these pictures were

also seen effective. The frame acted as another way of capturing the users attention and

drawing them into the advertisement.

The advertisement title was also another important aspect that captured the users

attention. Advertisement titles that made the user question them self or made them think were

seen as effective. Participants also stated that the title of an advertisement should be short and

to the point of what the advertisement message is all about. Long titles that required too much

time for the participant to invest in were seen as ineffective. Participants enjoyed quick

read advertisements that delivered the information as quickly as possible

5. Do these adverts encourage you to spend money or sign up to their websites?

Participants agreed that advertisements mainly just wanted you to be aware of what

the brand, company or business were offering or doing. From the data collected from the

participants it became apparent that advertisements initial process was not to capture the

users attention in trying to make them spending money, but more to make the users informed

what that brand had to offer to them and what beneficial use they could offer. Participants

responded to advertisements that offered free trials or chance to win something.

When users click on an advertisement and pop ups appeared, participants mentioned

that they lost interest in these websites immediately. These websites were generally ones that


23/47

were associated with users to encourage to sign up or spend money immediately. Participants

of the focus groups did not like this method of being pushed into spending money.

Participants did not mind signing up to websites that they were interested in with the service

or products being offered. Participants would not sign up to websites that carried no

beneficial use to their lives.

6. Are you more likely to respond to adverts of your personal interests?

Participants all agreed that advertisement that carried of personal interest were more

effective.

7. How much space do you think advertising should take up on the screen?

It was interesting to see that participants from a variety of groups all came up with

similar answers regarding this question. The majority consensus of all the groups, was that

advertisements should take no more than 20% of the users screen. Participants mentioned that

advertisements that consume more than 20% of a website distracted the users from what the

website was about. Websites lost their purpose when littered with advertisements.

Participants also stated that advertisements should be grouped together in one place.

Advertisements that were irrationally placed on a website made the aesthetic appearance of

the website less appealing. Participants preferred advertisements located on the right side of

the screen or at the top banner of the page.

8. Do you prefer websites without adverts?

Some users did mention that they would prefer websites with no advertising; however

this was not seen as the majority consensus. Participants were not bothered with websites

that implemented adverts on their websites as long as it did not distract users from the content

of the web page. Participants realized that with so many different websites being free,

companies and business have to generate money somehow. When asked would participants

prefer to have to pay a subscription or see advertisements on a webpage, all participants


24/47

agreed that they would prefer to see advertisements. However, participants did not like

advertisements being used on mobile phones. With the screen being so small on their phones

in some cases the advertisements were taking as much 90% of the screen. In this case

participants stated that they would prefer advertisements not to be implemented on the

internet when using mobile phones and would prefer to pay a small fee to download the

application on their phone.

9. If adverts were not used on the web, what other means of communication would

you prefer to be contacted by?

Email was the overall preferred choice of contact by participants. Participants

enjoyed the option of having to open the email if they did not think it was of particular

interest. Participants also stated that they were cautious of singing up to newsletters of

updates as they did not want their email accounts littered with junk. Participants enjoyed

having the option how many times they wished to be contacted each week. Participants did

not wish to be contacted via mobile as they felt it intruded their personal life. This was in the

form of texting or personal phone calls from the company trying to inform them of their latest

products or services being offered. When asked how many times participants would like to

be contacted via email the overall consensus was no more than once a week and preferably

the same time each week on the same day. When asked about other means of communication

such as flyers, newsletter or mailings. Participants felt this was an old fashioned way of

informing of them of the companies brand, and did not see this as an effective way of

approaching potential customers.

10. What is it about certain advertisements that make you pay more attention to

them?

Participants stated similar responses to question four. Advertisements have to be of

some personal relevance and use of color, title and image were seen as the most important


25/47

aspects of an advertisement that captures the audience attention. Simple advertisements were

also seen as being effective and the more unusual were seen to get more response from the

online user. The more unusual advertisements that created a talking point amongst friends

were seen as highly effective as they spread virally across the internet. Participants stated that

they were more like to share an advertisement online with friends if it was unusual, clever or

different.


26/47

Analysis

Compiling all of the data from research, focus groups and literature ensured the study

of what are the most effective ways for advertising on the internet. The internet has become

increasing popular with users and the amount of time being spent online. With the likes of

internet sites of YouTube which receives over 4 billion hits a day on their websites (Dominic,

2012). With so many users being online using applications, this has attracted the likes of

businesses as a direct method to advertise their latest products or services. Advertising has

moved away from other mediums such as television, newspapers and flyers, and is now being

focused online. With such a change in the way business are trying to reach out to new

potential customers and develop existing relationship, it is important to understand the

change in communication between user and organizations.

With this in mind understanding what are the most effective ways for organizations

to advertise via the internet? is extremely important for advertising success. With internet

being such a relatively new revolution, this study will inform new advertisers exactly what is

effective from a consumers point of view. Understanding exactly what the consumers of the

web like and dislike will enable the internet to be work more efficiently and improve the

quality of communication between users and businesses.

One of the most important aspects of advertising is understand when the majority of

users are online. According to data collected from the focus groups, participants suggested

that between the hours seven and twelve are the most popular time spent on the internet,

during the week. Participants stated that their internet usage would remain constant through

the weekends. For maximum effectiveness adverting campaigns should be displayed online

between these hours, when the maximum numbers of users are online. This way an


27/47

advertising campaign will receive maximum exposure which is vitally important when

informing users online of your latest products or services.

According to Prof Gilaninia from the initial research Advertising is process which

informs users about goods and services over time to encourage or persuade consumers to buy

goods or services (Gilaninia, 2011). Data collected from focus groups would agree with this

statement, however would like to expand on it. According to data collected it appears

advertising has techniques have changed over the last couple of years. Advertisings

campaigns have moved away from developing a quick sale and shifted to building and

developing a relationship with the potential customer. It is this relationship with the customer

that online users are looking for. Online users do not want to feel pushed or rushed into

handing over their email address, bank details or personal information.

By developing a relationship with customers over a period of time and not forcing

users to initially the bond becomes stronger between user and organization and their

relationship will last longer. This was backed up by our initial research which stated

Advertising content was a concern with the consumers and having trust in that online

medium. Developing trust among online users is vitally important when trying to build a

relationship (Yaakop, 2013). Organizations do not want to force potential or existing

customers into a sale but develop a relationship and informing the customer what exactly is in

it for them.

When researching what were the most effective ways of advertising, (Greenberg,

2012) stated that advertisements had to be visually effective which our findings would

coincide. Greenberg also stated that the advertisement images should carry the same message

as the intended service or product being offered. According to the data collected from our

focus groups this was not the case. Unusual and unrelated images can be used just as

effectively. As users were not attracted to advertising campaigns that they have seen before.


28/47

Participants also mentioned that sometimes they would not even read the message of

the advertisement if the picture was effective sometimes. The advertising principle of sex

sells which many companies and business incorporate into their marketing strategies was

seen as effective amongst participants in the focus groups (Parker, 2012). Male users were

more inclined to click on an advertising campaign if an aesthetically image of a woman was

used as the main image. Female users similarly stated that of a male image was used.

Ensuring your product or service is targeted at the right gender is another important aspect

when it comes to targeting the adverting campaign. This ensured the research study that the

use of image can be highly effective in the success of an advertising campaign.

As stated in the initial research the most important aspect of internet advertising is

users remembering the product or service being offered, this is also referred to as total brand

recall (Wakolbinger, 2009). Advertising effectiveness is measured by brand recall and if the

user are more likely to buy the product or service after seeing the advertisement

(Wakolbinger, 2009). Implementing these strategies of use of color, title and image are the

most important aspects when ensuring total brand recall.

Advertisements titles on sites such as social media sites had to be short and brief

when trying to capture the attention of the user. The title of an advertisement is one of the

most important aspects when trying to capture the audiences attention. Fewer words grabbed

the attention, which indicated the purpose of the advertisement to the user. Users appeared to

be more engaged of the purpose of the site rather than the advertisements. For the most

effective advertisements should engage as little time as possible from the user. This means

the title of the advert should be no longer than a short sentence and one that provokes some

sort of reaction.

This could be a title that involves asking the user a question or makes them think.

Advertising campaigns that also offered incentives for the users such as free trials or the


29/47

chance to win something were also highly likely to capture the users attention. Titles

should be thought provoking and stimulate the user in some way. However, as focus groups

were conducted at a Queens University with college students ranging from the ages of 18- 25,

this is a narrow focus so might not be the same results when conducted with an older age

category. This is regarding to suggestions regarding free trails capturing their attention.

Spacing, colour, shape, depth, spatial frequency and complexity are all vital

components for an effective also which our findings agreed with (Greenberg, 2012).The

combination of these six and all necessary components when determining the success of an

advertising campaign. However, websites that carried pop ups, which may of implemented

some of these aspects and which offered a chance to win something or a free trial; users were

automatically put off as users felt they lost all credibility. Participants felt strongly about this

and associated websites with pop-ups with virus websites or ones that could potentially harm

their computer. Participants would not revisit websites which implemented pop-ups and

stated that they would try and avoid them as much as possible. Pop-up advertisements

should not be implemented into advertising campaigns to maximize the success of that

campaign.

One of the most talked about forms of adverting was on site YouTube as it receives so

much attention from online users with over 4 billion hits ever day to the site (Dominic,

2012).. According to our initial research, the online application effectively portrays

advertisements via the internet by offering two types of adverts on their webpage to the

viewers (Pashkevich, 2012). Non-skippable prevents the user from skipping the

advertisement which means they have to wait for the advert to completely finish before

watching their content (Pashkevich, 2012).

Data collected from the focus groups agreed with the initial research that the

skippable ad option, proved that user happiness was met which allowed the user being able to


30/47

have control in what he/she appears to be interested in (Pashkevich, 2012). When

participants were engaging in sites such as watching content on YouTube, participants all

said that skippable ad option was preferred compared to non skippable .

Adverts with the non skippable feature were less effective when trying to capture the

users attention. Participants also stated that if they were interested in the product or service

being advertised, they would watch the entire duration of the advert. For the most effective

ad campaign on YouTube, users should not feel forced into having to watch a campaign.

Users of these free sites will pay attention to adverts that have interest to them. Advertising

campaigns should implement the option for users to have the option to skip advertisements

for optimum success of the campaign. Making online users have to listen to a campaign,

could push them further away from the message. Advertising campaigns should let users

embrace the message if interested. Results have indicated that YouTube skippable in-stream

advertisements were the most effective.

Participants also mentioned that adverts that were repeatedly shown on the likes of

YouTube had positive and negative effects on the user. Participants found that adverts

became extremely annoying and frustrating when an advertisements were repeated over a

couple of weeks on non skippable adverts. However, users also expressed that this method of

advertisements was also effective at capturing the audience attention by ingraining the

message repeatedly into the users head.

This was not seen as enjoyable experience for the user, as they became irritated.

However the use of constant repetition of a message ensured the user of what the

advertisement was saying. Users also mentioned that a variety of advertisements carrying the

same message could also be just as effective. This way, users would not get bored of the

advertisement campaign and still pay attention to the message.


31/47

According to initial research Greenburg who conducted research into where users

vision were drawn to, enabled advertisers locate the best possible positions for

advertisements. Greenburg stated that advertisements that were shown on the top and right

hand side margin of the computer screen were most effective (Greenburg, 2012). Data

collected from the focus groups coincided with this initial data. Participants also stated that

they preferred advertisements which were located on the right hand side or as a banner

located on the top bar.

Users vision was automatically targeted towards the top and right sides of a page

(Greenburg, 2012). Adverts on the left side were less effective, Twitter was the only website

that advertised on the left hand side and is website that has recently introduced advertising.

Advertisements that were located together were also seen as more effective, as users would

know where to look every time if they wanted to find a sponsored story. Users also preferred

advertisements located together, as the aesthetic look of the website was cleaner.

Advertisements that were scattered over the web page appeared to make the website look

messy and untidy. The aesthetic look and appearance of a website is vitally important when

capturing the users attention initially. Advertisements should be implemented on the right

and top side of websites and grouped together for the most effective technique to advertise on

the internet.

Understanding your customers and their interests is the most important aspect when

launching an internet advertising campaign (Yaakop, 2013). Advertisements that carried

similar interests with the user were seen as the most effective, as the user is actually

interested in that service or product being offered. These were seen on websites such as

Facebook and Google as they use your search history to build up a data base of your interests.

Businesses build fan pages on Facebook and then reach out to users to like their page if they

have an interest in their brand or image.


32/47

Once users follow the Fan Page businesses can then stay connected with that

individual and inform them of their latest products or services. Working in the same way

users subscribe to a company email newsletters. This way, users can be connected with what

the companies and business they want to be associated with and find of interest. Group

members ruled in favor as using social media as an effective way to keep updated with the

latest offers as the products and services were of common interest. This would be an advised

method of advertising, as you can reach out to those users and target your brands who are

interested in your service or product by their past search terms and interests.

This method is more advanced and does not rely down to luck or chance. Advertising

campaigns via social media specifically targets the users who are already interested in similar

products or services which you may be offering. Such advertisements would appear in the

newsfeed of social networking sites such as Facebook, where up to 25% of users spend

their time (Lipsman, 2012). According to initial research as well, users are 40 to 150 times

more likely to consume product or brand endorsed content in the Newsfeed (Lipsman, 2012).

Participants also found advertisements that introduced sound or a person speaking

was highly effective and engaging from the start. This was seen as an unusual method of

advertising and not common amongst websites, which was unusual as participants found this

method of advertisement effective. This method of advertising should be used more often as

participants from the focus group stated that they liked this personable touch of hearing a

voice informing them of the message. However, this could be seen as a costly way of

advertising which could require more software and coding to implement into a website in

order for users to benefit from.

The space consumed by an advertisement on the users computer screen was also

another important factor when analyzing how effective the proportion of space was between

advertisements and website content. According to data collected from the focus groups,


33/47

websites should not implement more than 20% of the screen to advertisements. This is for the

benefit of the users experience on the website, which ensures they are not distracted from the

actual content. Irrationally placed and overcrowded advertisements will push users away

from that site as it will lose its meaning and be distracting.

Grouping the advertisements together in one place, which does not consume more

than 20% of the screen, would be recommended. A couple of participants also mentioned that

they would prefer no advertisements what so ever. However, the majority of users were not

affected with websites that used advertisements as they appreciate that they are providing a

service which is free and the business needs to generate money somehow.

When asked what other forms of communication would participants be preferred to be

contacted by the majority preferred email. However, participants expressed their concern and

feelings by how often companies took advantage of email users with the latest products or

services. This constant emailing of users actually pushed users away from the company or

products or services being offered. Participants stated that they would often unsubscribe to

newsletters if companies emailed them multiple times a day.

Daily emails were seen as unnecessary. Participants expressed strong feelings that

once a week was more than enough to be update with information. Email was also seen as

another preference of being contacted as the method does not waste or consume any paper.

Participants were just concerned by how many times they were going to be contacted when

signing up to newsletters or updates. Participants stated that they were being emailed by

companies such as Amazon and Groupon up to ten times a day.

Participants would ignore, delete or move emails to junk if companies abused the

relationship and pestered the users. By looking at the results conducted from the focus groups

and to prevent users from being pushed away from future email sign ups, ensuring the user

has the control of how many times they wished to be contacted is vitally important.


34/47

Consumers should be given the choice how many times they wished to be emailed with the

latest products or service being offered by that company. Offering an option of one, two or

three email offerings a week would be suggested for future advertising campaigns.

The focus groups were effective and great method for collecting research on this

study. One point to mention was that there was a tendency for our focus groups to lean a

certain way depending how the first participants responded to the initial question. However

this is not uncommon that participants side one way to fit in with the majority of the group.

When participants are surrounded by other members, sometimes there can be a tendency to

keep quiet and not express your thoughts as you do not want to go against the group norm or

effect anyone elses opinions.

With so many users spending the majority of their time on only a small percentage of

websites available to the online users such as Facebook which has over 900 million users

(Sharp, 2012). Participants felt more comfortable with advertisements on sites they were

more familiar with. This feeling ofcomfort is important when trying pursade your potential

customer to respond on the advertisement. According to Professor Field from social media by

2015 will be the most dominate way of communicating on the internet which will engage

nearly onethird ofthe worlds population (Field, 2012).

This would enable businesses to nearly 80% of the global consumers, which is an

estimated market worth of nearly $29 trillion (Sharpe, 2012). Social media sites which are the

most popular among users such as Facebook and Twitter have developed such large

audiences and which users feel comfortable with businesses and companies reaching out to

them. Advertising on these applications such as these would be suggested for the most

effective ways for organizations to advertise via the internet.

From the data collected from the participants and to ensure advertising effectiveness,

there are four crucial categories which future campaigns must have or include in their


35/47

campaigns. Increasing sales of the service or product is the most important aspect of any

campaign and is the ultimate goal. The advertising campaign is initially costing you money

so it is important to see a return on the original investment. Creating and maintaining brand

image is vitally important when delivering your message to your potential customers. The

advertisement does not want to harm or have an effect of what your company stands for just

to try and gain another sale. The title, image and message should all connect with what the

brand and identity of the business stands for.

Communicating is the next step which should be implemented for the success of an

advertising campaign. Ensuring the appropriate amount of communication between your

customers is vital to developing your relationship with them. Taking advantage of consumers

details such as their email information and littering their inbox with the latest offers will in

push your customers away from your company and the brand. Ensuring the customers have

the option of how many times they are wished to be contacted is essential for developing that

relationship.

With so many businesses advertising online, users online find that advertisements that

are unusual are more effective. Advertisements that carry the same sort of images, titles,

products or services seem to be less effective than campaigns that make are more extravagant

which might cause some controversy. Advertisements that go viral across the internet,

implement new ideas which try and cause a reactions from users online. Companies and

businesses which implement these strategies have a greater potential to reach out to a larger

audience. It is the advertisements that do not cross any boarder, stick to the rules and do not

make people think which do not get shared amongst friends online via social media sites.

Users of social media sites like advertisements that are different, out there and which make

people talk.


36/47

These advertisements do not even have to be selling a product or service, but just to

make people aware of that particular brand of business. Implementing content which could

potentially cause controversy and get people to talk could be used, to enhance an adverting

campaign success. However, this could also potentially harm of effect your business brand if

consumes take a disliking to the particular image or title being used for the advertisement.

Controversial advertisements should implement and target your customers sense of humor

and not carry any offensive or negative messages.

Implementing these three principles via the means of a social media network would

give the best possible chance to a successful adverting campaign. As stated in the initial

research the first step would be to inform the search engines with an allocated budget. This is

also known as PPC advertising, otherwise known as pay per click advertising (Dellarocas,

2012). Recommended search engines for PPC advertising would be Google or Yahoo.

Advertisements via social sites such as Facebook or Twitter are also referred to as sponsored

stories (Sharp, 2012). Using social media as the main application to reach out to your

potential customers is the most effective as you can target your audience to the age, sex and

particular interests. As stated earlier from the initial data gathered from the focus groups, the

most important aspect of any adverting campaign is to target potential customers who are

have common interest in your product or service being offered. Receiving feedback from the

focus groups was wonderful for the development of the research as it is always good to

collect thoughts from the users of which these advertisements are targeted at.


37/47

Conclusion

The study of what are the most effective ways for organizations to advertise via the

internet is vitally important in the enhancement of communication between organizations

and users online. Using this data collected from the focus groups and research gathered, will

provide future techniques which should be implemented in future advertising campaigns.

This will benefit communication techniques between organizations and users online to

portray their message as successfully as possible to potential online customers. This is vitally

important at advertising online is a relatively new concept.

With businesses and companies allocating budgets dedicated to advertising online it is

important to know exactly what users online are looking for when it comes to an online

advertisement. Listening to participants from the focus groups that spend on average 4 hours

a day on the internet was a fantastic way of discovering of what users of the internet really

thought about online advertisements.

When campaigns were implemented using social media as the main application of

advertising, and the use of effective spacing, image, and titles; new customers were generated

for businesses. This data answers our first research question, however if these methods were

not used, participants stated that they would feel comfortable clicking or visiting

advertisements with sites they were not familiar with. Advertising on the most popular

applications is recommended to generate new customers or profit for your businesses.

To answer the second research question, increasing advertising spending does not

have a direct correlation that creates more sales for that organization or businesses. If

strategies are not implemented as stated above then maximum success will not be obtained no

matter how large the allocated budget is. It is vitally important that these strategies of

spacing, image, title and advertising via social media applications are used to engage

customers effectively.


38/47

To answer the final research question, the message of the advertisement is vitally

important as this will engage the user after they click on the advert. However, the initial

aspect of the advertisements which captures the online users is essential. The users have to be

captured by the advertisement initially; otherwise the content of the advertisement will never

be read by the user. The message should be trying to develop a relationship with the

consumer. Messages that try and force the consumer into handing over their personal

information such as credit card number, email or phone number will only push the consumers

further away. The advertisement should inform the consumer exactly what that brand stands

for and what the product or service does, and how it can benefit them. The consumer should

be in control of whether he/she should purchase, download or sign up to the product or

service being offered and not forced.


39/47

Limitations of the Study

When conducting any type of research study there will always be limitations which

were unexpected or not thought of at the time. In the case of this research study Capturing

Your Attention there are limitations which may of hindered our investigation. The questions

in the focus groups were well thought out to bring the best responses from the participants in

the focus groups, however questions six was found to be a repetitive. Question six are you

more likely to respond to adverts of your personal interests? was to familiar to question four

what adverts capture your attention. Participants response to the question was to familiar

and this only wasted time and did not benefit the research. Question ten also carried the same

familiar responses what is it about certain advertisements that make you pay more attention

to them?

Focus groups were also conducted at Queens University of Charlotte and the age of

the participants ranged from 18-25. Participants stated that advertisements that Advertising

offered incentives for the users such as free trials or the chance to win something were

also highly likely to capture the users attention. As the research was conducted at a

University of students this would have to be recorded as a limitation. With the age gap being

only seven years and all of the participants being students this would have to be recorded as a

narrow focus to our results and findings. Results may have differed when conducted with an

older age category. This is regarding to advertisements which implemented the words free

trails or chance to win something in capturing the online users attention.

A further limitation is regarding the applications which advertisements are being

implemented on. Social networking sites have only existed in our society for the last couple

of years. With the internet expanding so quickly and always reinventing itself, advertising on

sites such as Facebook or Twitter may not be advised if a competitor comes into the market

which generates exponential growth. However, until this time comes into our society results


40/47

collected in this research should be implemented for the most effective way for organizations

to advertise via the internet.


41/47

Suggestions for Future Research

For future research regarding what are the most effective ways for organizations to

advertise via the internet questions that really provoke the participants thoughts and feeling

about online advertisements would be advised. As this is where all the results are collected it

is vitally important to ask participants questions that are relevant to the time in which the

research is being conducted. Questions that ask the participants about the possibility of

venturing into other mediums such as mobile advertising would be a suggestion for future

research. With the increase and demand of smart phones with in our society and with the

internet being so accessible, conducting research to see what are the most effective way to

advertise via mobile phones would be advised.

Questions should also be indicated at what are the popular sites at the time. Currently

Facebook was the preferred medium to advertise by according to our research and results.

However, as the internet is constantly changing and new applications are coming into our

lives, future research should be aware of up and coming applications and websites that may

be popular at that time. Questions which are intended to ask the participants to collect the

results should bare this in mind.


42/47

Informed Consent

Capturing Your Attention

Project Title and Purpose:

You are invited to participate in a research study entitled Capturing Your Attention This is

a study to examine how students react to online advertising via the internet.

Investigator(s):

This study is being conducted by a Communication Capstone student at Queens University

of Charlotte as part of a class project under the direction of Dr. Daina Nathaniel in the Knight

School of Communication. The researcher will be Christopher Baker.

Description of Participation:

In this study you will be asked to be a part of a focus group along with 6-8 of your peers. You

will be asked to answer questions as honestly as possible.

Length of Participation

Your participation in this project will take approximately 20 minutes.

Risks and Benefits of Participation:

There are no risks known at this time associated with participating in the study. However,

there may be risks which are currently unforeseeable.Confidentiality of thoughts and

opinions expressed in a group setting cannot be guaranteed. The only benefit of participation

in this study is the knowledge you will gain about the topic being investigated. You will

receive a complete description of the study when you are finished participating. The results

of the study will only be used for this class project.

Volunteer Statement

You are a volunteer. The decision to participate in this study is completely up to you. If you

decide to be in the study, you may stop at any time. You may skip any item you do not wish

to answer. You will not be treated any differently if you decide not to participate or if you

stop once you have started.

Confidentiality:

An audio device will be used to collect the results from the focus groups and all data will be

permanently deleted aft the results have been recorded. Confidentiality of thoughts and


43/47

opinions expressed in a group setting cannot be guaranteed. Audio recordings will bedeleted. Transcripts of the focus group discussions will contain de-identified data.

Fair Treatment and Respect:

Queens University of Charlotte wants to make sure that you are treated in a fair and

respectful manner. Contact the Universitys Institutional review Board (Dr. Daina Nathaniel at

704.688.2743) if you have any questions about how you are treated as a study participant. If

you have any questions about the project, please contact Dr. Daina Nathaniel at 704-688-

2743.

Participant Consent:

I have read the information in this consent form. I have had the chance to ask questions

about this study, and those questions have been answered to my satisfaction. I am at least

18 years of age, am an emancipated minor*, or my guardian has signed below, and I agreeto participate in this research project. I understand that I will receive a copy of this form after

it has been signed by me and the researcher.

________________________ _____________________________ _____________

Participant Name Participant Signature DATE

(PLEASE PRINT)

______________________________________ _____________________

Researcher Signature DATE

*Emancipated Minor (as defined by NC General Statute 7B-101.14) is a person who hasnot yet reached their 18th birthday and meets at least one of the following criteria: 1) has

legally terminated custodial rights of his/her parents and been declared emancipated by a

court; 2) is married, or 3) is serving in the armed forces of the United States.


44/47

Sources

Agarwal, A., Hosanagar, K., & Smith, M. (2011). Location, Location, Location: An Analysis

of Profitability of Position in Online Advertising Markets. Journal Of Marketing

Research (JMR), 48(6), 1057-1073. doi:10.1509/jmr.08.0468

Cho, C., & Cheon, H. (2004). WHY DO PEOPLE AVOID ADVERTISING ON THE

INTERNET?. Journal Of Advertising, 33(4), 89-97.

Dellarocas, C. (2012). Double Marginalization in Performance-Based Advertising:

Implications and Solutions. Management Science, 58(6), 1178-1195.

doi:10.1287/mnsc.1110.1474

Dominic Yeo, T. E. (2012). Social-Media Early Adopters Don't Count. Journal Of

Advertising Research, 52(3), 297-308. doi:10.2501/JAR-52-3-297-308 S

Effectiveness of Skippable Video Advertisements on YouTube. Journal Of Advertising

Research, 52(4), 451-457. doi:10.2501/JAR-52-4-451-457

Gilaninia, S., Mousavian, S., Deray, S., Ebrahimi, A., Soufi, Z., Akhavan, S., & ...

Seighalani, F. (2011). Assess the Impact of Internet Advertising on the performance

of Industrial Marketing Units. Interdisciplinary Journal Of Contemporary Research In

Business, 3(8), 479-488.


45/47

Goldfarb, A., & Tucker, C. (2011). Advertising Bans and the Substitutability of Online and

Offline Advertising. Journal Of Marketing Research (JMR), 48(2), 207-227.

doi:10.1509/jmkr.48.2.207

GREENBERG, A. S. (2012). The Role of Visual Attention In Internet Advertising: Eleven

Questions and a Score of Answers. Journal Of Advertising Research, 52(4), 400-404.

doi:10.2501/JAR-52-4-400-404

PASHKEVICH, M., DORAI-RAJ, S., KELLAR, M., & ZIGMOND, D. (2012). Empowering

Online Advertisements by Empowering Viewers with the Right to Choose The

Relative

POWERS, T., ADVINCULA, D., AUSTIN, M. S., GRAIKO, S., & SNYDER, J. (2012).

Digital and Social Media In the Purchase Decision Process: A Special Report from

the Advertising Research Foundation. Journal Of Advertising Research, 52(4), 479

489. doi:10.2501/JAR-52-4-479-489

Lipsman, A., Mud, G., Rich, M., & Bruich, S. (2012). The Power of "Like": How Brands

Reach (and Influence) Fans Through Social-Media Marketing. Journal Of Advertising

Research, 52(1), 40-52. doi:10.2501/JAR-52-1-040-052

Lin, M., Ke, X., & Whinston, A. B. (2012). Vertical Differentiation and a Comparison of

Online Advertising Models. Journal Of Management Information Systems, 29(1),

195-236.


46/47

Li, Y., Lee, Y., & Lien, N. (2012). Online Social Advertising via Influential Endorsers.

International Journal Of Electronic Commerce, 16(3), 119-154.

NELSON-FIELD, K., RIEBE, E., & SHARP, B. (2012). What's Not to "Like?". Journal Of

Advertising Research, 52(2), 262-269. doi:10.2501/JAR-52-2-262-269

Rutz, O., & Bucklin, R. (2011). From Generic to Branded: A Model of Spillover in Paid

Search Advertising. Journal Of Marketing Research (JMR), 48(1), 87-102.

doi:10.1509/jmkr.48.1.87

Sweta Chaturvedi, T., Ji Hee, S., & Abhijit, B. (2012). Is a website known by the banner ads

it hosts? Assessing forward and reciprocal spillover effects of banner ads and host

websites. International Journal Of Advertising, 31(4), 877-905. doi:10.2501/IJA-31-4

877-905

Taylor, N. J., Loiacono, E. T., & Watson, R. T. (2008). Alternative Scenarios to THE

"BANNER" YEARS. Communications Of The ACM, 51(2), 53-58.

Telang, A., & Bhatt, G. (2011). Effectiveness of Online Advertising: Revisiting the Extant

Literature. Romanian Journal Of Marketing, 6(3), 2-7.

Wakolbinger, L. M., Denk, M., & Oberecker, K. (2009). The Effectiveness of Combining

Online and Print Advertisements. Journal Of Advertising Research, 49(3), 360-372.


47/47

Wonsun, S., Jisu, H., & Faber, R. J. (2012). Developmental antecedents to children's

responses to online advertising. International Journal Of Advertising, 31(4), 719-740.

doi:10.2501/IJA-31-4-719-740

Yaakop, A., & Hemsley-Brown, J. (2013). Hedonic Pleasure and Social Image: The

Effectiveness of Internet Advertising. Asian Social Science, 9(1), 179-192.

doi:10.5539/ass.v9n1p179

capturing your attention

Documents