New Global Research Reveals Dynamics of Consumer Attention in Slower-Scroll, Highly Immersive Environments

Amid a fragmented media ecosystem and ongoing identity deprecation, advertisers are turning to attention as a metric to better understand media quality and optimize campaign performance.

“The sweet spot is in combining the right formats in the right environment and context relevant to each audience. With this research, we’re understanding more about consumers as behavior evolves, and are able to deliver more engaging experiences.”

To that end, Omnicom Media Group agency OMD Worldwide, Yahoo and leading attention researchers Amplified Intelligence, today released a landmark study, Attention in Context, that explores the dynamics of slower-scroll, highly immersive environments for driving attention in mobile advertising. Encompassing more than 128,000 ads served to 4,400 respondents in four countries (US, Canada, US, Australia), Attention in Context is one of the largest mobile-web attention study conducted to-date.

Amplified Intelligence founder and CEO Karen Nelson-Field said, “This work adds to the growing body of evidence showing that – contrary to industry attempts to wrap it up in a neat package like a CPM — attention is neither a commodity nor a currency. Rather, it’s a highly nuanced metric that enables more effective creative, planning and buying strategies, and decisions.”

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For the study, which was conducted across Yahoo’s premium digital properties, all respondents were recruited and volunteered to participate, providing access to highly accurate, granular and permission-based insights. Amplified Intelligence’s attentionTRACE mobile app collected data using facial footage from phone cameras and metadata on viewability, scroll patterns, sound and phone orientation. Altogether, responses to 128,000 mobile web advertisements were categorized into three levels of attention: active (eyes on the ad, most likely to deliver a positive impact), passive (eyes on screen, not on ad) and non- (eyes not on screen or ad).

“This study shows just how nuanced consumer attention really is,” said Elizabeth Herbst-Brady, Head of Global Revenue & Client Solutions at Yahoo. “The sweet spot is in combining the right formats in the right environment and context relevant to each audience. With this research, we’re understanding more about consumers as behavior evolves, and are able to deliver more engaging experiences.”