Attention and the AC-TEA Model

1. Attention and the AC-TEA Model Attention Capture & Transfer by Elements of Advertisements Erica Jenkins Pei-Chun Chao Han-Ching Cheng CSR 631

2. Attention: when a person engages in thought (however brief) about a stimulus. AC-TEA model originated from Psychology and Marketing research Key researchers: Rik Pieters & Michel Wedel – Marketing Professors Definition and Background (http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/attention)

3. AC-TEA Model • Main elements • Bottom-Up Factors • Top-Down Factors • Their interaction with the determinants of attention • Size • Brand, pictorial, text • Motivation, involvement, brand familiarity • Attention to other ad elements

4. Bottom-Up Factors & Attention Capture Attention Capture Stimulus: Size Bottom Up Factors

5. Bottom-Up Timeline • 1980: Stimulus Size Element • 1984: Quantitative Visual Search Model • 1990: Involuntary Attention Transfer • 1992: Task Demands & Involuntary Attention Transfer • 1997: Stimulus Size Element • 1998: E-Z Reader 1 Model • 1998: Bottom-up Processing

6. Definitions • Bottom-Up Processing: ad elements that involuntarily capture the attention of the consumer. • Baseline attention capture: novelty increases attention paid to advertisement regardless of its characteristics (size). • Come from theories of visual attention • Incremental attention capture: attention beyond baseline paid to an advertisement regardless of a characteristic (size) increasing. • Come from theories of eye movements in reading

7. Dominique M Hassens, 1980Stimulus Size Element • 1160 ads examined for relationships among 24 characteristics, recall, and readership • Ad size (increased is better) found to be effective at capturing attention. Dominique M Hassens; Barton A Weitz JMR, Journal of Marketing Research (pre-1986); Aug 1980; 17, 000003; ABI/INFORM Global pg. 294

8. Yantis & Jonides, 1984Quantitative Visual Search Model • “abrupt onset item is scanned first on every trial but otherwise the search is serial and self-terminating” • RT=A + kT+5N • RT=reaction time • A=time for mental operations (encoding) • k=# comparisons to alternatives • T=time it takes to complete a comparison • <5 =variable that equals 1 if visual target is not present and 0 if it is • N= extra time required to deal with a negative trial (unsuccessful search) "Abrupt Visual Onsets & Selective Attention: Evidence from Visual Search" Yantis & Jonides, 1984

9. Yantis & Jonides, 1990 Involuntary Attention Transfer due to size : Baseline Attention Capture Prior Research Findings No notice of novel stimuli advance notice of novel stimuli Abrupt stimuli presented Highly focused attention to original stimulus Involuntary attention capture by new stimulus Resistant to abrupt attention capture "Abrupt Visual Onsets & Selective Attention: Voluntary versus Automatic Allocation" Yantis & Jonides, 1990

10. Remington & Johnston, 1992 Task Demands & Involuntary Attention Transfer • Involuntary attention transfer depends on properties of stimulus & task demands (not stimulus alone). Stimulus Properties (size, color etc) Task Demands (goal?) Precues of novel stimuli No precues of novel stimuli Resistant to attention capture Attention Capture "Involuntary Covert Orienting is Contingent of Attentional Control Settings" Remington & Johnston

11. Lohse, 1997Stimulus Size Element • Further support for ad size capturing attention Large Display Phonebook Ads Plain column listings 93% Rate of participant preference 26% rate of participant preference "Consumer Eye Movement Patterns on Yellow Pages Advertising" Lohse, 1997

12. Reichle et al, 1998E-Z Reader 1 Model, incremental attention capture • Model of eye movement control in reading Attention Shift attention to next word Word Recognition Familiarity Check Word Completion Motor Control Change in eye movement (re-read, surrounding search) No Change (reading) Rapid Eye Movement (shift to beginning of model after understand) "Toward a Model of Eye Movement Control in Reading" Reichle et al. 1998

13. Janiszewski, 1998Bottom-up Processing • Visual clutter=more attention paid to stimulus and attention capture occurs and shift of attention to ad element (brand, picture, or text) "The Influence of Display Characteristics on Visual Exploratory Search Behavior" Janiszewski, 1998

14. Attention Transfer Timeline • 1967: Eye movement & Feature-based selection • 1978: Spatial attention • 1980: Feature integration theory • 2001: The goal matters • 2007: Processing goals

15. Exogenous and endogenous transfer • Exogenous attention transfer occurs when the surface size of an ad element affects attention to one or more other ad elements. • Stimulus-driven, bottom-up, involuntary, automatic • Endogenous attention transfer occurs when attention to an ad element depends on attention to another ad element, independent of their surface sizes. • Goal-driven, top-down, voluntary, deliberate

16. Yarbus,1967 Eye Movement Yarbus (1967)

17. Yarbus,1967Eye movement • Free Viewing • Estimate economic level of the people • Judge their ages • Guess what they had been doing before the visitor’s arrival • Remember the clothes worn by the people

18. Neisser, 1967Early studies of feature-based target: Z The time required to search for target letters among nontarget letters in large arrays depends on the shape similarity or dissimilarity of the targets and nontargets.

19. Posner, Nissen, & Ogden, 1978Spatial attention Valid cue + Invalid cue

20. Posner, Nissen, & Ogden, 1978Spatial attention

21. Treisman & Gelade, 1980Feature integration theory • Preattentive stage: features are registered early, automatically, and in parallel across the visual field, while objects are identified separately. • Focused attention stage: only at a later stage, features combined which requires focused attention. • Then perception occurs. • Thus focal attention provides the “glue” which integrates the initially separable features into unitary objects

22. O O O O O X O O O O O O O O O Treisman & Gelade, 1980Feature integration theory Treisman & Gelade distinguish two kinds of visual search tasks, feature search and conjunction search. Find the “red X” among “red Os” Feature Search

23. O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O Find the “Blue O” among “red Os” Feature Search • Feature search can be performed fast and pre-attentively for targets defined by primitive features.

24. X X O X O X O O X X O X O O X Find the “red X” among “red Os and blue Xs” Conjunction Search • Conjunction search is the serial search for targets defined by a conjunction of primitive features. It is much slower and requires conscious attention.

25. Treisman & Gelade, 1980Feature integration theory target absent Search target present target absent Search target present

26. Keith Rayner, 2001 The goal matters • It is clear from this study that the goal of the viewer very much influences where they look in ads.

27. Rik Pieters&Michel Wadel, 2007Four processing goals

28. Rik Pieters&Michel Wadel, 2007Four processing goals • Body text, pictorial, and brand were all more informative under an ad-memorization goal.

29. Rik Pieters&Michel Wadel, 2007Four processing goals • Informativeness of the ad objects was similar under an ad-appreciation goal.

30. Rik Pieters&Michel Wadel, 2007Four processing goals • The body text was more but the pictorial was less informative under a brand-learning goal.

31. Rik Pieters&Michel Wadel, 2007Four processing goals • The body text was more informative under a brand-evaluation goal.

32. Top-Down Timeline • 1980-1987: FCB Model • 1993: Message Utility Hypothesis • 1997: Visual Attention Theory • 2000: Goal-Directed & Stimulus-Driven Determinants of Attentional Control • 2001: Eye Movement When Looking at Print Ad

33. Richard Vaughn, 1980 FCB Model (Foote, Cone & Belding , an advertising company) • Involvement vs. Brain Specialization (Motivation) Brain Specialization: Anatomical separation of the cerebral hemispheres of the brain leads to specialized perception of messages Consumer Involvement: A continuum of consumer interest in products and services.

34. FCB Model cont’ Richard Vaughn, 1986 Ratchford, 1987

35. Pratkanis & Greenwald, 1993Message Utility Hypothesis “Consumers may take in such a situation is to pay attention to and elaborate on only those messages that are useful for solving a consumer task or meeting a personal need.” + Attention (Relevant Text) Involvement

36. Rosbergen, Pieters, and Wedel, 1997Visual Attention Theory Usage Frequency Brand Familiarity Product Involvement + Attention Scanning Sustained Attention Initial Attention

37. Rosbergen, Pieters, and Wedel, 1997Visual Attention Theory

38. Yantis, 2000Goal-Directed & Stimulus-Driven Determinants of Attentional Control “Jonides (1980, 1981) found that direct cues draw attention even when they are known to be uninformative and should be ignored.” “Most instances of visual selection involve an interaction between top-down attentional control and autonomous neural responses to visual stimuli.” “There is no one place where attention originates.”

39. Rayner, Rotello and Stewart, 2001Eye Movement When Looking at Print Ad Group 1 Group 2 Motivation + Attention

40. Rayner, Rotello and Stewart, 2001Eye Movement When Looking at Print Ad

41. Measurement • Eye tracking measurement • Infrared corneal reflection methodology • Cornea: clear covering of eye

42. AC-TEA Model today and future research • Online advertising • Pop-up advertisements and banner advertisements • Appears that model may work for online advertising, but… • Feedback? • With further research we may be able to determine if the model would be altered for online advertising.

43. Future Research cont’d • Endogenous attention transfer when looking at advertisements—not thoroughly studied • The findings by Remington & Johnston (1992) that task demands influence attention capture are not displayed in the model. This could be tested within the model framework.