The effective use of augmented reality in advertising communications Garnet Cluny Henry Jensen 12360636 A research project submitted to the Gordon Institute of Business Science, University of Pretoria, in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Business Administration. 11 November 2013 © 2014 University of Pretoria. All rights reserved. The copyright in this work vests in the University of Pretoria. Declaration I declare that this research project is my own work. It is submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Business Administration at the Gordon Institute of Business Science, University of Pretoria. It has not been submitted before for any degree or examination in any other University. I further declare that I have obtained the necessary authorisation and consent to carry out this research Name: Garnet Cluny Henry Jensen Signature: Date: 11 November 2013 © 2014 University of Pretoria. All rights reserved. The copyright in this work vests in the University of Pretoria. The Effective Use of Augmented Reality in Advertising Communications (Source: www.istockphoto.com) © 2014 University of Pretoria. All rights reserved. The copyright in this work vests in the University of Pretoria. Abstract Augmented Reality is a relatively new advertising medium, which up until now has only seen limited commercial success. The applications and value thereof, as an effective marketing communications tool has not been understood or quantified in the context of an industry which is currently going through profound changes. To this end, this research attempts to answer some of the critical questions facing practitioners and academics within this field. Using audience engagement as a measure of efficacy, independent test groups were subject to various types of Augmented Reality as well as more traditional, media advertisements. Through the experiments, the impacts of contextual relevance, media integration and message style on Augmented Reality advertising, were tested. The findings strongly support contextual relevance as a key characteristic for a successful Augmented Reality advertising implementation. In addition, it was found that this medium also had a significant impact on the audience’s visual and emotive levels of engagement with the subject matter. It was also found through the testing and analysis that the most receptive population group for Augmented Reality advertising are young female Millennials. Keywords Augmented; Reality; Advertising Acknowledgements This research would no doubt have not been possible without the support and inspiration of first and foremost, my wife, Danielle. I would also like to thank “my boys”; Giovanni and Luca for their patience, affection and inspiration over this time. In addition, without the help of Granny Lizzy and Granny Mizzo, Nonno and Grumps, the focus required for this herculean effort would not have been possible. And last but not least, to Dr. Clive Corder for his helpful input, direction and interesting recollections. © 2014 University of Pretoria. All rights reserved. The copyright in this work vests in the University of Pretoria. Contents 1 Problem Definition .......................................................................................................................... 1 1.1 Emergence and Challenges of Augmented Reality ................................................................. 1 1.2 The Media Revolution ............................................................................................................. 2 1.3 The Audience Revolution ........................................................................................................ 3 1.4 Objectives and Scope .............................................................................................................. 4 2 Literature Review ............................................................................................................................ 5 2.1 Defining Augmented Reality ................................................................................................... 5 2.2 Augmented Reality Systems Analysis ..................................................................................... 6 2.3 Augmented Reality in Practice .............................................................................................. 10 2.4 Evolution of Media ................................................................................................................ 13 2.5 Media Engagement ............................................................................................................... 19 2.6 The Audience -Advertising Transaction ................................................................................ 21 2.6.1 Maximising the Reward ................................................................................................ 24 2.6.2 Minimising the Effort .................................................................................................... 25 2.7 In Summary ........................................................................................................................... 25 3 Research Hypothesis ..................................................................................................................... 27 4 Research Methodology ................................................................................................................. 28 4.1 Research Approach ............................................................................................................... 28 4.2 Research Design .................................................................................................................... 28 4.3 Design Rationalisation........................................................................................................... 29 4.4 Experiment Execution ........................................................................................................... 30 4.4.1 Population and Sampling .............................................................................................. 30 4.4.2 General Experimental Design ........................................................................................ 31 4.4.3 Experimental Variables ................................................................................................. 34 4.4.4 Experimental Measurement ......................................................................................... 35 4.5 Detailed Experimental Design ............................................................................................... 37 4.5.1 Informative Web ........................................................................................................... 37 4.5.2 Informative AR .............................................................................................................. 38 4.5.3 Contextual AR................................................................................................................ 39 4.5.4 Emotive Video ............................................................................................................... 40 4.5.5 Emotive AR .................................................................................................................... 41 4.5.6 Integrated Video & AR .................................................................................................. 42 © 2014 University of Pretoria. All rights reserved. The copyright in this work vests in the University of Pretoria. 4.6 Limitations............................................................................................................................. 43 5 Results ........................................................................................................................................... 44 5.1 Terminology .......................................................................................................................... 44 5.2 Results Overview ................................................................................................................... 44 5.3 Approach and Processing ...................................................................................................... 45 5.4 Descriptive Analysis: Normalised Overall Engagement ........................................................ 46 5.5 Descriptive Analysis: Cognitive Visual Engagement .............................................................. 49 5.6 Descriptive Analysis: Cognitive Informational Engagement ................................................. 52 5.7 Descriptive Analysis: Emotive Engagement .......................................................................... 54 5.8 Hypothesis Testing: Contextual Relevance ........................................................................... 57 5.8.1 AR and CAR Analysis ...................................................................................................... 57 5.9 Hypothesis Testing: Level of Integration .............................................................................. 58 5.9.1 AR and VAR Analysis ..................................................................................................... 58 5.9.2 VAR and Video Analysis ................................................................................................. 59 5.10 Hypothesis Testing: Message Style ....................................................................................... 60 5.10.1 AR and Web Analysis ..................................................................................................... 60 5.10.2 AR and EAR Analysis ...................................................................................................... 61 5.10.3 EAR and Video Analysis ................................................................................................. 62 5.10.4 Video and Web Analysis ................................................................................................ 63 6 Results Discussion ......................................................................................................................... 65 6.1 Contextual Relevance ........................................................................................................... 65 6.2 Level of Integration ............................................................................................................... 67 6.3 Message Style ....................................................................................................................... 69 6.4 Engagement Overview .......................................................................................................... 71 6.5 Demographic Results ............................................................................................................ 73 7 Conclusion ..................................................................................................................................... 75 7.1 Results and Literature Review .............................................................................................. 75 7.2 Summary of Findings ............................................................................................................. 79 7.3 Areas of Further Research .................................................................................................... 80 8 References .................................................................................................................................... 81 9 Figure Listing ................................................................................................................................. 87 10 Table Listing .............................................................................................................................. 88 11 Appendices ................................................................................................................................ 90 © 2014 University of Pretoria. All rights reserved. The copyright in this work vests in the University of Pretoria. 11.1 Appendix: Pre-Test Questionnaire ........................................................................................ 90 11.2 Appendix: Post-Test Questionnaire ...................................................................................... 94 11.3 Appendix: Hyundai Consent Form ........................................................................................ 98 © 2014 University of Pretoria. All rights reserved. The copyright in this work vests in the University of Pretoria. P age | 1 1 Problem Definition The advertising industry is currently in a state of flux, experiencing a period of unprecedented change and challenge to its methods, business models and industry structures; primarily as a result of the advent of new media (Pfeiffer & Zinnbauer, 2010). To exasperate this situation, analysts forecast that Augmented Reality (abbreviated as "AR" henceforth) will become a major disruptive technology and media type for marketers (Fenn, 2010), maturing to mainstream commercialisation within 5 years and generating revenues in the billions of dollars (Reuters, 2012). Some also believe that AR's impact will not be incremental in nature but herald a significant evolutionary step for advertising media (Trend One, 2010). Augmented reality should therefore be a serious strategic consideration for advertising professionals and academia. It is thus the purpose of this thesis to attempt to understand and quantify effective adoption and implementation of this technology in the context of advertising communications. Three key trends are relevant to gain a greater understanding of the subject under discussion. 1. The emergence and challenges of AR as a commercially viable advertising media; 2. The increasingly fragmented and complex marketing media landscape; and 3. The growing trend of advertising audience fragmentation and behavioural shifts 1.1 Emergence and Challenges of Augmented Reality Augmented reality has been around for a number of years, but until recently, has primarily been the domain of university labs and high technology military applications (Geroimenko, 2012). However, the advent and growing popularity of the smart phone has progressed this technology in terms of access, cost, operation and quality of experience, to the point of commercial viability (Jones, 2010). Amongst its numerous possible uses, advertising has been identified as a key application (Nguyen, 2011). Some have foreseen it to be a significant evolutionary step in advertising media (Trend One, 2010), which is expected to play a defining role in the future of marketing communications where the audience’s real world environment is seamlessly integrated with digital content and advertising (Sarner, Gassman, & Frank, 2012). As a result, AR's potential has not gone unnoticed, with major industry, and technology organisations investing significant research and development into the development of devices and related systems (Sarner et al.,, 2012). The much hyped and imminent commercial release of Google's Glass product, being a AR enabled eyewear device, is surely set to accelerate the mainstream adoption and commercialisation of Augmented Reality (Riknas, 2012). © 2014 University of Pretoria. All rights reserved. The copyright in this work vests in the University of Pretoria. P age | 2 However, the last five years have only seen a handful of organisations adopting AR and integrating it as a media component within their marketing campaigns. These early adoptions have had limited reach and appeal, and have met with varying degrees of success, but more often with failure. As a result the advertising industry, for the most part, remains sceptical about the technology and its applications (Szymczyk, 2011). AR therefore still represents a niche, and to some degree, an experimental advertising format. The considerations and factors which equate to a successful implementation therefore remain largely undefined by industry and academia (Bulearca & Tamarjan, 2010). 1.2 The Media Revolution Recent years have seen an acceleration of media platform fragmentation and proliferation within the advertising industry (Wyner, 2006). The array of channels available to advertising professionals in deciding their marketing mix, has exponentially grown from primarily being print based at the turn of the 20th century, to a multitude of content rich and diverse mediums. While the previous century was dominated by mass media, such as radio, cinema and television, the turn of the century heralded the rise of highly interactive online channels such as web, mobile and social media (Noll, 2007). With each passing year, new media has seen significant growth in market share relative to their traditional counterparts. For example, in , online based advertising growth has exceeded that of any other advertising media since 2005, and almost consistently in double digits. Today, it comes a close second to broadcast television in advertising revenues (Price Waterhouse Coopers, 2013). However, this rapid rise and conquest of new media has by no means relegated traditional media platforms, such as print, television and radio, as inconsequential. In fact, without these, the efficacy of new media is substantially diminished, lost in the sea of information and communication (Jenkins, 2006). This new "media ecosystem" (Dovey, 2008) is thus driving the need for marketers to increasingly consider the mix, coordination and integration of their communications (Calder & Malthouse, 2005). In support of this, it is widely noted that a successful campaign is driven by a multitude of communications channels, both traditional and new. A skilled marketer will understand the value of well coordinated communications across multiple channels with consumer context and timing as key considerations (Pfeiffer et al., 2010). © 2014 University of Pretoria. All rights reserved. The copyright in this work vests in the University of Pretoria. P age | 3 1.3 The Audience Revolution The advent and rise of new media has also lead to traditional types commanding smaller audiences and fewer resources (Kotler & Keller, 2012). It has heralded a paradigm change within the advertising and media related industries, such as print and television, from a "Mass Media" focus to "Masses of Media" (McPartlin, 2011), and challenged a number of fundamental assumptions of well established industries and profitable business models. No longer can marketers use blunt, persuasive and unidirectional or "one-to-many" communication practices, but now have to create channels that are engaging, integrated and which build customer relationships through ongoing interaction. This is essentially the rise of the "many-to-many" communications paradigm within marketing (Hoffman & Novak, 2006). Further to this, the power balance in managing brand image and perception has swung largely in favour of the consumer, with online social networks amplifying word-of-mouth communications, and substantially limiting organisations’ control. The power and increased importance of the individual in this new communication paradigm is also manifest in the concept of co-creation, in which individuals participate with organisations to design and implement marketing communications, creating shared value and greater consumer buy-in (Kozinets, de Valck, Wojnick, & Wilner, 2010). Given the situation, it is no doubt that marketers are still to some extent grappling to understand how to effectively leverage, manage and monetise these complex and highly interactive new media platforms and their audiences (Retail Prophet, 2011), with a number of major brands experiencing recent catastrophic online marketing failures (Kirkland, 2011). A key challenge to the traditional advertising industry model is the construct of audience "exposure", which to a large degree was the dominant currency of the media and advertising industry (Napoli, 2011). This challenge is not only in terms of the significant shifts in audience numbers from traditional to new media, but also whether "exposure" is a relevant and meaningful measure of the efficacy (and value for money) of advertising media types and specific channels (Napoli, 2011). This has lead academics and professionals to seek new measures to understand how effectively they have "engaged" their audience and changed their attitudes and behaviours. As a result, industry bodies such as the Advertising Research Foundation and audience research organisations, have sought to understand, rationalise and quantify this concept (Plummer, et al., 2007). To this end, it is imperative to understand how AR media interacts and performs against this construct of "Advertising Engagement". © 2014 University of Pretoria. All rights reserved. The copyright in this work vests in the University of Pretoria.