The influence of banner position and user experience on recall. The mediating role of visual attention

Abstract

Purpose: This study aims to analyse the effectiveness of a static promotional banner located on a hotel reservation website in terms of capturing the visitor’s visual attention by exploring how this impact depends on the user’s degree of internet experience. Design/methodology/approach: An experiment was conducted using the eye-tracking methodology, in addition to a self-administered questionnaire. Through eye-tracking technology, eye movements were recorded whilst participants explored a generic hotel website. The factors used in the analyses were the position of the banner on the website and participants’ experience as internet users. Findings: The findings showed that positioning a banner at certain locations on the webpage may lead to a better recall, which, in part, seems to result from the visual attention that such locations attract. The mediation analysis showed that the bottom-right and bottom-left positions have a negative effect on banner recall due, in part, to the shorter attention times and the smaller number of fixations those positions induce. Although the visitor’s level of internet experience affected his/her visual attention towards the banner, its impact on banner recall was non-significant. Results are discussed considering which variables produce greater effectiveness in capturing the user’s attention. Practical implications: The paper draws several implications for the marketing literature, hospitality management and society in general. Originality/value: The study is the first to analyse the impact of the position of a static ad on users’ visual attention and memory, considering the user’s degree of internet experience.