Using Internet Behavior to Deliver Relevant Television Commercials Essay Example

in different products. Cable companies like Comcast, which provide cable and broadband internet services, can leverage information on household internet usage and television viewing habits to enhance the effectiveness of their marketing communication.

The aim of this study is to investigate the intuition and complexities involved in applying it across different product categories, as suggested by consumer search literature (Richins and Bloch 1986). Our research is based on a conceptual framework that distinguishes between ad relevance and product involvement (Batra and Ray 1983). Specifically, we focus on high-involvement products that typically require consumers to engage in an ongoing search process (Bloch and Richins 1983) due to greater financial, social, or psychological risks associated with choosing the wrong brand compared to low-involvement products (Rossiter and Percy 1997).

Differences in internet shopping strategies for high- and low-involvement products have been identified (Moe 2003). These differences are influenced by the level of involvement and prior brand exposure, leading to four hypotheses regarding the impact of TV ad relevance on Web-browsing behavior. The paper concludes with a discussion of the methodology, results, and implications for future research. The conceptual framework emphasizes the relevance of advertising throughout the consumer search process, including before, during, and after purchase (Vakratsas and Ambler 1999).

According to Janiszewski (1998), consumer pre-purchase search can be divided into two phases: exploratory search and goal-directed search. During the exploratory phase, consumers start by searching for generic product information, such as hotels. However, as their interest grows, they shift towards seeking brand-specific information, like Hilton, and paying attention to advertisements from these brands (Rutz and Bucklin, 2011). In the classic AIDA model by St. Elmo

Lewis (Strong 1925), the exploratory search phase corresponds to the awareness stage, where consumers first become aware of their need for a product. They then proceed to explore different options within the category and gather information from various sources, including friends, media, and the Internet.

During the goal-directed search phase, consumers have a desired product or brand in mind and take action to purchase it. The relevance of ads for a particular product is highest during this phase. However, during exploratory search, ad relevance is lower. For consumers who are not aware of a specific product need, ad relevance is practically non-existent. Moe (2003) demonstrates the usefulness of matching ads to Web browsing behavior and highlights the complications associated with product involvement. According to Bloch and Richins (983), most products are low-involvement and only attract attention during the pre-purchase search process.

The search process for low-involvement products usually leads to a purchase, making the purchasing horizon immediate. On the other hand, high-involvement products carry risks that prompt consumers, especially product enthusiasts, to continue searching. This ongoing search is done either to keep their knowledge up-to-date or simply for enjoyment (Richins and Bloch 1986). High-involvement products include automobiles, computers, and fashion items. When seeking information about such products, it is possible that the search may not result in an immediate purchase but rather have a future purchasing horizon.

In Moe's (2003) study, a 2 matrix was utilized to establish four distinct Web browsing strategies employed by Internet shoppers. These strategies were based on two dimensions: ad relevance (exploratory vs. goal-directed search) and involvement (immediate vs. future purchasing). The real store's website that Moe

(2003) examined specialized in nutrition products like vitamins, and visitors to the site were categorized into these four strategies. For instance, shoppers interested in low-involvement products with an immediate purchasing horizon tend to adopt a hedonic browsing strategy during exploratory search, where the significance of advertising is relatively low.

In goal-directed search, the directed buying strategy is used and advertising is highly relevant. For high-involvement products with a future purchasing horizon, shoppers use the other two strategies. Shoppers using the exploratory knowledge building strategy may find advertising for high-involvement products relatively less relevant compared to those using the goal-directed search/deliberation strategy. Table 1 displays the average Web browsing time for these four strategies. The data indicates that a longer or shorter Web browsing time can indicate high ad relevance for low-involvement products.

Directed buyers spent over 36 minutes visiting the online store, while hedonic browsers only spent about seven minutes. However, the length of web browsing time may not necessarily indicate high ad relevance for high-involvement products. This is because customers spend nearly three times longer searching for high-involvement products compared to low-involvement products. Furthermore, data from Moe (2003) suggests that the opposite pattern of web browsing times indicates low ad relevance for high-involvement products.

In accordance with the theory that suggests an inverse-U relationship between product experience and search activity (Moorthy, Ratchford, and Talukdar 1997), shoppers who were building their knowledge (with low ad relevance) had the longest browsing times on the Web, with a duration of nearly two hours in one session. On the other hand, shoppers with a search/deliberation strategy (with high ad relevance) and extensive knowledge about the category

focused their search time on specific products or brands, resulting in relatively shorter browsing times, similar to those of directed buyers.