Most ads in practice receive no more than a single eye fixation. A study by Rik Pieters (Tilburg University) and Michel Wedel (University of Maryland) investigates the limits of what ads can communicate under such adverse exposure conditions. 

They found that consumers already know at maximum levels of accuracy and with high degree of certainty whether something is an ad or editorial material, after an exposure of less than 100 msec. and - if the ad is typical - which product is being advertised. Even after an extremely coarse visual presentation of 100 msec. the product and brand in typical ads are identified.

The researchers propose a new metric that quantifies how effectively individual ads communicate their gist, and that predicts the immediate interest that ads draw. Because of their better gist performance, typical rather than atypical ads raise immediate interest after very brief exposures.

Ad Gist: Ad Communication in a Singel Eye Fixation, by Rik Pieters and Michel Wedel has been accepted for publication in the journal of Marketing Science.

Source: Tilburg University