The superstitial – a method of internet advertising – is as effective in terms of recall, communication and persuasion as a television ad, according to research from Harris Interactive.
The superstitial format was developed and is trademarked by online advertising solutions company Unicast. It is a pop-up that uses Flash and Java to create a video ad that is intended to be closer to television commercials than other web advertising. The ad loads in the background and only pops up when the user is about to leave the site with which it is associated.
Harris Interactive’s survey claims that superstitial ads communicate ‘copy points’ just as well as television advertising and are also on a par with TV regarding purchase intent. The study gauged participants’ responses to superstitials and television ads in three major advertising categories – automotive, food and beverage and telecommunications.
The report says that not only can the two major advertising vehicles be accurately measured utilising the same, traditional metrics, but that cohesive integrated campaigns including both television and superstitial components will boost the campaign’s effective in key the areas that traditional advertisers are most interested in.
Two thirds of respondents agreed that superstitial ads are more like TV ads than other web advertising; 62% agreed that they remind them of commercials they’ve seen on TV. Overall, brand recall was similar across both formats – superstitials had an 81% brand recall, TV 93%. Regardless of ad type exposed, levels generated for future intent to use, buy and consider were extremely similar by brand for both superstitial ads and television commercials, says the report.
Almost 2000 people took part in the study and were asked specific questions concerning brand recall, purchase intent, likeability of the ads and key message communication. The month-long research project was conducted entirely online.
“This is a watershed study for the internet advertising industry. It demonstrates conclusively that advertisers can communicate and persuade as effectively on the internet as they can on television, said Dick Hopple, chairman and CEO of Unicast.
