The New Era of Advertising: Consumers’ Interaction and Participation

Advertising used to be heavily controlled by marketers. The role of a consumer in advertising realm is merely a passive viewer. Thanks to the developments of media technology, consumers start to obtain powers in controlling ad viewing and shaping ad appearance through diverse advertising forms. Such powers obtained by consumers represent the coming of a new era of advertising, in which consumers’ interaction and participation are largely relied on. It is ads’ interactivity that empowers consumers’ interaction and participation. Through it, consumers get decision-making power in the ad consumption process. This thesis paper aims to discuss how consumers’ interaction and participation in ad consumption process impact the players in advertising value constellation. The ads which support consumers’ interaction and participation are called “interactive / participatory” ones in this thesis paper. To delimit interactive / participatory ads, the concept of opt-in advertising is brought up. Opt-in advertising empowers consumers to make decisions about ad consumption before, instead of after, they are exposed to ads. In sharp contrast to marketers’ absolute dominance, opt-in advertising underlines consumers’ initiatives in determining what ads to consume and how to consume them. Relying on the interactivity dimension model, five cases are selected to study the impacts of consumers’ interaction and participation in specific forms of interactive / participatory ads. They are ASq system, The Johnny Cash Project, Google Chrome Fastball, M&M Find Red, and Coca Cola Happiness Factory. On the basis of the case studies, a more general discussion about the impacts of consumers’ interaction and participation on advertising value constellation players is taken. Further, an evaluation criterion is put forward, which centers on ads’ customization availability for consumers. It is expected to be able to act as a guideline for marketers to produce interactive / participatory ads. The potential developments of interactive / participatory ads in near future are discussed as well, which are expected to be inspiring for the players in advertising value constellation. Den Nya Eran av Marknadsföring: Konsumentinteraktion och Konsumentdelaktighet