Interesting Results
Avoiding Pop-Up Advertising Irritation
Advertisers always have to walk a fine line between getting attention and causing irritation. On the Web, many have switched from banner advertising to more attention-getting pop-up ads. But does that attention come at the price of consumer irritation? A study investigating this issue found that the likelihood of consumers becoming irritated by pop-up ads and trying to avoid them (e.g., by clicking them closed as soon as possible) depends on how intrusive the ads are perceived to be. Ads are perceived to be more intrusive when they appear at a time in which the consumer is concentrating on something else (e.g. site content). Ads that are perceived as informative, consistent with site content, or entertaining are less likely to be perceived as intrusive as ads that lack these characteristics.