Any animation is better than none, mall study confirms
A new study of digital media in malls has reinforced earlier research suggesting that small elements of on-screen movement are as effective as full-motion video in drawing viewers’ attention.
Outdoor specialist agency Kinetic Worldwide and media owner Clear Channel Outdoor investigated shoppers’ engagement with digital out-of-home ads at the Westfield Royal Victoria Place shopping centre in Tunbridge Wells, near London.
Using a face-tracking system from German research group Fraunhofer and a camera affixed to a Clear Channel ad for three weeks, the researchers recorded the number of consumers viewing the ad and how long they watched it; their age and gender; and their mood, assessed by technology which sorted facial expressions into happy, sad, alert, and impassive.
Separately, they also measured footfall and conducted face-to-face interviews.
Animation and scrolling text garnered more attention than static text, with animation appealing particularly to men. But full-motion video and very elaborate animation seemed to be no more attractive to viewers than basic animation.
That finding backs up the conclusions of a JCDecaux study at Heathrow Airport, which suggested that while even a small element of motion on-screen serves to attract attention, increasing the quantity of animated content does not proportionally increase viewers’ engagement.
Among other findings, there was unsurprisingly a direct relationship between ad views and footfall. But the researchers also found that duration of viewing changed according to the time of week – with weekends, when consumers perhaps are less hurried, showing three times as many seconds of viewing by each individual. There was also an age pattern evident, with younger shoppers gazing at the ad for longer than older ones.
The expression-recognition exercise concluded that mall shoppers are generally content – women in particular – and that they are happier at less busy times.
During interviews conducted as part of the Kinetic research, shoppers described digital out-of-home as “innovative” and said it positioned “advertisers as dynamic brands”.
www.clearchannel.co.uk
www.kineticww.com
Share this article with others
Post to del.icio.us
Printed from http://www.screens.tv/article/111031/Any_animation_is_better_than_none%2C_mall_study_confirms.html
Comment on this article
Skip to comments
We encourage users to analyse, comment on and even challenge Screens.tv's articles, including the one above - 'Any animation is better than none, mall study confirms'
User reviews and comments that include profanity or personal attacks or other inappropriate comments or material will be removed from the site.
Additionally, entries that are unsigned or contain "signatures" by someone other than the actual author will be removed. We will take steps to block users who violate any of our posting standards, terms of use or privacy policies or any other policies governing this site.