Monday, January 24, 2011 by Adrian

We've said a lot about the new opportunities that digital magazines could offer but we often have people ask us how advertising might work within such a product.  Today, Adobe has reported on a new study that has been released that finds interactive advertising in digital magazines can more effectively engage readers and create stronger purchase intention than similar static ads in print.  The result is a new brand advertising paradigm where advertisers can engage consumers with a brand in the immersive context of a digital magazine - in contrast to the interruptive, templatized, and commoditized nature of current digital display ad inventory.

Titled "Digital Ad Engagement: Perceived Interactivity as a Driver of Advertising Effectiveness," (PDF - 260KB) and conducted by Alex Wang, Ph.D. (Univ. of Connecticut) the study exposed participants ages 18 to 32 to print or iPad versions of advertisements featured in a past issue of a digital magazine. It then surveyed them to measure perceived interactivity, perceived engagement, message involvement, attitude towards the ads, and purchase intent, and compared the results.  Overall, the research discovered that readers are more likely to engage with interactive than static ads, as well as have a more favorable attitude to the ad and greater purchase intent.

The immersive advertising experience represents a new paradigm for brand advertisers.  Because users are immersed in the digital magazine experience, they view the ad much in the same manner they would if they were flipping through the print pages of a magazine; the ad essentially becomes part of the content itself.  Contrast this with current digital advertising inventory-undifferentiated ad space that increasingly interrupts the reading experience (sound like page takeover ads?).

For the complete story visit Adobe blogs here

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