Newspaper advertising can attract up to seven times more attention than television commercials, according to new research undertaken for News International by Robert Heath, visiting professor at Copenhagen Business School and research associate at University of Bath School for Management.
Heath’s research analysed movement of the eye in natural viewing and reading situations, with faster eye movements indicating high attention processing.
On average he found that press advertisements attracted twice as much attention as television adverts and the best performing press adverts received up to seven times the attention of the worst performing television adverts.
Commenting on the research, Heath said: “The key take out of this research project is not just the attention levels of press compared to TV, but how this insight can be used to create more effective press advertising.”
This research is at the heart of the first execution in a new advertising campaign by the Newspaper Marketing Agency (NMA). The NMA’s Newspapers. The Attention Channelcampaign is comprised of a series of adverts promoting other research advertisements carried out by the NMA to demonstrate the effectiveness of national newspaper advertising.
Maureen Duffy, chief executive of the NMA said: “The Newspapers. The Attention Channel campaign has been devised to communicate the value of newspaper advertising to decision makers.”
She added: “Coupled with our recent work on the effectiveness of press advertising, this research from News International makes a compelling case for utilising national newspapers as part of brand-building media strategies and encourages a lively debate about the role of newspapers.”
Earlier this year, a report by PricewaterhouseCoopers acknowledged growth potential for revenue and profit levels within the newspaper industry (see Newspaper Industry Predicted To Strengthen).
PricewaterhouseCoopers argued that the increasing fragmentation of other media, particularly TV and radio, will result in a premium being put on national newspapers as a medium with the ability to deliver to a mass audience. Regional newspapers are also expected to benefit as local radio fragments with the rise of digital technology.
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