Mobile advertising is one of the fastest-growing advertising formats. In
2013, global spending on mobile advertising was approximately $16.7
billion, and it is expected to exceed $62.8 billion by 2017. The most
prevalent type of mobile advertising is mobile display advertising
(MDA), which takes the form of banners on mobile web pages and in mobile
applications. This article examines which product characteristics are
likely to be associated with MDA campaigns that are effective in
increasing consumers' (1) favorable attitudes toward products and (2)
purchase intentions. Data from a large-scale test-control field
experiment covering 54 U.S. MDA campaigns that ran between 2007 and 2010
and involved 39,946 consumers show that MDA campaigns significantly
increased consumers' favorable attitudes and purchase intentions only
when the campaigns advertised products that were higher (vs. lower)
involvement and utilitarian (vs. hedonic). The authors explain this
finding using established theories of information processing and
persuasion and suggest that when MDAs work effectively, they do so by
triggering consumers to recall and process previously stored product
information. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]