TV commercials with large brand logos in the center of the screen create "brand memory" even when viewers fast-forwarded though them using DVRs, say Boston College professors S. Adam Brasel and James Gips. They say viewers using DVRs watch the center of their screens extra-carefully during commercial breaks, probably because they don't want to miss their show's return. Reports Science Daily:
When a viewer hits fast forward, he or she only sees about 1 out of every 24 frames, reducing brand ID to a little less than a third of a second out of a 30-second spot, Brasel said. But the speed of the play-back removes visual cues and motion that attract attention to brand images that lay along the periphery of the TV screen. Instead, television watchers concentrate on the center of the screen.
Curious about how attention on the central image might impact consumer behavior, the researchers created a pair of mock commercials for two British chocolate bar brands. One was heavily branded, the other lightly branded. After the research subjects had viewed the content and were preparing the leave the lab, they were invited to choose one of the candy bars. Subjects chose the heavily branded bar twice as often as the lightly branded bar.
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