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Branding Laws · Internet Marketing · eMarketing · Internet Advertising · Online Branding |
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Branding Laws · Internet Marketing · eMarketing · Internet Advertising · Online Branding |
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Said a tiger to a lion as they drank beside a pool, "Tell me, why do you roar like a fool?"
"That's not foolish," replied the lion with a twinkle in his eyes. "They call me king of all the beasts because I advertise."
A rabbit heard them talking and ran home like a streak. He thought he would try the lion's plan, but his roar was a squeak. A fox came to investigate-and had his lunch in the woods.
The moral: When you advertise, be sure you've got the goods! (Fable)
Newswise — Old-fashioned “word of mouth” might be more useful in advertising than previously thought, especially in digital media, according to collaborative research by a Miami University faculty member and his colleagues.
The findings, to be published in the December 2007 issue of Journal of Advertising Research, resulted from a study co-authored by James Coyle, assistant professor of marketing in Miami’s Farmer School of Business and of interactive media studies; Elizabeth Lightfoot of CNET Networks; and Ted Smith and Amy Scott of MedTrackAlert.
The findings contradict a common advertising practice of segmenting and pampering the few elite and highly connected consumers believed to have the most persuasive power by suggesting that instead, most people can influence consumer behavior through viral communication or word of mouth.
“This study provides a fresh alternative for those who have been confused by the mysticism of influencer marketing consultants,” said Smith who is a CNET Networks Research Fellow and president of MedTrackAlert.
Researchers conducted a survey of Web-site visitors, performed in-depth interviews and analyzed Web site usage patterns.
“We find that trying to track down key influencers, people who have extremely large social networks, is typically unnecessary and, more importantly, can actually limit a campaign or advertisement’s viral potential,” said Coyle. “Instead, marketers need to realize that the majority of their audience, not just the well-connected few, is eager and willing to pass along well-designed and relevant messages.”
The study reinforced that consumers respond more to messages that are unique and trusted. In addition, consumers who believe they are capable of performing the advertised behavior are more willing to pass along information to friends and relatives within their social networks.
Coyle added that this isn’t new. “It’s always been this way. What’s changed is that digital media makes it so easy for everyone to forward messages to contacts within their social networks. For most everyone, digital media just extends a very human desire to help others.”
This study brought to light the potential power of the Internet to drive influence in a wide range of industries, noted Coyle.
Some anti-smoking ads are simply ineffective, while others actually make youth more likely to light up. Fortunately, some are successful, and a new University of Georgia study helps explain why.
Hye-Jin Paek, assistant professor at the UGA Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication, found that anti-smoking ads are most effective when they convince youth that their friends are listening to the ads. Otherwise, the ads appear to stimulate the rebellious and curious nature of youth, making them more interested in smoking. Paek and co-author Albert Gunther from the University of Wisconsin-Madison examined data from surveys of nearly 1,700 middle school students, and their results appear in the August issue of the journal Communication Research.
"Anti-smoking ads have the greatest impact on smoking attitudes and behavior when adolescents think that their peers are listening to those messages," Paek said. "And that makes sense because people are more likely to listen to what their close peers say rather than what the media says."
Evidence that anti-smoking ads have the potential to make youth more likely to smoke has been accumulating for the past five years. Paek and Gunther's study adds to that evidence and helps explain how anti-smoking ads can be effective.
The researchers surveyed students in four middle schools about their exposure to anti-smoking ads and their intentions to smoke. They found that, overall, the more the students were exposed to anti-smoking messages, the more inclined they were to smoke. The exception -- where exposure to anti-smoking ads correlated with a reduced intention to smoke -- occurred among students who said their friends were influenced by anti-smoking messages.
"Perception is sometimes more powerful than actual behavior," Paek said. "What we've found is that it doesn't necessarily matter how your friends respond to the ads, but how you think your friends are responding."
Paek said many health campaigns assume that anti-smoking messages have a simple, direct and strong impact on individuals. She said that by understanding the indirect route that messages often take, health communicators can design more effective ads.
Her results suggest that campaigns don't work by convincing individuals to avoid tobacco, but rather by helping change the social norms surrounding smoking. With that in mind, she said, campaigns should be designed for a sustained, multi-year effort.
The way the message is designed is critically important, too. Rather than using an authoritarian approach along the lines of "just say no," Paek urges health communicators to emphasize that most youth don't smoke, and for good reasons.
"Advertising professionals have only recently become involved in anti-smoking campaigns," she said. "We need to develop more sophisticated appeals."
Source: Sam Fahmy
University of Georgia
What do Kylie, Paul Newman, and Celine Dion have in common" They are all celebrity entrepreneurs. But does selling their own products rather than endorsing others help boost sales"
Celebrity entrepreneurs can sell their own products better than those stars who simply endorse those of other companies, according to business analysts writing in this month's issue of Inderscience's International Journal of Entrepreneurship and Small Business. Those celebs are not only more heavily involved in their own products and so have a vested interest in sales, but their direct connection to the product makes them more effective in communicating why you, the consumer, should buy it.
Endorsements by the rich and famous have long been a staple of the advertising industry. They can give an otherwise mundane product, such as a shaver or carpet cleaner, a sprinkle of star dust and turn lacklustre sales into lucrative blockbusters. They can even boost sales still further for classic brands that only need a marketing shot in the arm. Market research has shown repeatedly that celebrities can "instantly" add personality and appeal to even unknown products and make or break recognised brands.
However, pop stars, sports personalities, and film actors quick to exploit their fame and image, have themselves begun creating their own brand identity. Think about Kylie's lingerie, Paul Newman's Own food products, and Celine Dion's perfume. These and many other celebrity entrepreneurs can advertise and endorse their product directly, cutting out a third party company from the business deal.
Erik Hunter of Jönköping International Business School in Sweden working with Per Davidsson of the Brisbane Graduate School of Business, Australia, have carried out the first analysis of the marketing of celebrity products and have found that a celebrity's own involvement in the product is truly the key to its success compared with the old-style endorsement marketing.
They add that from the consumer's perspective, the celebrity's involvement in their product essentially rubs off and adds to the value of the product compared with a product being endorsed but not celebrity branded.
There are four main groups who will benefit from Hunter and Davidsson's detailed analysis. First the celebrity entrepreneurs themselves who can find out whether or not being fully involved in a product is a more effective use of their "celebrity capital" rather than simply being paid to endorse an independent brand. Secondly, marketing executives and advertising agencies can discover whether they can get better value for money in selling a product in this way. Thirdly, academic researchers and economists hoping to understand consumer decisions will benefit from the analysis.
Finally, consumers and consumer groups can become better informed as to whether a celebrity truly values their product or whether it is exploitation in the name of fame. After all, do you know whether Kylie wears her own-brand lingerie, or Celine scents up with her perfume" Does Paul Newman really drizzle his Own salad dressing on his salads" Find out and you will be on to a marketing winner.
PERSPECTIVES ON ADVERTISING
The trade of advertising is now so near to perfection that it is not easy to propose any improvements. (Samual Johnson, 1760)
The competent advertising man must understand psychology. The more he knows about it the better. He must learn that certain effects lead to certain reactions, and use that knowledge to increase results and avoid mistakes. Human nature is the same today as in the time of Caesar. So the principles of psychology are fixed and enduring. We learn, for instance, that curiosity is one of the strongest of human incentives. (Claude Hopkins, Scientific Advertising, 1926)
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THE PENALTY OF LEADERSHIP IN EVERY FIELD Of HUMAN ENDEAVOR, HE THAT IS FIRST MUST PERPETUALLY LIVE IN THE WHITE LIGHT Of PUBLICITY WHETHER THE LEADERSHIP BE VESTED IN A MAN OR IN A MANUFACTURED PRODUCT, EMULATION AND ENVY ARE EVER AT WORK IN ART, IN LITERATURE, IN MUSIC, IN INDUSTRY, THE REWARD AND THE PUNISHMENT ARE ALWAYS THE SAME THE REWARD IS WIDESPREAD RECOGNITION THE PUNISHMENT FIERCE DENIAL AND DETRACTION WHEN A MAN'S WORK BECOMES A STANDARD FOR THE WHOLE WORLD, IT ALSO BECOMES A TARGET FOR THE SHAFTS OF THE ENVIOUS FEW IF HIS WORK IS MERELY MEDIOCRE, HE WILL BE LEFT SEVERELY ALONE IF HE ACHIEVE A MASTERPIECE, IT WILL SET A MILLION TONGUES AWAGGING JEALOUSY DOES NOT PROTRUDE ITS FORKED TONGUE AT THE ARTIST WHO PRODUCES A COMMON PLACE PAINTING WHATSOEVER YOU WRITE OR PAINT OR PLAY OR SING OR BUILD, NO ONE WILL STRIVE TO SURPASS OR TO SLANDER YOU, UNLESS YOUR WORK BE STAMPED WITH THE SEAL OF GENIUS LONG LONG AFTER A GREAT WORK OR A GOOD WORK HAS BEEN DONE, THOSE WHO ARE DISAPPOINTED OR ENVIOUS CONTINUE TO CRY OUT THAT IT CANNOT BE DONE SPITEFUL LITTLE VOICES IN THE DOMAIN OF ART WERE RAISED AGAINST OUR OWN WHISTLER AS A MOUNTEBANK LONG AFTER THE BIG WORLD HAD ACCLAIMED HIM, ITS GREATEST ARTISTIC GENIUS MULTITUDES FLOCKED TO BAYREUTH TO WORSHIP AT THE MUSICAL SHRINE OF WAGNER WHILE THE LITTLE GROUP OF THOSE WHOM HE HAD DETHRONED AND DISPLACED ARGUED ANGRILY THAT HE WAS NO MUSICIAN AT ALL THE LITTLE WORLD CONTINUED TO PROTEST THAT FULTON COULD NEVER BUILD A STEAMBOAT WHILE THE BIG WORLD FLOCKED TO THE RIVER BANKS TO SEE HIS BOAT STEAM BY THE LEADER IS ASSAILED BECAUSE HE IS A LEADER AND THE EFFORT TO EQUAL HIM IS MERELY ADDED PROOF OF THAT LEADERSHIP FAILING TO EQUAL OR TO EXCEL THE FOLLOWER SEEKS TO DEPRECIATE AND TO DESTROY BUT ONLY CONFIRMS ONCE MORE THE SUPERIORITY OF THAT WHICH HE STRIVES TO SUPPLANT THERE IS NOTHING NEW IN THIS. IT IS AS OLD AS THE WORLD AND AS OLD AS THE HUMAN PASSIONS ENVY, FEAR, GREED AMBITION AND THE DESIRE TO SURPASS AND IT ALL AVAILS NOTHING IF THE LEADER TRULY LEADS HE REMAINS-THE LEADER MASTER POET, MASTER PAINTER, MASTERWORKMAN EACH IN HIS TURN IS ASSAILED AND EACH HOLDS HIS LAURELS THROUGH THE AGES THAT WHICH IS GOOD OR GREAT MAKES IT SELFF KNOWN NO MATTER HOW LOUD THE CLAMOR OF DENIAL THAT WHICH DESERVES TO LIVE - LIVES |
There is an extensive literature on advertising, made up of books, monographs, reports, journal articles, and speeches. David A. Revzan of the University of California lists more than 450 books on the subject of advertising written between 1900 and 1969. There are at least six advertising handbooks, eight histories, and several biographical accounts of advertising people. In addition to handbooks and historical perspectives, advertising has been approached through a variety of paths and traditions. These different paths partly reflect the perspectives of such various disciplines as economics, psychology, social philosophy, and management. They also reflect the needs of the audiences to which they are addressed. Although many of the paths cross and some are ill defined, it is possible and useful to identify some of the main tracks that have been followed through the years.
Several books with an economic perspective, including Roland Vaile's Economics of Advertising, were published in the 1920s. The depression of the 1930s increased public concern with the role advertising plays in our competitive economic system. Critics argued that advertising inhibits competition. In this environment, Harvard professor Neil Borden published a classic study of the economic effects of advertising. The evaluation of advertising as an economic force in society has continued to receive attention over the years. A recent book in this tradition is Julian Simon's Issues in the Economics of Advertising. The economic perspective tends to deal with aggregate statistics of firms and industries and is concerned with public-policy implications.
The writings of sociologists, religious leaders, philosophers, and politicians are also extensive, many reflecting critical views of advertising. Thus, in 1932, Arthur Kallet and F. J. Schlink published 100,000,000 Guinea Pigs, followed by such works as A. S. J. Basker's Advertising Reconsidered in 1935, H. K. Kenner's The Fightfor Truth in Advertising in 1936, Blake Clarke's The Advertising Smoke Screen in 1944, F. P. Bishop's The Ethics of Advertising in 1949, and later works like Vance Packard's The Hidden Persuaders, Francis X. Quin's Ethics, Advertising and Responsibility, and Sidney Margolius's The Innocent Consumer vs. The Exploiters. Advertising is a controversial subject about which scholars, intellectuals, and businessmen tend to form strong and often contradictory opinions.
Behavioral approaches to advertising can be traced to Walter Dill Scott's 1913 book, The Psychology of Advertising. Since then, there has been a steady stream of books firmly tied to the behavioral disciplines, such as D. Lucas and C. E. Benson's Psychology for Advertisers in 1930 and, more recently, Edgar Crane's Marketing Communications. This approach is largely concerned with the analysis of the communication process, using behavioral science theory and empirical findings. The interest in motivation research in the 1950s and consumer buyer behavior in the 1960s provided impetus to this area of thought. During the past decade, in particular, an enormous amount of progress has been made in using theories and models from psychology, social psychology, and sociology to help understand buyer behavior, the communication process, and the link between the two.
The research tradition in advertising parallels the development of the various media research services discussed earlier. It has also done much to motivate academic work on basic advertising research and studies of advertising effectiveness.
The managerial tradition is really more recent in origin. Perhaps the first book truly devoted to the subject of advertising management was a case book by Neil Borden and Martin Marshall, Advertising Management: Text and Cases, published in 1950 and revised in 1959. These books, and the others that followed, approached the subject from the viewpoint of a manager faced with the tasks of preparing an advertising budget, deciding how to allocate funds to different media, and choosing among alternative copy strategies. These books were thus decision oriented and provided a contrast to the principles approach, in which the nature and role of advertising institutions and advertising techniques tended to be the point of emphasis.
Still another approach to advertising, even more recent in origin, is the modelbuilding perspective originating from the fields of operations research and statistics. Although it had early predecessors, it really began in the late 1950s with the development of decision models concerned with allocating the media budget. Model building is so new that so far it is primarily represented in the literature in the form of monographs and journal articles. (source: advertising management by Aaker)
Often the role of the mass media in persuasion is perceived to be limited to the impact of overtly persuasive communications such as newspaper editorials, television advertisements, and public service announcements (PSAs). However, other media content may have a more subtle, but more pervasive, impact on the beliefs of the public, regardless of whether or not this was the intention of the message producer. That is, public beliefs are often shaped by subtle but repetitive messages contained in news and entertainment media content that are not overtly persuasive. These beliefs may eventually translate into opinions and even socially relevant behaviors. WILLIAM P. EVELAND, JR.
Social reality perceptions are best defined as "individuals' conceptions of the world" (Hawkins & Pingree, 1982, p. 224). Because there are so many perceptions that individuals have about the world, so many potential causes of these perceptions, and so many levels of analysis at which to examine them, research on social reality perceptions has spanned a number of related fields (Shrum & O'Guinn, 1993).
Persuasion research can benefit from better understanding how perceptions of social reality are shaped by a number of factors, including the use of entertainment and news media, and from a review of the potential influence of social reality perceptions on attitudes and behaviors.
(Rule 1) = Product success is determined by consumers perception and a reconnection to his/her own current general mood, perception of social reality, attitude, and feelings, standings, and most important is the mood and the attitude of the country, nation's pulse, and economy through advertising
Through advertising Brands have taken the control away from retailers and have given the control to consumers. In the past (mid 1880) people had to ask retailers which soap (later Ivory did the branding), pants (Levi's did it), beer (Budweiser did it), or which coffee (Maxwell House did it) to buy. By Branding through adverting people just asked for the brand they preferred and stopped asking the retailers for advice. Ivory soap was the first. The story of the soap is very interesting.
If you ever get a chance, read the book Twenty ads that shook the world for this story. I also like the VW advertising campaign, and of course the best is the story of Apple Computer's famous 1984 Super Bowl Ad, a sixtysecond minimovie for Apple Computer's Macintosh, showing a club-wielding symbol of freedom smashing the 1984 Orwellian nightmare, where Steve Wozniak gets his check book out and offers to pay for the first Ad if Mr. Jobs also paid for the second Ad. The reason they wanted to pay was the apathy of inept Apple board of directors toward the Ad. The creative genius behind Apple commercial was Lee Clow, executive vice president and creative director of Chiat/Day/Mojo, a Los Angeles-based agency.
Clow has been identified as "the force behind some of the most remarkable U.S. ad campaigns of recent years. In one famous billboard campaign for Nike, he had unidentified Olympic hopefuls in striking poses, such as clearing hurdles at the track, displayed on massive outdoor billboards and the sides of buildings, with only the smallest mention of the sponsor, Nike. He has been described as having a unique ability to spot an idea and know if it will work. In discussing his creative style, Clow argues for the need to generate confidence and to take the lead in sticking to an idea.
1984...what was the mood of the country then? How did people feel about things? Did people identify themselves with the people sitting on the chairs waiting for a freedom smashing savior. Or, did people identify themselves with the freedom smashing savior? In any case, people bought into the idea and the advertising. Most definitely Ronald Reagan got the credit for the freedom smashing savior for Eastern Europe and Soviets.
How about now? I guess a good place to start analyzing the mood of the country is the Gallup Poll. Here are some of the important issues.
November 8, 2005
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August 30, 2005Public Malaise, Economy, Iraq, Impeachment, Base Closings |
Public Malaise
The Bush administration has noted specifically -- on repeated occasions -- that it does not pay attention to public opinion polls. George W. Bush said while campaigning in 2000, "I don't need polls to tell me how to think. If elected president, I will not use my office to reflect public opinion." More recently, Vice President Dick Cheney said on CNN, "… Frankly we don't pay a lot of attention to polls."
Cheney was being a bit disingenuous, of course. The fact that Bush took time out from his vacation last week to make several speeches on Iraq was almost certainly the result of polls showing flagging support for both his administration and his policies in Iraq.
Just what are those polls telling us? The answer to that question is straightforward. Americans are in a malaise and they are to some degree taking it out on the president.
Satisfaction with the way things are going in the United States is at 34%. Sixty-two percent of Americans are dissatisfied with the way things are going. These mood readings are the lowest since January 1996 during the Clinton administration, when the government was shut down because Congress couldn't pass the budget.
Consumer confidence in the economy is down. Only about a third of Americans are willing to rate the U.S. economy as excellent or good, almost two-thirds say economic conditions are getting worse, and the clear majority continue to say now is not a good time to be looking for a quality job.
Support for the war in Iraq continues to sag; more than half of Americans say it was a mistake for the United States to get involved in Iraq, and more than half say that the war there was not worth it.
Not surprisingly given these dour attitudes, Bush's job approval rating is at 40%, the lowest of his administration. This is the lowest approval rating for any re-elected president at this point in his second term, with the exception of the beleaguered Richard Nixon in the summer of 1973. Bush's previous low point for job approval was 44% in July.
Public opinion is just one aspect of the assessment of a nation's health, of course. Those on the receiving end of negative poll numbers often dismiss them. Bush administration spokespeople and Republican supporters are currently arguing that the core indicators of the economy are solid, citizen dissatisfaction is to be expected during changing times, and policies are in place to produce more positive public opinion in the months ahead.
But there are serious and important reasons why public opinion really does matter at this juncture in the nation's history. Although there is by no means a perfect correlation between consumer confidence and retail spending, consumer mood is undoubtedly an important aspect of the economy in general. Most CEOs would rather operate in an environment in which the public is upbeat and positive about the economy than one in which the public is worried that the economy is getting worse.
Also, as retired Gen. Barry McCaffrey said on NBC's Meet the Press on Sunday, "… Armies don't fight wars, countries fight wars. So without the support of the American people, this thing [war in Iraq] will come to a grinding halt rather quickly."
And public opinion obviously matters in terms of elections. Even now, Republicans and Democrats are scouring polls for insight into next year's midterm elections and the open-seat presidential election that follows in 2008.
More importantly, there is wisdom in crowds -- wisdom in the collective views of the public. The fact that a majority of Americans: disapprove of the way Bush is handling his job, consider the war in Iraq to have been a mistake, believe the economy is getting worse, and believe it's a bad time to look for a job suggests that many Jane and John Does are genuinely concerned about the direction of the country. It's hard not to take their views seriously.
The Economy, Stupid?
In my experience, one can never go wrong in starting an analysis of the mood of the country with economic basics. It's difficult for any president to sustain high approval ratings in the face of negative economic views. It was certainly the bad economy that crippled Presidents Jimmy Carter and George H.W. Bush as they sought re-election, and both Presidents Ronald Reagan and Bill Clinton had a rough time in their first terms in office until the public began to perceive improving economic conditions.
Exactly what is it that is causing so much economic concern for Americans at this time? It doesn't take a PhD in economics to figure that out.
There's been a huge jump in the percentage of Americans who now say gas prices are the top economic problem facing the country -- 34% compared with 14% last month. In the average American's eyes, gas prices are far and away the top economic problem facing the country today. Gas prices also top the list when Americans are asked to identify "the most important financial problem facing your family," eclipsing healthcare costs and basic lack of money as the top familial economic concern for the first time this year.
Both Bush and congressional leaders alike have admitted that the newly passed energy bills will have no effect on energy prices in the short term. That may be so, but according to a late April/early May 2005 Gallup Poll, two-thirds (67%) of Americans still believe Bush can do something personally that would significantly lower the high price of gas.
This won't come as a great surprise, but Bush isn't the only one bearing the brunt of consumer frustrations with paying more for gas at the pump. The oil and gas industry has the worst image of any of the 25 industries tested in a recent Gallup Poll, with 62% of Americans giving the industry a negative rating, compared with only 20% who view it positively. (By way of contrast, 58% of Americans view the restaurant industry positively, while only 8% view it negatively.)
The oil and gas industry's bad rating is nothing new; it's been at or near the bottom of the list over the last five years.
Iraq
What do Americans want Bush to do about Iraq?
We asked Americans last week: "If you could talk with President Bush for 15 minutes about the situation in Iraq, what would you, personally, advise him to do?"
Consistent with other polling, a majority of Americans support extricating America from Iraq. This broad category of responses includes those who would tell the president to pull the troops out and come home (by far the dominant response to the question), those who would urge the president to come up with and execute a well-thought-out exit strategy, and those who would tell Bush to get the Iraqis trained and allow them to run their own country. Others would advise the president to keep the public better informed, join in and with work with the United Nations, admit to past mistakes and apologize, and work with and improve his advisers.
The idea of waiting for democracy to take hold in Iraq seems moot to Americans. A majority does not believe it will ever be possible to build a stable, democratic government in that country. A "stay-the-course" strategy is clearly becoming less acceptable to many Americans.
Impeachment Calls
Last week, Gallup became the recipient of an e-mail campaign in which correspondents asked why we (and other polling firms) have not yet asked the public about the impeachment of the president on the grounds that he misled the country about the rationale for the war in Iraq.
Many of these e-mails are identical to one another, in the tradition of issue campaigns in which thousands of supporters of a cause are urged to send a postcard or letter to represent that cause's position.
Here's what one of the e-mails sent to Gallup said: "I'd like to see more polls on whether or not people think Bush lied to the American people regarding the reasons we went to war in Iraq and if they think he should be impeached for it. The Gallup Organization was very interested in if people wanted Clinton impeached. The latest polls were all we heard about at the time. Is lying about adultery more of a crime than lying to the American public in order to go to war? Shouldn't our soldiers know why they're dying? Give the Republicans equal treatment as you gave the Democrats. Raise the impeachment issue."
Gallup (and other polling firms) began asking about the possible impeachment of Clinton in January 1998, shortly after the stories were published about allegations of his having had an affair with an intern. There is no record of the precise rationale that Gallup editors used at the time for asking those questions. But the general procedure Gallup uses to determine what to ask about in our surveys is to measure the issues and concerns that are being discussed in the public domain. We will certainly ask Americans about their views on impeaching George W. Bush if, and when, there is some discussion of that possibility by congressional leaders, and/or if commentators begin discussing it in the news media. That has not happened to date.
Base Closings
A good deal of news coverage last week was given to the Base Realignment and Closure Commission's review of Pentagon recommendations for military base closings across the country. The commission sustained the Pentagon's recommendations in many instances, but overruled them in others -- including the proposed closing of the New London submarine base in Connecticut, the Ellsworth Air Force Base in South Dakota, and Portsmouth naval shipyard in Maine.
The rationale for the base closing procedure is to save taxpayer money. The Pentagon had originally argued that their full list of base closings and realignments would ultimately save nearly $50 billion over 20 years, although that amount has been disputed.
Interestingly, however, we do not detect a great deal of pressure from the American people to cut back on military spending. In fact, a February 2005 Gallup Poll showed only 30% of Americans think the government in Washington is spending too much for national defense and military purposes. Just as many think the government is spending too little. About 4 in 10 Americans (38%) said the amount being spent on defense and the military is about right.
As you might have noticed, the mood is negative. It is also negative about economy.
The Economy |
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by Joseph Carroll
Worried About Family Finances?
Gallup 's Sept. 26-28 poll finds that roughly 4 in 10 Americans (42%) say they are worried about their families' finances at the present time, including 18% who say they are "very worried" and 24% who are "somewhat worried." The majority of Americans, 58%, say they are not worried.
Gallup first asked this question in February, and since that time, the results have shown only modest variations. The percentage of Americans saying they are worried about their finances has ranged from 38% to 44% over the past eight months.
The latest results show some interesting variations among demographic subgroups:
Every month, Gallup also asks Americans, without prompting, to identify the most important financial problem facing their families today. The latest results show that energy costs, including oil and gasoline prices, are the top problem facing American families right now, mentioned by 17% of respondents. Following energy costs on the list are healthcare costs (11%), lack of money or low wages (10%), too much debt (8%), inflation (7%), and college expenses (also at 7%). Eighteen percent of Americans say they have no financial problems at the present time.
Over the past several months, Gallup has found some shifts in Americans' perceptions of the most important financial problem facing their families.
In April, 11% of Americans mentioned energy prices as the most important problem facing their families. This sentiment decreased to 5% in May and remained at roughly this level until August, when 20% mentioned energy prices as the top financial problem. The latest poll finds a slight decrease, to 17%.
At the same time, the percentage of Americans mentioning healthcare costs has declined, from a high point of 18% in May to 11% in the September survey.
November 11, 2005 Americans Support Congressional Investigation Into Oil Profits Americans strongly support the idea that Congress should investigate oil company profits. Gallup data also show that a sizable majority of Americans view the oil and gas industry negatively, that Americans blame the oil companies more than the Bush administration or Congress for the increase in gasoline prices, and that Americans believe the gas companies took unfair advantage of the late summer hurricanes to charge higher prices. Perhaps most troubling for oil company management, a majority of Americans -- including ...
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November 10, 2005 Confidence in Local Police Drops to 10-Year Low After several years of stable readings, Gallup 's latest update on confidence in the police to protect people from violent crime has fallen this year, to a level not seen since 1995. The decline in confidence has generally occurred across demographic subgroups, as members of most key groups are less confident in the police this year than last. Gallup also finds a new low in the percentage of Americans who say they have a "great deal" of respect for the police ... |
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November 8, 2005 Little Change in Crime Rate From Last Year According to Gallup 's annual crime poll, almost one in three households experienced some type of crime during the past year, including 18% with one incident and another 14% with two or more incidents. This year's victimization rates are similar to those measured in the past two years. Young people and non-whites continue to experience higher rates of crime than do older people and whites, respectively |
Monday, November 14, 2005
What's On Your Mind?According to a recent BIGresearch survey which asked people for a verbatim response to "issues that are on their minds," consumers definitely have a lot to say. Joe Pilotta, VP of Research at BIGresearch, noted that "A general uncertainty seems to be growing among the majority of consumers who are attempting to come to grips with a multitude of uncontrollable events ranging from terrorist's threats, the war in Iraq, natural disasters, the direction of the country, job losses, the rising cost of products, energy, and interest rates." Over 8,900 consumer responses were clustered into similar content and summarized in the report. This is the general concensus of "what's on my mind." Some of the key responses are:
"Uncertainty about the future in this holiday climate of giving creates a paradox of self sacrifice; consumers told us in this survey that they will be spending less for themselves and co-workers while spending more on family and friends." said Pilotta.
For more on this study, go to BIGresearch.
I strongly believe advertising that effect optimism should do really well.
We go to ADWEEK for the Best Spots.
Best Spots of September: Introduction
September's Best Spots were all about cars. Well, they should have been all about cars. Unfortunately, most of the car spots just melded together into one long montage of sheet metal and haughty voiceovers. We saw colorful kaleidoscope collages of cars, imposing factory assembly lines, video-game-style high-octane rides, fog-filled sets and curtain-draped, shiny new models, cars shopping at the mall and even statements like, "Don't just drive the car, be the car." Ugh. And a new hybrid is pitched as making nature happy-which is expected. But singing flowers and dancing frogs added to generic winding road footage doesn't automatically make a blockbuster winner, like Honda's award-winning "Grrr," just a tepid, 10th-generation, muddled imitation.
The few car spots that did cut through the clutter this month offered distinctive imagery, like Saturn's crashing walls and designer's sketch gone wild or Subaru's Flintstone foot-powered cars, or oddball humor to grab viewer attention, like Volkswagen's coliseum showdown between a Beetle and a pack of sardines, or a love story between a driver and her Sasquatch for Ford, and a Honda Element trading advice with a rabbit.
But when it comes to oddball humor, Eclipse did it best this month with new spots featuring actors dressed up as giant, odorous food choices. An onion falls asleep in front of the TV and is awakened by a phone call. "Dead onion says what?" asks the caller. "What?" says the frightened onion, as a pack of the breath-freshening gum slides in under the door and hits his foot, and he instantly combusts.
Even better is the Jimmy Dean series about the sun-as-suburban-dad, trying to manage his duties to light and heat the earth while also fulfilling his roles as father and husband. His wilted rays perk up only after he's had his Jimmy Dean breakfast. And once he's had his fill, he participates in family fun, like teasing the local rooster before he's officially out the door. In the spot "Why," he makes breakfast using Jimmy Dean's Skillets while trying to explain to his young daughter why he doesn't have time to chop up the vegetables himself-"Because I have to be at work early to light and heat the earth."
His "Girl in the Moon" counterpart for Miller High Life has a tougher job. With a whispery, ghost-like voiceover, she takes viewers through a minute-long freeze-frame journey through Miller's history. It's intriguing enough, but the girl in the moon should take a cue from the sun, and lighten up.
Charles Schwab tried to lighten up its serious financial pitch with animation over live-action. The technique gives the spot a bit of much-needed razzle-dazzle, but the everyman Schwab is trying to speak to can probably do without it.
Quaker Oats' "Blisters" feels more genuine, with a pre-teen boy band that performs its custom tune for the brand and squabbles about who did most of the writing. It doesn't have a grand idea or fancy film work, but it's charming. And sometimes that's all you need to stay memorable.
Analysis:
It seems to me ads about energy and cars are doing well. I also believe advertising that signal optimism and family are doing great.
(Rule 2) = Advertising works the best if advertisers focus on giving more control to consumers (intrinsic motivations).
(Rule 3) = Brands provide assurance and consistency from one purchase to another; Advertisers should communicate this principle of consistency more effectively
(Rule 4) = Price competition will undercut the value of Brands; price cutting strategy lessens the goal of enhancing brand image
(Rule 5) = Consumers set the terms since they have access to more information (intrinsic motivations); Brands should position themselves on the route of this search for information and that is why websites are the best place for branding.
(Rule 6) = Advertising is the science and art of persuasion; Persuasion is the science of psychology; a good advertising is like your soda with lunch; it helps you swallow the information better; advertising brands extends into realm of complex associations
(Rule 7) = Advertising is words, wit, energy, ingenuity, science, and images that should be designed like poetry, music, and art.
(Rule 8) = P.T. Barnum, the great advertising philosopher, once said "you must gather a crowd, make traffic, then you must hold them in place. And, finally once they are calmed down, you can deliver the pitch." Even though this was around lower part of 1900, the definition is so close to selling or branding through a website.
(Rule 9) = Advertising works best when it can create desire, give it a personality to a product, and move it into the consumer's imagination (intrinsic motivations).
Here is a model from Professor AAKER:
Advertising that works is advertising that makes somebody feel something .... All advertising has some emotion. Some advertising is all emotion. (Hal Riney, Creative Director, Hal Riney & Associates)
The fact is that we not only know little about how such feelings affect the persuasion process, but we do not even really know which feelings are the most relevant. There do exist many lists of feelings, emotions, and moods that may be helpful.
The psychologist Plutchik, for example, developed a list of 40 emotion words, including:
Defiant, Adventurous, Disgusted, Surprised, Inquisitive, Expectant, Enthusiastic, Affectionate, Curious, Receptive, Shy, Hopeless, Unhappy, Perplexed, Hesitant,
Afraid, Bewildered, Annoyed, Hesitant, Sad, Cheerful, Joyful, Elated, Hostile.
Any of these could be important to a given advertisement. Sadness would be aroused by a commercial showing an older woman reflecting on the loss of a mate or by an advertisement attempting to gain support for resources for a faminestricken country such as Biafra by portraying an undernourished child. Enthusiasm and joy might be created by commercials showing people playing volleyball at a beach with upbeat, active music in the background.
Some ads can create a feeling of excitement, adventure, action, and danger.
A good example is a 30-second spot for Pepsi Free which used the tag line "Because life is stimulating enough" to communicate the message that life does not need the stimulant caffeine in cola. After watching the 16 seconds of a pair of policemen chasing a motorcycle maniac, the viewer might agree. After they lose the cyclist they stop for a Pepsi Free only to see the maniac flippantly riding his cycle on the roof of their car. Other ads can create feelings of elegance. A perfume ad showed a sophisticated woman preparing for a ball. A BMW ad showed a stylish, elegant woman slowly entering a car. Both ads surely engendered feelings of elegance, style, and class for some audience members. Among the feelings that have been studied in the advertising context in some depth are warmth, humor, and fear.
With over $5.2 trillion supporting sales in the U.S. economy and more than 21 million supporting jobs in the industry, advertising’s role in our economy is becoming increasingly vital.
This week, The Advertising Coalition, which the ANA is a founding member along with some other trade giants such as the AAAA and the AAF, released a major new economic study projecting the advertising industry’s impact on the U.S. for 2005. The numbers themselves are truly impressive.
Total advertising spending by businesses in the U.S. for 2005 is estimated to reach approximately $278 billion, according to the study with $5.2 trillion in sales being driven into the U.S. economy along with the 21 million jobs. There clearly is an enormous multiplier effect from $278 billion to $5.2 trillion dollars. Most people do not think about the three level impacts of advertising and they only think in terms of the direct impact of advertising. Therefore many people ignore that for every supplier industry oil, gas, glass, steel, paper etc. etc. that may not do consumer advertising, that consumer advertising for various products that use these components drive these segments of the marketplace as well.
Advertising’s impacts are usually discussed in a fractionated way so the global overall impact is often lost not only by outsiders but also practitioners. The advertising industry deserves a great deal of respect across the board as a key driving force in the U.S. economy. The ANA and other industry leaders will continue to work to educate the public and policymakers on the values of what this industry has to offer, and we encourage other industry professionals to make a similar stand as well.
source: http://ana.blogs.com/jaffe/
Consumers Trust Each Other More Than Advertising
The "2005 Consumer-Generated Media (CGM) and Engagement Study" a new study of consumer behavior by Intelliseek Inc., reports that consumers are 50 percent more likely to be influenced by word-of-mouth recommendations from their peers than by radio/TV ads. Consumer trust toward traditional advertising is being challenged by growing confidence in consumer-generated-media (CGM), and the recommendations of other consumers. The research also finds important correlations between consumers who regularly skip over or delete television or online ads and those who create, and absorb consumer-generated media (defined as experiences, opinions and advice posted on the Internet by consumers for others to read and share). "Active ad skippers " are 25 percent more likely to create and respond to Internet message boards, forums and blogs. Intelliseek CEO Mike Nazzaro said "The advertising landscape is... forcing marketers to broaden and redefine the concepts of media, influence and audience reach. If consumer-generated media is the most effective and trusted form of advertising, it's critical that marketers begin to measure, manage and influence it..." Key findings from the analysis:
Less Than 1/5 of Online Buyers Account for Almost Half of Spending
A recent report from Nielsen//NetRatings concludes that nearly a fifth of the online buying population accounts for nearly half of total online spending. These buyers, dubbed "Most Valuable Purchasers" (MVPs), spend more dollars online and make more purchases on the Internet than the rest of the online buying population.
The online retail study segmented online shoppers into four categories based on the amount of their online spending and their frequency of purchases. The MVPs, shoppers who spent the most money online and made the largest number of purchases, comprised 18 percent of the online buyers, driving 46 percent of total online spending. In comparison, those spending the fewest dollars online and making the fewest purchases made up 55 percent of online buyers. This group accounted for 21 percent of online purchases.
Heather Dougherty, senior retail analyst, Nielsen//NetRatings, said "Not only are the MVPs valuable based upon sales and number of purchases, they are also inordinately loyal to the retailers that they purchase from. Each retailer needs to analyze its own customer base to... develop targeted marketing programs that will maximize revenue from these shoppers."
Four Segments of Spending and Purchasing Behavior (June-August, 2005) |
||
Online Buyers |
Percent of Online Buyers |
Share of Online Spending |
MVPs - Spent over $185; Purchased 4 or more times |
18% |
46% |
Spent over $185, Purchased 3 or less times |
11% |
24% |
Spent Under $185, Purchased 3 or less times |
55% |
21% |
Spent Under $185, Purchased 4 or more times |
16% |
9% |
Source: Nielsen//NetRatings MegaPanel Custom, November 2005 |
||
MVPs are heavy users of comparison shopping tools as compared to other online buying segments. In addition, they skew towards a higher household income, are more likely to be connected via a broadband connection, and are heavier Internet users in both overall time spent online and time spent on retail Web sites.
Online Buyers' Visits to Select Comparison Shopping Tools (June-August, 2005 |
||||
Online Buyers |
Shopping.com |
Yahoo! |
Shopzilla |
MSN |
MVPs |
56% |
48% |
42% |
21% |
High $ spending; Low # of purchases |
51% |
45% |
34% |
18% |
Low $ spending; Low # of purchases |
44% |
35% |
29% |
17% |
Low $ spending; High # of purchases |
39% |
33% |
26% |
15% |
Source: Nielsen//NetRatings MegaPanel Custom, November 2005 |
||||
For more information, please visit this Nielsen//NetRatings site.
Friday, November 18, 2005
Drilldown on Internet Advertising Presence for Videos, Movies and TheatresA deeper look at ad sites, viewer demographics, ad types, sizes and delivery for videos, movies and theatres
Top 10 Videos/Movies Destinations |
||
Unique Audience (000) |
Active Reach (%) |
|
IMDb - Internet Movie Database 6,321 |
4.89 |
|
Netflix 3,565 |
2.76 |
|
MSN Movies 3,453 |
2.67 |
|
Yahoo! Movies 3,228 |
2.5 |
|
Moviefone 2,734 |
2.12 |
|
Blockbuster 1,469 |
1.14 |
|
UGO Film/TV 1,151 |
0.89 |
|
Rotten Tomatoes 1,063 |
0.82 |
|
iFILM 868 |
0.67 |
|
fandango.com^ 821 |
0.64 |
|
Source: Nielsen//NetRatings NetView |
||
Demographic Data for Videos/Movies Category |
|||
Target Unique Audience (000) |
Audience Comp (%) |
||
Total
46,825 |
100 |
||
Male
24,135 |
51.54 |
||
Female
22,690 |
48.46 |
||
Age 2 - 11 1,539 |
3.29 |
||
12 - 17 4,896 |
10.46 |
||
18 - 24 2,879 |
6.15 |
||
25 - 34 8,172 |
17.45 |
||
35 - 49 17,508 |
37.39 |
||
45+ 17,634 |
37.66 |
||
55+ 7,330 |
15.65 |
||
65+ 2,600 |
5.55 |
||
HH Income $ 0 - 24999 2,621 |
5.6 |
||
$ 25000 - 49999 10,151 |
21.68 |
||
$ 50000 - 74999 12,909 |
27.57 |
||
$ 75000 - 99999 8,950 |
19.11 |
||
$ 100000 - 149999 7,559 |
16.14 |
||
$ 150000+ 3,936 |
8.41 |
||
Source: Nielsen//NetRatings NetView |
|||
Data on the Entertainment Industry/ Movies Segment Week ending October 23, 2005 US, Home and Work
Top 20 Advertisers |
||
Impressions (000) |
Share of all Impressions |
|
The Walt Disney Corporation 121,169 |
32.5% |
|
General Electric Company 81,168 |
21.8% |
|
The News Corporation Limited 47,299 |
12.7% |
|
DreamWorks SKG 40,038 |
10.7% |
|
Time Warner Inc. 34,401 |
9.2% |
|
Sony Corporation 23,433 |
6.3% |
|
Viacom Inc 11,982 |
3.2% |
|
American Zion 2,436 |
0.7% |
|
Magnolia Pictures 2,209 |
0.6% |
|
J2 Communications 1,608 |
0.4% |
|
Rogue Pictures 1,466 |
0.4% |
|
Mattel, Inc. 1,047 |
0.3% |
|
Rockne & Jones 487 |
0.1% |
|
Lions Gate Entertainment Corp 471 |
0.1% |
|
Eagle Rock Entertainment PLC 449 |
0.1% |
|
Sparq 431 |
0.1% |
|
PictureHouse 411 |
0.1% |
|
Anchor Bay Entertainment 404 |
0.1% |
|
Tel Ra Productions 301 |
0.1% |
|
Laurel Hill Entertainment 285 |
0.1% |
|
Total 373,025 |
100.0% |
|
Source: Nielsen//NetRatings AdRelevance |
||
Top Ad Sizes |
|
|
Impressions (000) |
Leaderboard (728x90) |
130,449 |
Wide Skyscraper (160x600) |
59,438 |
Medium Rectangle (300x250) |
44,644 |
Unspecified |
39,466 |
Non-Standard Dimension |
23,848 |
Skyscraper (180x150) |
22,710 |
Full Banner (468x60) |
15,406 |
Large Rectangle (336x280) |
7,612 |
Square Button (125x125) |
6,553 |
Rectangle (180x150) |
4,880 |
Half Banner (234x60) |
4,453 |
Button #2 (120x60) |
3,476 |
Button #1 (120x90) |
3,443 |
Vertical Rectangle (240x400) |
3,154 |
Vertical Banner (120x240) |
1,882 |
Micro Bar (88x31) |
1,089 |
Square (250x250) |
520 |
Total |
373,023 |
Source: Nielsen//NetRatings AdRelevance |
|
Ad Delivery Types |
||
Impressions (000) |
Share of all Impressions |
|
Inline 350,828 |
94.1% |
|
Pop-Up 10,756 |
2.9% |
|
Interstitial 4,808 |
1.3% |
|
Pop-Under 3,475 |
0.9% |
|
Floating/Overlay 3,155 |
0.8% |
|
Total 373,022 |
100.0% |
|
Source: Nielsen//NetRatings AdRelevance |
||
Data on the Entertainment Industry/ Movie Theater Segment Week ending October 23, 2005 US, Home and Work
Top 6 Advertisers |
||
Impressions (000) |
Share of all Impressions |
|
Regal Entertainment Group 368 |
54.3% |
|
National Amusements, Inc. 254 |
37.5% |
|
IMAX 34 |
5.0% |
|
Loews Cineplex Entertainment 16 |
2.4% |
|
Crown Theatres L.P. 4 |
0.6% |
|
MUVICO Theaters 2 |
0.3% |
|
Total 678 |
100.0% |
|
Source: Nielsen//NetRatings AdRelevance |
||
Top Ad Sizes |
||
Impressions (000) |
Share of all Impressions |
|
Large Rectangle (336x280) 223 |
32.9% |
|
Button #2 (120x60) 205 |
30.2% |
|
Leaderboard (728x90) 181 |
26.7% |
|
Button #1 (120x90) 40 |
5.9% |
|
Half Banner (234x60) 12 |
1.8% |
|
Full Banner (468x60) 9 |
1.3% |
|
Wide Skyscraper (160x600) 4 |
0.6% |
|
Skyscraper (180x150) 4 |
0.6% |
|
Total 678 |
100.0% |
|
Source: Nielsen//NetRatings AdRelevance |
||
Ad Delivery Types |
||
|
Impressions (000) |
Share of all Impressions |
Inline |
677 |
100.0% |
Source: Nielsen//NetRatings AdRelevance |
||
Note: Nielsen//NetRatings AdRelevance reporting data reflects advertising activity served on pages accessible via the World Wide Web and not within AOL's proprietary service.
Internet Ad Spending Sees Double-Digit Growth |
by Wendy Davis, Thursday, Dec 8, 2005 6:00 AM EST |
REVENUES FROM ONLINE ADVERTISING, EXCLUDING search, grew to $6.1 billion for the first three quarters of the year--up by 11.5 percent from the first nine months of 2004, according to a report released Wednesday by TNS Media Intelligence. Overall, ad spending during the first three quarters increased by just 3 percent, to $104.1 billion. Online growth was driven by two major factors, stated the report: large, blue-chip marketers reallocated budgets online, and pure-plays increased their Web spending. "For the first time since the dot com bust, online brands accounted for a majority of Internet ad spending," stated the report. Some advertising executives agreed that there was a huge growth in display ads this year--although not necessarily because of a surge in spending by dot-coms and blue-chip companies. Louis Jones, executive vice president, managing director for MPG's Media Contacts, said that online spending has increased across the board, with the biggest leaps by marketers that use the Web to manage customer relationships. "Where customers can actually transact with them online, is where we're seeing them make the investment by leaps and bounds," Jones said. Financial companies like Fidelity and Barclays, for instance--which offer consumers the ability to monitor accounts online--have upped their ad spending significantly this year, Jones said. Other industry reports this year also show an increase in online ad revenues. The Interactive Advertising Bureau reported that all Internet ad spending, including search, reached $8.9 billion for the first nine months of this year--up from about 6.8 billion for the same time last year. Search ads accounted for about 40 percent of the online ad spend last year and the first half of this year, according to the IAB. |
Monday, November 21, 2005
Consumer Intentions: Turn Down the HeatAccording to the Consumer Intentions and from BIGresearch, consumers will be keeping a wary eye on their home heating bills this holiday season, and when asked what they would do if their home heating bill increased by 50%, almost 2/3 say "turn down the thermostat" and 62% say "wear heavier clothing." When it comes to Holiday shopping, only 36.9% said the cost of heating their home would have no effect on their holiday shopping. For the 63% who said the cost of home heating would affect their holiday shopping, the top solutions were:
Joe Pilotta, VP of BIGresearch, said "Consumers say they will cope with higher energy bills during the Holiday season by being more price conscious in order to enjoy the holidays..."
Suppose your home heating bill increase by 50%. What would you do? (Check all that apply) |
|
Adjust thermostat to reduce consumption |
65.2% |
Spend less on other goods and services |
33.0% |
Use a space heater |
22.9% |
Wear heavier clothing in the house |
32.1% |
Sign up for budget billing |
20.3% |
Install energy efficient lighting |
11.5% |
Increase insulation |
18.2% |
Replace windows |
5.3% |
Install energy management and monitoring controls |
4.7% |
Shop more for necessities at lower priced stores |
27.3% |
Shop more for the things I want at lower priced stores |
21.8% |
Do more comparison shopping |
21.1% |
Don't pay heating and cooling bills |
7.3% |
Other: |
6.1% |
Source: BIGresearch |
|
How will the cost of heating your home affect your Holiday Shopping? (Multiple response OK) |
|
Spend less on gifts |
31.3% |
Look for more special sale items |
32.7% |
Shop at discount stores more often |
26.1% |
Buy for fewer people |
20.2% |
It will have no effect at all |
36.9% |
Other: |
1.9% |
Source: BIGresearch |
|
Complimentary findings are available here.
Contact: Suzanne Wu
swu@press.uchicago.edu
773-834-0386
University of Chicago Press Journals
How do consumers look at advertisements? Most marketing textbooks advance the theory that looking at ads is a predominantly “dumb process,” driven by visual stimuli such as the size of the ad or the color of the text. However, new research by researchers from the Netherlands and the University of Michigan uses eye-tracking software to reveal that it may be our goals – the tasks we have in mind – that drive what we pay attention to, even during a few seconds of ad exposure.
In the August issue of the Journal of Consumer Research, Rik Pieters (Tilburg University, The Netherlands) and Michel Wedel (University of Michigan) perform an eye tracking experiment on 220 consumers. The consumers are split into four groups, each with a different goal, and given free rein to view a series of advertisements.
The study is self-paced – that is participants are allowed to look at the ads for as long or as short of a time as they would like. Overall, the participants looked at the 17 target ads in the study for an average of about 4 seconds only – but with notable differences in focus.
Those asked to memorize the ad focused on both the body text and the pictorial representation of the product. Those asked to learn about the brand, on the other hand, paid enhanced attention to the body text but simultaneously ignored the pictorial.
This supports the Yarbus thesis that ad informativeness is goal-contingent. Differences in pupil diameter between ad objects but not between processing goals reflect the pupil’s role in maintaining optimal vision.
“The fact that even during the few seconds of self-paced ad exposure, attention patterns already differ markedly between consumers with different goals underlines the importance of controlling and knowing consumers’ processing goals in theory building and during advertising pre- and post-testing,” the researchers write.
In other words, the eyes are a reflection of consumer goals.
Rik Pieters and Michel Wedel. “Goal Control of Attention to Advertising: The Yarbus Implication,” Journal of Consumer Research: August 2007.
