I Saw It on the Radio: The Allocation of Attention to High-Imagery Radio Advertisements

This study was conducted to explore how the level of imagery in a radio ad-vertisement affects the allocation of cognitive resources to encoding the mes-sage into memory. A within-subjects experiment was conducted in which par-ticipants listened to 24, 60-second radio advertisements that had been coded as either high- or low-imagery messages. Secondary-task reaction time was obtained during exposure to half of the advertisements, within each level of imagery. Self-reported involvement with the message was also obtained after exposure to each advertisement. Secondary-task reaction time was faster dur-ing exposure to the high-imagery advertisements. Self-reported involvement was greater for high-imagery advertisements, compared to low-imagery ad-vertisements. Results of this study indicate that people allocate more con-trolled cognitive resources to encoding high-imagery radio advertisements than may be required by the message. Do radio listeners “see ” it on the radio? The Radio Advertising Bureau (RAB) seems to think so. Campaigns, sponsored by the RAB to encourage radio advertising by businesses, highlight the strength of radio to engage the imagina-tion and get listeners to “see ” a product in use during exposure to a radio