The Advertising Research Foundation defines advertising engagement as creating a positive consumer experience with a brand message in a contextual setting. However, this definition is criticized for being too broad and impractical for measurement. This blog is based on a study about TV advertising engagement as a state of immersion and presence; and intends to share the discussions of the study published in the Journal of Business Research. The mentioned study aims to address the gaps in the definition of advertising engagement, by focusing on TV advertising and advancing its understanding. Past research on the subjects has been mostly conceptual, lacking empirical validation. Current measures of engagement are often ad hoc or rely on proxy indicators. Because engagement reactions vary across different marketing communications, a universal measure is challenging to establish.

It is important to consider the media context when studying engagement, focusing on TV advertising due to its prominence and effectiveness. TV advertising

engagement is conceptualized as a distinct event where viewers are mentally immersed and present with the encountered advertisement. This mental engagement is linked to the notions of immersion and presence in a mediated environment. First, the distinction between engagement and involvement in advertising needs to be explored. Researchers have questioned whether engagement is merely a different term for involvement, leading to the need for a clear conceptual understanding. Various perspectives on engagement have emerged, but there is no consensus on its definition. The complexity arises from different views on what constitutes engagement—ranging from focal attention and contextual relevance to physical interactions with the advertisement.

Calder and Malthouse propose that engagement should be distinguished from its antecedents and consequences, arguing that a viewer's engagement with an advertisement is separate from factors like contextual relevance. In psychology, engagement is conceptualized as an approach which is a response to a stimulus, consisting of two experiences: hedonic and motivational experiences. The former is related to liking and the latter is related to engagement. Media engagement can be conceptualized as “the sum of motivational experiences consumers have with the media product”. These researchers also suggest that media engagement includes intrinsic and extrinsic motivations. For the former the goal is media experience itself, for the latter the media experience is the means to achieve external goals. Viewers can have both these motivations, but it is more likely that they watch ads to satisfy intrinsic motivations, thus engagement in TV ads is most probably linked to intrinsic goals of experiencing mediated content. In other words, the study emphasizes that engagement is a distinct construct from its triggers and outcomes. Personal relevance, defined as the extent to which viewers find an advertisement self-related or instrumental for their goals, is proposed as a key motivator for engagement. It's suggested that contextually relevant advertisements are more likely to be processed and lead to increased attention, potentially enhancing the sense of presence.

The term “interlock” is introduced as a suitable description for the nature of engagement, signifying a two-way interaction between the viewer and the advertisement. Unlike “involvement”, which implies a trait condition (you need to be interested in the topic to be involved), interlock describes a state condition (you don’t need to be interested or know anything about the topic to be engaged). Immersion and presence are identified as essential components of engagement, where the viewer feels mentally immersed and present within the advertisement. These concepts are integral due to their continuum nature, which aligns with the depth of engagement.

Hypothesis 1: Contextual relevance positively influences TV advertising engagement.

Hypothesis 2: Advertising engagement positively influences advertising involvement.

Hypothesis 3: Advertising engagement positively influences attitude toward advertisement, attitude toward brand, and behavioral responses.

Hypothesis 4: Advertising engagement explains behavioral responses in addition to the variance explained by advertising involvement.

Delving deeper, the study formulates four hypotheses to explore the intricate web of engagement and it also investigates the sequential relationship between engagement and downstream responses. Engagement is believed to drive message involvement, attitude toward advertisements, attitude toward the brand, and various behavioral outcomes. The selected behavioral outcomes include curiosity (leading to website visits and information seeking), word of mouth (ad and brand-related), and purchase intention. Furthermore, the study posits that advertising engagement, distinct from involvement, contributes uniquely to consumer behaviors. It suggests that engagement explains behavioral responses beyond what involvement can account for. By investigating these relationships, the study aims to shed light on the factors that drive engagement, its impact on various outcomes, and the distinct role it plays alongside involvement in shaping consumer behaviors.

The results of this study address the theoretical and practical significance of advertising engagement, aiming to achieve two primary objectives: first, to conceptualize and define the construct within the realm of TV advertising, and second, to create a reliable and valid measurement scale for TV advertising engagement. Grounded in immersion and presence theories, the study presents a clear definition of the construct and introduces a concise, reliable, and valid four-item scale. This scale demonstrates adequate discriminant, criterion, incremental, and nomological validity. Previous research into the extent and mechanisms of advertising engagement has been fragmented. The current findings build upon earlier discourse by systematically encapsulating the immersed and present experiential nature of engagement in the specific context of TV advertising. The study incorporates insights from studies showing that individuals who immerse themselves psychologically in story narratives tend to feel a sense of presence in those stories. Accordingly, the scale items capture the feeling of being "part of the action" and experiencing the ad "as if it were real," as well as the enduring sense of immersion post-experience.

The findings underscore the vital link between communication and consumers. Successful advertising relies on establishing a connection between the advertised product and the audience. The scale item "It made me feel connected to the product" reflects the degree to which individuals establish a connection with the advertised item during exposure. The concept of resonance further highlights the amplification of TV effects when there's a strong connection between personal and mediated experiences.

However, it's important to note that while the findings hold theoretical and practical significance, they are suggestive rather than definitive due to certain limitations. These limitations include the representativeness of the sample, the specific advertising context, and the controlled laboratory setting. Therefore, further research is needed to gain a more comprehensive understanding of TV advertising engagement as well as engagement in advertising more broadly.

Future studies should aim to reevaluate the scale using more diverse and representative consumer samples. Real-world settings should also be explored to assess the ecological validity of the findings. Additionally, investigations should consider behavioral advertising engagement alongside other forms of psychological engagement. This could involve studying the relationships between different engagement types using interactive video ads with clickable overlays. Evaluating the scale's applicability across various media platforms (such as social and mobile media) would also be valuable, considering the variations in responses that different media can elicit.

While advertising engagement remains an understudied topic, the reviewed study serves to advance existing knowledge and lays the empirical groundwork for future research in this area for academics and professionals working in the advertising industry. Despite its limitations, the study contributes to a better understanding of advertising engagement and its implications, paving the way for further exploration and inquiry.