Contextual Ads Reach Target Markets - Part 5

Advertisements are a necessary component of the internet, as they provide websites with the revenue needed to operate. Still, most users are only concerned with the quality of their online experience and thus do not appreciate pop-up advertisements parading in front of them. With all of the options that the internet provides, users are able to customize their own internet experience. Uses and Gratifications Theory states that consumers actively choose specific media to satisfy their needs (West & Turner, 2007). An individualist mentality has emerged, and thus people are able to tailor their own internet experience. As a result, internet users have become intolerant of any generic content without direct relevance to their own interests.

Fortunately, a recent innovation in the new media environment provides the crucial link between satisfying both the needs of the consumer and the advertiser. Contextual advertisements use special software to analyze the text of web pages and provide the most appropriate sponsored advertisements available. This method of advertising benefits the advertisers because they are interested in reaching consumers with the greatest potential of becoming actual customers. Consumers benefit as well because they are interested in obtaining information that is relevant to them. Contextual advertisements enable consumers to further customizer their internet experience, as they will only encounter advertisements that are related to them. For example, Gmail now has a contextual advertisement system which generates advertisements on the side of the e-mail depending on what a user is writing about in the e-mail. If an individual were to write an e-mail about volcanoes, advertisements about vacation hot spots in Hawaii would come up at the side of the page.

Contextual advertisements invite the central route of processing, as it encourages users to engage in high involvement with the message. High involvement messages with greater personal relevance will have more influence than low involvement messages with no personal relevance (Petty, Cacioppo, & Schumann, 1983) (http://web.ebscohost.com/ehost/pdf?vid=2&hid=105&sid=01ba2c4c-fc80-46aa-a8d5-357e2058be70%40sessionmgr106). People are motivated to devote more cognitive resources under conditions of high involvement, suggesting that people will use the central route of processing to digest the advertised information. Also, the perceived intrusiveness may be lessened for advertisements that are considered valuable and relevant (Edwards, Li & Lee, 2002)(http://web.ebscohost.com/ehost/pdf?vid=2&hid=106&sid=a6a4da59-ce84-4da8-bfe3-3b4004313d91%40sessionmgr103). When encountered with online advertising, users may evaluate the degree of congruity between the advertisement content and the editorial content. If the advertisement content and the editorial content are congruent, the user may perceivable this as valuable to their internet experience instead of as detrimental. All of these factors increase the likelihood that a user will engage in the central route of processing for a contextual advertisement. This significantly increases the likelihood of any given advertisement having a measurable effect on consumer attitudes and behaviors.