• by Jack Loechner , Staff Writer @mp_research, February 2, 2011

Digital formats allow readers to interact with and navigate through magazine content, while publishers retain the design fidelity of a print magazine and add the interactivity dimension that captivates reader attention and creates a more engaging experience.

Advertisers can enhance the engagement of their advertisements because of this digital solution, says Alex Wang, PhD, in a study sponsored by Adobe. Participants viewed either a static print version, or interactive iPad version, of Wired magazine and responded to questions about the ads they had seen. Advertisements in both editions came from the same brands and had similar creative.

A similar study by Universal McCann and Time Inc. found in September 2010 that high percentages of iPad owners reported paying more attention to magazine advertisements on their device if they took advantage of the opportunity to use striking photos, bright visuals and interactivity, reports EMarketer.

The Wang study examines the following research questions:

• Can interactive ads in a digital magazine generate stronger engagement, message involvement, attitude, and overall brand awareness than static ads in a print magazine
• Can higher interactivity initiated by an interactive ad generate stronger brand recall, engagement, message involvement, attitude, and purchase intention than a static ad
• What are the relations among interactivity, engagement, message involvement, attitude, and purchase intention

The report concludes that interactive ads tend to generate stronger engagement, message involvement, and attitude toward the advertisements than static ads in general. The results based on testing the specific advertisement also show that the interactive ad tends to generate stronger engagement, message involvement, attitude toward the ad, and purchase intention than the static advertisement. Participants rated these variables using a 9-point scale (9 being the strongest); the results are shown below.

In examining the relations among all the variables, engagement transfers the interactivity effect into stronger message involvement. Consequently, attitude toward the ad transfers the message involvement effect into stronger purchase intention.

Ad Effectiveness Index (Mean Rating; Print Vs. Digital Magazine Ads; 9 = Highest Rating)
	Overall Ads		Specific Ad
	Static Ads (Print)	Interactive Ads (iPad)	Static Ads (Print)	Interactive Ads (iPad)
Perceived interactivity	6.03	7.38	3.96	6.81
Perceived engagement	5.38	6.67	4.16	6.67
Message involvement	5.36	6.36	5.07	6.45
Attitude toward the ad	5.50	6.63	3.75	6.36
Purchase intention	-	-	2.50	3.98
Source: UConn, Stamford, A. Wang, January 2011

Generation Y consumers represent an important segment of the consumer market because they are early adopters of digital technologies and extensive users of the Internet and digital media, notes the report. The study population included people who were familiar and not familiar with using iPad and between 18-32 years old.

The study sample included:

• 45% male participants
• 55% female participants
• Average age of 22 years
• 72% of them made less than $25,000
• 14% of them made more than $50,000
• 76% of them had at least some college education
• 45% of them were Caucasian
• 26% of them were Hispanic
• 14% of them were African American
• 5% of them were Asian

Overall, the report presents these conclusions and results:

• Realistic Exposure (browsing the magazine)
• The participants in the interactive ad condition had stronger engagement, message involvement and attitude than the participants in the static ad condition
• The participants in the interactive ad condition also perceived stronger interactivity than the participants in the static ad condition
• Higher ad interactivity could generate higher brand awareness

Forced Exposure (reviewing a specific advertisement):

• The participants in the interactive ad condition had stronger engagement, message involvement, attitude, and purchase intention than the participants in the static ad condition
• The participants in the interactive ad condition perceived stronger interactivity than the participants in the static ad condition
• The participants in the interactive ad condition were unlikely to recall the brand more than the participants in the static ad condition

For more information about the study can be found in the PDF file accessed in this search result.