The influence of brand repetition and consumer product evaluations on attention to product catalog

on search engine result pages

David BrieugneSylvain Sénécal

Pierre-Majorique LégerMarc Fredette

AMS WMC July 2016

SEM accounts for almost half of online advertising (USA, 49%)

Source: IAB 2016

Research Question

• Do search engine shopping ad characteristics influence consumers’ attention and choice?

Relevant Literature

• 12%-30% of searches are product search related (Broder 2002, Rose and Levinson 2004; Spink and Jansen 2004)

• On SERP, sponsored links (SEM) are looked at, but organic results generate more attention and clicks (Lo et al. 2014; Philips et al. 2013; Kobylanski, 2012; Buscher, Dumais, and Cutrell 2010).

Relevant Literature

• Position on SERP• Some SEM strategies work better than others in terms of attention and ROI

(Ghose et Yang 2009; Jansen et al. 2007; Shrestha, Owens, and Chaparro 2009; Agarwal, Hosanagar, and Smith 2011; Gisbergen, 2007).

• Brand Repetition• On a SERP, a presence in both SEM and SEO results improves click probability (Blask et al. 2011;

Jansen and Mullen 2008; Danescu-Niculescu-Mizil et al. 2010).

• Attention and click on SERP• Time spent looking at SERP elements is correlated with click probability (Buscher et al. 2010;

Huang et al., 2011).

• Product Ratings• They do influence online behaviors (Duan et al. 2008, Chevalier and Mayzlin 2006, Dellarocas et al. 2007, Moe et

Trusov 2011).

Shopping Ad Characteristics

Position(top left or top right)

Brand Repetition (in organic results)

Presence of Ratings (of advertised brands)

Total Fixation Time on Shopping Ads

Click on Shopping Ads

H1

H3

H2 H4

Attention Choice

Method• 2 x 2 x 2 within-subject experimental design• Task: Search on Google using assigned keywords (40 searches)• Sample: 52 students

• IV: • Shopping ad position (top left or right); • Product reviews (presence or absence) and; • Brand presence in SERP organic results (presence or absence).

• DV: • Total fixation time on shopping ads (Tobii X60) and click

• Control: • Adword presence (presence of absence), sig. for H1 and H3.• Subjective knowledge (Flynn and Goldsmith 1999) about search engines, n.sig.

• Analysis: Linear Mixed Model (to account for repeated measures).

Step 1:

Enter assigned keywork (from the keyword list)

Repeated 40 times

Step2:

Click on the most interesting link

Position(top left or top right)

Brand Repetition (in organic results)

Presence of Ratings (of advertised brands)

Total Fixation Time on Shopping Ads

Click on Shopping Ads

H1 (1.09***)

H3 (-.32*)

H2 (.37**)

H4 (.63***)

*: p<0.1; **p<0.01; ***p<0.001

Shopping Ad Characteristics Attention

(mediator)Choice

Contribution

• Investigation of shopping ad characteristics on consumers’ attention and choice.

• Influence of • shopping ad position (above organic)• presence of consumers’ product ratings (+) on shopping ad attention.

Implications

• For merchants• Shopping ads are effective especially if they:

• Include consumers’ ratings

• For search engines• Shopping ad are more effective when

• Positioned above organic results• Accompanied by consumers’ reviews (importance of WOM)

Limitations and Research Avenues

• Lab setting;• Keywords assigned to participants;• Only investigated first click on SERP;• Participants were somewhat heavy Internet and search engine users.

Thank you!