Ad fatigue
In marketing, ad fatigue is the declining effectiveness of similar advertising to consumers due to fatigue leading to poor engagement.[1][2] This wear out may vary between different advertisements due to factors such as the context, portrayal, and audience.[3]
Factors such as the repetition and consistency of targeted ads shown to an individual can also influence when ad fatigue sets in.[4]
Ad fatigue can be delayed through repetition variation.
Consumers are countering ad fatigue through ad blocking.[5]
Explanations of ad fatigue
[edit]Habituation
[edit]Habituation is a process in which repeated exposure to the same stimulus, such as an advertisement, leads to a decrease in response to that stimulus.[6] Repeated exposure to similar advertisements decreases attention paid to them, making people less likely to engage with them, contributing to ad fatigue. Research has shown that higher exposure to repeated mobile advertisements increases the likelihood that the advertisements are ignored and decreases the person's involvement with the advertisement.[7]
Selective attention
[edit]Selective attention refers to the process of people focusing on certain stimuli while ignoring others. By ignoring irrelevant stimuli, people are able to focus on the task at hand.[8] In the context of advertising, selective attention can prevent the distraction of an advertisement from affecting a person's behaviour by allowing them to ignore advertisements. This process reduces the likelihood that similar advertisements will catch people's attention, contributing to ad fatigue.
This reduction in attention has been found in a study, who found that duration of attention significantly reduces when advertisements are repeated.[9] They found that after three advertisements, the number of fixations on them significantly drops. In addition, from the first to the third advertisement exposure, the amount of attention paid to the advertisement reduced by 50%. This research indicates that repetition of advertisements reduces their effectiveness, contributing to ad fatigue.
Psychological reactance
[edit]The theory of psychological reactance suggests that if a person's behavioural freedoms are threatened, they will want to regain them.[10] In the context of advertising, repeated exposure to similar advertisements can lead to psychological reactance, as the advertisements may be perceived as a barrier restricting autonomy. This may result in negative responses, such as perceiving the advertisement as intrusive.[11] The increase in exposure to advertisements has been found to increase negative attitudes, as well as increase boredom.[12] It has also been found that Facebook users who perceive a threat to their freedom react by blocking or hiding advertisements.[13] These examples of psychological reactance are associated with ad fatigue, as they promote disengagement.
Mere exposure effect and overexposure
[edit]The mere exposure effect suggests that the repeated exposure of a person to a certain stimulus enhances their attitude toward it.[14] In advertising contexts, it has been found that exposure to animated advertisements lead to positive engagement through the mere exposure effect.[15] However, excessive exposure can lead to the opposite occurring, contributing to ad fatigue. Additional exposures can have adverse effects, often referred to as wear-out. Therefore, liking an advertisement increases up to a point and then decreases as repetition continues, creating an inverted U-shape. This inverted U-shape has been found especially for advertisements that are boring and irrelevant.[16]
Examples of ad fatigue
[edit]On platforms such as Instagram or Facebook, advertisements being repeated within a short period lead people to scroll past them, and therefore not engage with the similar advertisements.[17] It has also been found that more than three mobile advertisements in a day interrupts people, making them likely to ignore the message.[7] Additionally, it has been found that repeated TV commercials lead to wear-out in people's evaluations of the commercials, and with more repetition, people are less likely to attend to the message.[18] These findings indicate that similar advertisements, across different advertising media, decline in effectiveness.
Research has shown that repetition of advertisements in a television news program led to wear-out, particularly for unfamiliar brands. Advertisements for unfamiliar brands have been found to wear out more quickly than those for familiar brands.[19] This indicates that ad fatigue may vary depending on factors such as brand familiarity.
Criticisms
[edit]A criticism of ad fatigue is that there is often an overemphasis on repetition. Research has shown that repeated exposure to creative advertisements does not lead to ad fatigue.[16] In addition, attention wear-out has been observed for static advertisements but not animated ones.[15] These findings indicate that repetition alone may not explain the declining effectiveness of advertisements, and that other factors such as advertising design may play a bigger role.
However, other studies indicate contrasting results. Creative advertisements have been found to lead to wear-out, but this effect is delayed and diminished.[20] This suggests that ad fatigue still occurs under repeated exposure, but its effects vary depending on the context.
Another criticism of ad fatigue is how it is measured. Research on the effectiveness of advertisements frequently uses clickthrough rates. However, there may be a delay between advertisement exposure and behaviour, such as purchasing the advertised product.[21] Consequently, a declining clickthrough rate does not necessarily translate to reduced engagement or ad fatigue. In addition, studies have shown that important shifts in attitudes can be observed even without clickthrough.[22]
References
[edit]- ↑ Sattler, Marcel (Sep 30, 2022). "Council Post: How E-Commerce Businesses Can Bounce Back From Ad Fatigue". Forbes. Retrieved 25 July 2024.
- ↑ Licano, Leslie (7 December 2023). "Every Penny Counts: How Your Marketing Can Avoid Ad Fatigue". www.adweek.com. Retrieved 25 July 2024.
- ↑ Sussman, Kristen L.; Bright, Laura F.; Wilcox, Gary B. (8 December 2021). "More Is (Not Always) Better: A Multi-Year Analysis of Advertising Effects on Ad Recall". Journal of Marketing Development and Competitiveness. 15 (4): 4. doi:10.33423/jmdc.v15i4.4772.
- ↑ Moriwaki, Daisuke; Fujita, Komei; Yasui, Shota; Hoshino, Takahiro (2019). "Fatigue-Aware Ad Creative Selection". arXiv:1908.08936 [cs.CY].
- ↑ Harding, Scharon (22 July 2024). "Imperfect Linux-powered DIY smart TV is the embodiment of ad fatigue". Ars Technica. Retrieved 25 July 2024.
- ↑ Rankin, Catharine H.; Abrams, Thomas; Barry, Robert J.; Bhatnagar, Seema; Clayton, David F.; Colombo, John; Coppola, Gianluca; Geyer, Mark A.; Glanzman, David L.; Marsland, Stephen; McSweeney, Frances K.; Wilson, Donald A.; Wu, Chun-Fang; Thompson, Richard F. (2009-09-01). "Habituation revisited: An updated and revised description of the behavioral characteristics of habituation". Neurobiology of Learning and Memory. Special Issue: Neurobiology of Habituation. 92 (2): 135–138. doi:10.1016/j.nlm.2008.09.012. ISSN 1074-7427. PMC 2754195. PMID 18854219.
- 1 2 Patrick Rau, Pei-Luen; Zhou, Jia; Chen, Duye; Lu, Ta-Ping (2014-08-01). "The influence of repetition and time pressure on effectiveness of mobile advertising messages". Telematics and Informatics. 31 (3): 463–476. doi:10.1016/j.tele.2013.10.003. ISSN 0736-5853.
- ↑ Murphy, Gillian; Groeger, John A.; Greene, Ciara M. (2016-10-01). "Twenty years of load theory—Where are we now, and where should we go next?". Psychonomic Bulletin & Review. 23 (5): 1316–1340. doi:10.3758/s13423-015-0982-5. ISSN 1531-5320.
- ↑ Pieters, R; Rosbergen, E; Wedel, M (1999). "Visual attention to repeated print advertising: A test of scanpath theory". Journal of Marketing Research. 36 (4): 424–438. doi:10.1177/002224379903600403. ISSN 0022-2437.
- ↑ Brehm, Jack W. (1966). A Theory of Psychological Reactance. Academic Press.
- ↑ McCoy, Scott; Everard, Andrea; Galletta, Dennis F.; Moody, Gregory D. (2017-01-01). "Here we go again! The impact of website ad repetition on recall, intrusiveness, attitudes, and site revisit intentions". Information & Management. 54 (1): 14–24. doi:10.1016/j.im.2016.03.005. ISSN 0378-7206.
- ↑ Rethans, Arno J.; Swasy, John L.; Marks, Lawrence J. (1986). "Effects of Television Commercial Repetition, Receiver Knowledge, and Commercial Length: A Test of the Two-Factor Model". Journal of Marketing Research. 23 (1): 50–61. doi:10.2307/3151776. ISSN 0022-2437.
- ↑ Youn, Seounmi; Kim, Seunghyun (2019-09-01). "Understanding ad avoidance on Facebook: Antecedents and outcomes of psychological reactance". Computers in Human Behavior. 98: 232–244. doi:10.1016/j.chb.2019.04.025. ISSN 0747-5632.
- ↑ Zajonc, Robert B. (1968). "Attitudinal effects of mere exposure". Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. 9 (2, Pt.2): 1–27. doi:10.1037/h0025848. ISSN 1939-1315.
- 1 2 Lee, Joowon; Ahn, Jae-Hyeon; Park, Byungho (2015-05-01). "The effect of repetition in Internet banner ads and the moderating role of animation". Computers in Human Behavior. 46: 202–209. doi:10.1016/j.chb.2015.01.008. ISSN 0747-5632.
- 1 2 Chen, Jiemiao; Yang, Xiaojing; Smith, Robert E. (2016-05-01). "The effects of creativity on advertising wear-in and wear-out". Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science. 44 (3): 334–349. doi:10.1007/s11747-014-0414-5. ISSN 1552-7824.
- ↑ Guo, Rui; Jiang, Zhengrui (2024-12-01). "Optimal dynamic advertising policy considering consumer ad fatigue". Decision Support Systems. 187 114323. doi:10.1016/j.dss.2024.114323. ISSN 0167-9236.
- ↑ Calder, Bobby J.; Sternthal, Brian (1980). "Television Commercial Wearout: An Information Processing View". Journal of Marketing Research. 17 (2): 173–186. doi:10.2307/3150928. ISSN 0022-2437.
- ↑ Campbell, Margaret C.; Keller, Kevin Lane (2003-09-01). "Brand Familiarity and Advertising Repetition Effects". Journal of Consumer Research. 30 (2): 292–304. doi:10.1086/376800. ISSN 0093-5301.
- ↑ Lehnert, K; Till, B. D.; Carlson, B. D. (2013). "Advertising creativity and repetition: Recall, wearout and wearin effects". International Journal of Advertising. 32 (2): 211–231. doi:10.2501/IJA-32-2-211-231. ISSN 0265-0487.
- ↑ Chatterjee, P (2008). "Are unclicked ads wasted? Enduring effects of banner and pop-up ad exposures on brand memory and attitudes". Journal of Electronic Commerce Research. 9 (1): 51–61.
- ↑ Briggs, Rex; Hollis, Nigel (1997). "Advertising on the Web: Is There Response before Click-Through?". Journal of Advertising Research. 37 (2): 33–45. doi:10.1080/00218499.1997.12466659. ISSN 0021-8499.