Report reveals effectiveness of interactive elements in boosting consumer choice in mobile advertising

A new report launched by Digital Turbine, in collaboration with research from Bayes Business School (formerly Cass), King’s Business School and Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, has revealed the extent to which three key interactive elements in mobile video advertising influence brand choice.

Advergames are becoming an increasingly popular content marketing phenomenon, with consumers being given the power to “choose their adventure” within a mobile advert to locate, feel and immerse themselves into a product.

Dr. Yusuf Oç, Senior Lecturer in Marketing at Bayes, along with Professor Kirk Plangger and Dr. Stefan Bernritter, King’s College, London, and Professor Francesca Sotgiu, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, provided foundational analysis for the report “Interactivity in Mobile Video Advertising Report”—a study analyzing 250 mobile advertising campaigns within a mobile game app, engaging almost 270,000 consumers.

Key findings from the report show:

• Three primary types of interactivity contribute to consumer choice of a brand through mobile advertising: Browse, Sample, and Play.
• Integrating brands into game environments and allowing consumers to view products by playing increases brand choice by 36.6% on average—making it the most influential interactive element in swaying consumer brand choice. This method is particularly impactful in entertainment (45.8%), technology (24.2%) and retail (19.9%).
• Allowing mobile users to browse by looking through hotspots or picture galleries increases brand choice by 31.5% on average, with particularly strong effects in technology (79.8%), retail (61.1%) and entertainment (35.1%) sectors.
• Providing visual and virtual effects to mimic in-store interactions allows consumers to sample a product. This method of mobile advertising increases brand choice by 29.6% on average, with the highest success rate in fast-food restaurants (56.8%),consumer packaged goods (26.9%) and automotives (25.5%).

The study used a sample of 270,000 consumers from 24 countries across Europe, the Middle East, Africa and Latin America. Of this sample,156,000 were provided with a mobile advert featuring browse, sample, or play interactive elements, with the remaining 114,000 not viewing the advert as a control group.

Nielsen Research Company survey data following the advert then asked consumers to select which brand they would consider purchasing next. The brand choice lift was then calculated using the differences expressed between each respective group.

Dr. Yusuf Oç said, “Capturing and maintaining attention from consumers is critical to the success of mobile advertising.

“As consumers we are exposed to so many advertisements each day that it is impossible to remember many of them at all. In-app mobile ads cleverly integrate brand messaging into a game or interactive experience, meaning they can bypass filters more effectively and successively—therefore building into the longer-term memory of key target audiences.”

Greg Wester, senior vice president, Digital Turbine, said, “The future of video advertising lies in the hands of consumers, and interactivity gives them the power to engage with brands in meaningful and memorable ways.

“Whether through adrenaline-packed playing, visually powerful sampling, or immersive browsing, interactivity allows brands to strengthen relationships with consumers. In particular, mobile gaming, where players are already attuned to active engagement, offers a unique platform for brands to connect with their audiences on a deeper level.”