A first step in unraveling synced advertising effectiveness

Abstract

Technological developments and the rise of mobile devices have made it possible to deliver personalized messages to consumers based on their concurrent media usages in real time; this is known as synced advertising. Synced advertising is argued to be an effective personalized advertising strategy in a multi-media environment that will result in more positive brand attitudes compared to those arising from exposure to non-synced advertising. The aim of this research was to examine the effect of synced advertising on brand attitudes. An online experiment (N = 119) and a lab experiment (N = 107) showed that synced advertising resulted in more positive brand attitudes than when users had no exposure to the brand. However, we did not find any differences in brand attitudes depending on having a tablet ad shown before, simultaneous to, or after a TV commercial for the same brand. Thus, the results show that synchronizing ads with a short delay is as effective as synchronizing ads in real time.

Keywords:

• Synced advertising
• mobile
• television
• personalization
• brand attitude

Acknowledgement

The authors wants to thank the Liberal Arts Technologies and Innovation Services unit and specifically Andy Sell and Michael J. Beckstrand for their support in data collection in study 1 and Pernu Menheer for support in data collection in study 2. They would also like to thank Meng Yang for her assistance in the lab.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1 We did not find any significant differences between included and excluded participants in terms of age [t (202) = -1.19, p = .237] or gender [chi-square (1) = .017, p = .897]. In addition, exclusion was not dependent on the experimental condition the participant was in [chi-square (3) = 2.116, p = .549].

2 The percentages do not add up to 100% because we asked participants to check all boxes that applied.

3 We had four banners (target/filler brand vs. with/without actor on banner). The four banner ads did not differ with any of the variables. Only the banner ads without the actors were significantly different in perceived relatedness and were, therefore, chosen as stimulus material.

4 In study 1, brand familiarity met the criteria set by Meyvis and Osselaer (2018) to include the variable as a control variable: 1) the control variable and the dependent variable correlated (r = .28, p = .002), 2) the manipulation of the independent variable did not influence the control variable because we asked about ‘familiarity prior to exposure’, 2) the measurement of the control variable did not affect the measurement of the dependent variable because we first measured brand attitude and then brand familiarity, and 4) there is no significant interaction effect between the independent variable and the control variable, F (3, 118) = 2.37, p = .075.

5 This data collection is part of a bigger study on synced advertising effects.

6 In study 2, brand familiarity met all four guidelines set by Meyvis and Osselaer (2018). Again, the control variable correlated with the dependent variable (r = .39, p < .001) and there was no interaction effect, F (2, 113) = 2.23, p = .112.

Additional information

Funding

Study 1 of this research was supported by the Emerging Scholar Research Grant of the Mobile Communication Interest Group of the International Communication Association. Study 2 of this research is part of a bigger project supported by the American Academy of Advertising Research Fellowship Award.

Notes on contributors

Claire M. Segijn

Claire M. Segijn (PhD, University of Amsterdam) is an Assistant Professor of Advertising at the Hubbard School of Journalism and Mass Communication, University of Minnesota – Twin Cities. Her research includes the simultaneous usage of multiple media (e.g., multiscreening, synced advertising) and how this affects information processing and message effectiveness.

Hilde A. M. Voorveld

Hilde A. M. Voorveld (Ph.D., University of Amsterdam) is an Associate Professor of Persuasion & New Media Technologies at the Amsterdam School of Communication Research, University of Amsterdam. Her research interests include cross-media advertising, media multitasking, and the uses and effects of new media technology.