ISSN: 2319-7285
Diya Anna John and Dr. Anuradha Sathiyaseelan
The internet has become an important advertising medium for advertisers and publishers alike. However, declining click-through rates have led these professionals to question the effectiveness of webpage advertisements. Nevertheless, research shows that unclicked banner ads can also be effective, and so click-through rates may not be the best measure of effectiveness. Memory is one measure that could help in studying the effectiveness of banner ads beyond click-through. This study aimed to find if the position of webpage banner ads affects the implicit and explicit memory of brands. Its objective was also to examine whether there is a difference in explicit and implicit memory for each position of the ad presented. There were 4 groups in a random groups design. Participants in each group were shown slides consisting of webpages with one ad on each webpage, in one of four positions. Participants were instructed to read the article on the slides. An implicit memory word-stem completion task and a recognition (explicit memory) task were then administered. Statistical analysis showed that the top position of ads was most effective, and the right position was least effective in terms of explicit memory, but no significant difference was observed in terms of implicit memory. Explicit memory was significantly higher than implicit memory for each position. Implications and suggestions for further research are discussed.