Editing Banner blindness (section)

== Factors ==

=== Human behavior ===

==== User goals ====
When searching for specific information on a website, users focus only on the parts of the page where they expect that information will be, e.g. small text and hyperlinks.<ref name=":9">Pagendarm, M.; Schaumburg, H. (2001). [https://journals.tdl.org/jodi/index.php/jodi/article/view/36/38 "Why Are Users Banner-Blind? The Impact of Navigation Style on the Perception of Web Banners"]. ''Journal of Digital Information''. '''2''' (1).</ref> A 2011 study investigated via eye-tracking analysis whether users avoided looking at ads inserted on a non-search website, and whether they retained ad content in memory. The study found that most participants fixated (looked at) ads at least once during their website visit.<ref>Hervet, G.; Guerard, K.; Tremblay, S.; Chtourou, M. S. (2011). "Is Banner Blindness Genuine? Eye Tracking Internet Text Advertising". ''Applied Cognitive Psychology''. '''25''' (5): 708–716. [[Digital object identifier|doi]]:[[doi:10.1002/acp.1742|10.1002/acp.1742]].</ref> When a viewer is working on a task, ads may cause a disturbance, eventually leading to ad avoidance. If a user wants to find something on the web page and ads disrupt or delay their search, they will try to avoid the source of interference.<ref name=":5" />

==== Clutter aversion ====
A higher than expected number of advertisements may cause a user to view the page as cluttered.<ref name=":6">Cho, C. H., & as-, U. O. T. A. A. I. A. (2004). Why do people avoid advertising on the internet?. ''Journal of advertising'', ''33''(4), 89-97.</ref> The number of adverts and annoyances on a webpage contribute to this perception of clutter.<ref name=":5" /> As users can concentrate on only one stimulus at a time, having too many objects in their field of vision causes them to lose focus.<ref>Djamasbi, S., Hall-Phillips, A., & Yang, R. R. (2013). An Examination of Ads and Viewing Behavior: An Eye Tracking Study on Desktop and Mobile Devices.</ref> This contributes to behaviors such as ad avoidance or banner blindness.

==== Website familiarity ====
[[File:Standard web banner ad sizes.svg|thumb|upright=1.4|Standard web banner ad sizes circa 2009]]As a user becomes familiar with a webpage, they learn where to expect content, and where to expect adverts, and learn to ignore banner ads without looking at them.<ref name=":5">[null Drèze, X., & Hussherr, F. X. (2003). Internet advertising: Is anybody watching?.&nbsp;''Journal of interactive marketing'',&nbsp;''17''(4), 8-23.]</ref> [[Usability testing|Usability tests]] that compared the perception of banners between subjects searching for specific information and subjects aimlessly browsing seem to support this theory.<ref name=":9" /> A 2014 eye-tracking study examined how right-side images (in contrast to [[plain text]]) in Google AdWords affect users' visual behavior. The analysis concludes that the appearance of images does not change user interaction with ads.<ref>Ortiz-Chaves, L.; et al. (2014). "AdWords, images, and banner blindness: an eye-tracking study". ''El Profesional de la Información''. '''23''' (3): 279–287. [[Digital object identifier|doi]]:[[doi:10.3145/epi.2014.may.08|10.3145/epi.2014.may.08]].</ref>

==== Brand recognition ====
If a user is already aware of a brand, viewing an ad banner for that brand would reconfirm their existing attitudes towards it, whether positive or negative. A banner ad may only leave a positive impression in the viewer if they already have a positive perception of the brand. Similarly, someone seeing an ad for a brand they have a negative perception of may further dissuade them from buying from that brand.

If viewers have a neutral or no opinion about a brand, then a banner ad for that brand could leave a positive impression, due to the [[mere-exposure effect]]: A tendency to develop a preference for something due to familiarity.<ref>Kindermann, H. (2016, July). A Short-Term Twofold Impact on Banner Ads. In ''International Conference on HCI in Business, Government and Organizations''(pp. 417-426). Springer International Publishing.</ref>

=== Banner aspects ===
==== Shared space ====
Unlike advertisements in television or radio, which completely interrupt and temporarily replace the content, banner adverts exist alongside the content. Websites typically contain various elements in different sizes, shapes, and colours. As a banner ad only occupies part of a website, it cannot hold the user's complete attention.<ref name=":5" />

==== Perceived usefulness ====
Banner ads that seem to contain useful information, and which are easy for the viewer to comprehend, are more likely to be viewed and clicked on than adverts the user does not find useful, or finds difficult to understand.<ref name=":4">Idemudia, E. C., & Jones, D. R. (2015). An empirical investigation of online banner ads in online market places: the cognitive factors that influence intention to click. ''International Journal of Information Systems and Management'', ''1''(3), 264-293.</ref>

Prices and promotions, when mentioned in banner ads, do not have a major impact on their perceived usefulness. Users assume that all ads signify promotions of some sort and hence do not give much weight to it.<ref name=":4" />

==== Congruence ====
Congruity is the relationship of an advert with the surrounding web content. There have been mixed results of congruity on users. Click through rates increased when the ads shown on a website were similar to the products or services of that website. A banner with colour schemes incongruent with the rest of website does grab the viewer's attention, but they tend to respond negatively to it, compared with banners whose color schemes were congruent.<ref>Robinson, H., Wysocka, A., & Hand, C. (2007). Internet advertising effectiveness: the effect of design on click-through rates for banner ads.''International Journal of Advertising'',&nbsp;''26''(4), 527-541.</ref>

Congruency has more impact when the user browses fewer web pages. When users were given specific web tasks in a 2013 study, incongruent ads grabbed their attention, but they displayed ad avoidance behaviors.<ref>Porta, M., Ravarelli, A., & Spaghi, F. (2013). Online newspapers and ad banners: an eye-tracking study on the effects of congruity. ''Online Information Review'', ''37''(3), 405-423.</ref> The relevance of the ad's content to the user's goal and to the website does not affect view time due to the expectation that an advert will be irrelevant.<ref>Higgins, E., Leinenger, M., & Rayner, K. (2014). Eye movements when viewing advertisements. ''Frontiers in Psychology'', ''5''.</ref>

Congruency between the advert and the web content has no effect on view duration, according to a 2011 study.<ref>Hervet, G., Guérard, K., Tremblay, S., & Chtourou, M. S. (2011). Is banner blindness genuine? Eye tracking internet text advertising. ''Applied cognitive psychology'', ''25''(5), 708-716.</ref>

==== Calls to action ====
Banners with phrases that invite action, such as "click here", do not attract views or clicks.<ref name=":8" />