A new study using neuroscience has demonstrated for the first time how digital out-of-home positively influences responses to other media. This is the second stage of the research, conducted by Neuro-Insight on behalf of Ocean, using brain imaging to explore the neurological impact of DOOH on other screen and mobile devices.
Almost 200 people, made up of equal numbers of men and women and with an age range from 18 to 65, were convened in groups of eight in London and Birmingham. Whilst some people were exposed to DOOH ads, others were exposed to ads from the same campaigns on TV. Then they were shown advertising for the same two featured brands (Lynx and Peugeot) in magazines and on mobile devices.
The results found that prior exposure to a creative campaign on TV led to higher levels of response when another execution from that campaign was subsequently seen in a magazine, while prior exposure to a creative campaign on a full motion digital OOH site led to higher levels of response when another execution from that campaign was subsequently seen on a mobile screen.
However, the study found that the reverse is not true and that television does not prime responses to mobile screens and OOH does not prime responses to magazines, “demonstrating an important role played by the congruence between the priming medium and primed experience.”
Put more simply, TV and magazines are both considered more relaxed, lay back mediums by our brain; DOOH and mobile devices are by nature more active and mobile and a better fit for that.
So “the congruence effect” is the impact of environment and “brainstate” on responses.
TV’s priming effect on magazine reading was 11% higher; DOOH priming on mobile devices an impressive 36% higher. But when the creative was linked this amplified the effect even further – to 27% and 48% respectively.
“The findings have clear implications for maximising the impact of cross-media screen campaigns by harnessing the specific priming impact of digital out-of-home,” said Tim Bleakley, CEO of Ocean.
“We already knew that iconic, large format advertising delivers heightened emotional response and strong memory encoding, and that this impact is heightened by full motion screens (first study). We also knew going into this study, that large, iconic sites had a positive priming effect on other OOH advertising.
“Our second study takes the learnings further, to show that the priming impact of DOOH extends beyond the OOH world and into the wider all screen media universe.
“We’ve now established that there is a clear congruence between screen experiences out of home, and the combination of large and small screens, accessed on the go, is a particularly powerful one.”
Bleakley added that he felt this was a genuine opportunity for the whole OOH industry.
Audience questions at the research presentation on Friday focused on how this work could be linked to ROI and it sounds like it may well be. Apparently the OMC is set to take this up alongside its own ROI work for the sector.
