How Biometrics Can Capture Attention to TV Ads

Member Only Access

Summary

What’s the best way to measure attention to TV ads when specific creative devices, like animals and voiceover, are used? In this study, three key biometrics measures—eye movements, sweating, and heart rate—responded differently to attention-getting tactics and to levels of consumer attention. Heart rate uniquely helped identify ineffective ads, but for the most accurate reading on attention, multiple measures may be necessary. Specifically, the authors found:

Biometric devices that record eye movements, sweating, and heartbeat are associated with measuring arousal, which is a necessary step in aiding the assessment of advertising effectiveness.
Advertisers should use all three biometric measures to get the most accurate read on effectiveness.
But if time and cost pressures required prioritizing one measure over others, the results suggest heart rate as the best single option.
Heart rate provides “clear diagnostic evidence of the attention-getting creative devices that failed to get attention, which in part can explain reduced sales performance.”

Using a single measure can be risky, the authors cautioned. Viewers might be paying (or withdrawing) attention to a particular creative device “that is not detected by the specific measure in use.”

At the Ehrenberg-Bass Institute for Marketing Science, University of South Australia:

Steven Bellman (Bellman@marketingscience.info), research professor, specializes in media and advertising responses. His research is funded by the Beyond :30 project, whose sponsors include television networks and advertisers worldwide.
Magda Nenycz-Thiel (magda@marketingscience.info), research professor, focuses on category and industry growth, e-commerce, and neuromarketing.
Rachel Kennedy (rachel.kennedy@marketingscience.info) is a professor, director, and one of the founders of the institute. Her research is focused on advertising and media knowledge to help grow brands.
Nicole Hartnett (Nicole.Hartnett@marketingscience.info) is a senior marketing scientist whose areas of research revolve around advertising creativity, effectiveness, and management.

Coauthor Duane Varan (varan@mediasciencelabs.com) is the chief executive officer of MediaScience in Austin, TX, and he oversees Beyond :30, a collaborative industry project exploring the changing media landscape.