University of Aix Marseille III
France

Factors Affecting Click-through Rate 

A research paper from the University of Aix Marseille III in France describes the different factors that can improve the click-through rate of online advertising. The paper describes the positive contribution of targeted ads, increased picture size and the use of attractive image ads in a page.

Summary 

According to the research paper, Internet users are more attentive to targeted advertisements generated from a thematic or keyword search because of its affinity with their subject of interest. Users are more inclined to seek additional information about the product shown on the targeted picture ad. "They should click more often than the not implied Internet users, like those exposed randomly to a banner displayed in general rotation or to a banner displayed in the Home page of the site. This supposition was generally validated either by professionals or academic studies."

The paper further describes the effect of advertisement size on advertising effectiveness. "Researchers show that size improves memorization. Since large banners occupy more screen, they have more chances of to get attention and then to be seen and remembered. Studies on print advertising confirmed that."

It is noted in the research paper, in particular, that the use of animation (media-rich) in advertisements increases click-through rates because it attracts the users attention. "Other authors found significant effects of animation on the click-through rate (Onnein-Bonnefoy 1998) or the intention to click (Cho 1999)."

The paper also describes how click-through rate can be improved by complementing text with images. "Finn found significant and positive relations on comprehension in 3 cases out of 5 and on memorization in 8 cases out of 12. This better memorization relies on the fact that graphic information generates more mental codes than verbal information. Schweiger and Hruschka show, in a business to business context, that the number of calls resulting from persons who saw the advertisement increases when the proportion of the text with regard to the image decreases. Image can be an element of vividness of the message. This vividness should increase its efficiency. More over the vividness, according to the model ELM, should act positively by the peripheral road, that is to say in the case of weak motivation of process."