In the digital age in which we live, online advertising is becoming increasingly relevant for companies wishing to reach their target audience. Among the several platforms available, YouTube has established itself as one of the main channels for promoting products and services.
However, the presence of elements such as the countdown timer and the time progress bar, intended to provide information on the duration of the advertisement, is a topic that requires further investigation. A neuromarketing study analysed, using eye tracker and facial coding, the effects of these elements on users' visual attention, on the viewing times of key ad elements (viewed to seen) (e.g. brand and product) and on emotions (disgust).
The research focused on a particular type of advertisement on the YouTube channel: 15-second mid-roll, non-skippable in-stream ad format.
Participants were exposed to these advertisements under three conditions: the 'current', in which ad and non-ad items (countdown timer and time progress bar) were present; the 'low' condition featured by a reduced presence of non-ad items (no countdown timer and only time progress bar); and the 'absent' condition, characterised by the complete absence of non-ad items (no countdown timer and no time progress bar).
The results revealed an interesting finding: the advertisement without non-ad items was the most effective in terms of attention and emotion compared to formats with non-ad items.
In fact, the presence of countdown timer and time progress bar meant that users' visual attention to key advertising elements was greatly reduced, and it took them longer to notice these elements.
From an emotional point of view, the results also showed that the absence of non-ad items was associated with lower levels of irritability and disgust, as users perceived less deception.
In light of these results, the study highlighted:
- For advertisers: the importance of carefully considering the presence of non-ad items in YouTube ads.
- For researchers: the eye tracker and facial coding indicators provided deeper insights into the differences between the test conditions than questionnaires alone.
Article written in collaboration with some students of the degree course Biomedical Scientific Communication at the Sapienza University of Rome with reference to:
Mancini, M.; Cherubino, P.; Martinez, A.; Vozzi, A.; Menicocci, S.; Ferrara, S.; Giorgi, A.; Aricò, P.; Trettel, A.; Babiloni, F. (2023). What Is behind In-Stream Advertising on YouTube? A Remote Neuromarketing Study employing Eye-Tracking and Facial Coding techniques. Brain Sci. 13, 1481. https://doi.org/10.3390/brainsci13101481
