Interactive Television Advertising: A Research Agenda

Digital television and digital video recorders (DVRs) open up new possibilities for interactive television (iTV) advertising. Little is known about whether iTV advertising will be more effective than traditional linear TV advertising and what iTV ad models are more effective than others. This paper summarises the few studies that have been published so far. However, the main contribution of this paper is the development of a conceptual framework for advancing research in this emerging area. The conceptual framework is based on the five elements in a basic model of how iTV ads are processed: (1) viewer characteristics, (2) iTV ad content factors, (3) situational influences on viewing, (4) the sequential steps by which iTV ads are processed, and (5) the communication effects or impacts that result from viewing iTV ads. From these five elements we derive five research questions, and the totality of these questions forms, we believe, a rich and varied research agenda that we hope will act as a launching pad and a guide for future research.