World Wide Web banner advertisement copy testing

Abstract

Explores one of the many exciting advertising research possibilities spawned by the Web, namely the efficacy of banner advertisements designed to lure the browser to an external Web page. Traditional advertising research usually relies on self‐report or memory. With Web advertisement banners, on the other hand, we can track actual behavior. In our pilot study, we demonstrate conclusively that click‐through rate, the percentage of visitors to a Web page clicking on an advertisement banner, can vary according to the advertisement copy. We also find that the imperative call for behavior, “Click here”, has a positive effect. These findings, using a new research method with a new medium, open the door to further advertising and communication research on Web advertisement banners.

Citation

Hofacker, C.F. and Murphy, J. (1998), "World Wide Web banner advertisement copy testing", European Journal of Marketing, Vol. 32 No. 7/8, pp. 703-712. https://doi.org/10.1108/03090569810224092