Readers Like Ads On The iPad More Than Its Print Versions

Dave Dickson from Adobe Digital Publishing blog published the results from another interesting survey that studied people's perception of different ads.

The research paper is entitled "Digital Ad Engagement: Perceived Interactivity as a Driver of Advertising Effectiveness" and was conducted by Alex Wang, Ph. D. at the University of Connecticut.

So the research conducted a survey of different people between ages 18 and 32, who were asked to view print and iPad versions of various advertisements found in one of the latest issues of popular digital magazine. Then they were asked to rank their perceived engagement, interactivity, attitude towards the ads, message involvement and purchase intent.

"The result is a new brand advertising paradigm where advertisers can engage customers 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".

Every ad was ranked from a score of 1 to 9 in each category. It was found the interactive ads generate purchase intent significantly better than its static counterparts.

"By using interactivity such as motion graphics, sound, slideshows and animation, advertisers can engage readers and create favorable attitudes toward their brands.  [...] Once engaged, readers are then more likely to interact with the ad, resulting in a higher probability that they will purchase the product or service being promoted."

Though the interactive ads on the iPad seem to be more effective, it was found that recent sales of digital magazines have decreased in comparison to earlier sales. For instance, Wired magazine sold 100,000 copies of its first issue in May, but in October and November people bought only 22,000 and 23,000 of it copies respectively.

Publishers say they wait when Apple will introduce recurring subscriptions for iPad versions of magazine, but now they are required to implement a pay-per-issue approach which is believed to hurt sales.

Besides that, Apple has its own advertising platform dubbed iAd, which could offer only one ad on its launch but is expected to expand significantly in 2011.