The instruments gauged changes in heart rate and sweat glands elicited by banner ads. At the University of Wales in the United Kingdom, professors showed people ads sandwiched between flashed images of saucer-eyed puppies and hairy spiders. The idea was to see if ad perception is influenced by the material that surrounds it. All three experiments are part of a broad effort, largely independent of the advertising business, to figure out how Internet ads are perceived and can be made more effective. We're getting this view into people's heads that they cannot even express themselves.
Results surprising Some things researchers found are surprising, and many findings conflict.
For example, research at Rice suggested that many Internet surfers largely disregard banner ads. Some more recent studies at least partially back that conclusion. At Indiana, researchers expected computer users to respond to banner ads much as people do to television ads with minute changes in heart rate that indicate mental stimulus. Instead, students tested last year showed no response when static banner ads appeared on a screen of type. It was only when animated ads appeared that the electrodes registered a response.