Click Here Now: The Impact of Color and Size on Advertisements

Abstract

Businesses and companies are always trying to find the most effective way to advertise their products to create higher click-through rates, increasing the intent to purchase, and consequently raising sales and revenue. This research examines the effect that several different design elements of an online advertisement have on the attitudes or behaviors of consumers. An online survey was sent out to students at Gettysburg College, consisting of pairs of advertisements differing either in color, hue, or size. Participants in the online survey were asked to click on the image that they preferred. All three of these categories had a significant effect on click-through rates on advertisements. Highly-saturated advertisements were significantly preferred over the low-saturated advertisements. There was a significant difference in size preference, but the average preference was evenly split between square and vertical rectangle sizes in the shape category. Warm colors were marginally preferred over cool colors in the images that were used. These findings are important for businesses in order for them to receive the greatest number of clicks on products advertised because those clicks lead to purchases of the product. Further research could also include the examination of other characteristics of advertisements