Interesting Results
Comparing Banner Ads to Sponsored Content
A recent article reported the results of a study comparing people’s attitudes toward companies after they were shown Web banner ads for the company, Web content sponsored by the company, or neither of these. The results showed that viewing sponsored content led to the most positive attitudes toward the advertiser, but that banner ads also improved attitudes. Besides improving attitudes, sponsored content improved perceptions of the advertiser’s product quality, increased trust in the advertiser, and increased people’s intention to purchase from them. All of these things improved after viewing banner ads too, but not as much as for sponsored content. It’s important to note, however, that the companies used in the research were chosen because they are well-known and well-liked, and that there was a good fit between the advertisers’ products and the content of the Web sites on which the sponsored content or banner ad appeared. It’s not clear whether the same results would hold for less well-known or well-liked advertisers or when the fit between the advertiser and the Web site isn’t as good.