(Feature image caption: Emily Sak, Head of Data & Insights and Ben Walker, CEO supplied via Shopper Media)
There are many forms of advertising, whether shoppers realise it or not.
The one that best captures a shopper’s attention in a shopping centre though? Animated advertising.
“Each day we are inundated with an average of 8000 advertising messages, so brands need to ensure their communication is distinctive and memorable,” says Head of Data and Insights at Shopper Media, Emily Sak.
“The Shopper Media study was conducted to understand the power of animation in grabbing the attention of shoppers. The study looked into the impact of animation through the monitoring of brain responses, with a focus on long-term memory and eye tracking.”
Static vs animation
The study measured the shopping experiences of 134 respondents in relation to static versus animation, retail floor-mounted portrait panels, small-format roof installed panels and shopping centre entrance signage.
CEO of Neuro-Insight, Peter Pynta explains that shopping centres offer a range of unique qualities.
“Subconscious responses during a shopping journey provide strong drivers of behaviours,” says Mr Pynta.
“We know this through past research that links neuro responses to consumer behaviour.”
Ms Sak reveals the key findings.
“Firstly, animation is 200% more effective than static advertising, as it demands shopper eyeballs, including fixation length and saccades (quick simultaneous eye movement), and drives brand engagement.
“Animation also triggers higher peaks of memory encoding more frequently than non-animated sites, enabling brand information to be stored in our memory in busy retail environments.”
Other interesting information found is that, “Animation is two-and-a-half times more likely to receive a return gaze, with 88% greater eye movement of shoppers”, says Ms Sak.
Additionally, “…shoppers are more attentive to walk-by advertising, with retail shopping sites receiving 147% greater eye movement than drive-by sites.”
“Collectively,” concludes Ms Sak.
“…the findings support the idea that retail Digital OOH is more effective for both brand recall and detailed messaging retrieval.”