Effects of banner Ad shape and the schema creating process on consumer internet browsing behavior

In online environment, Internet users usually ignore the rectangular advertising block around the site because they have created advertising schema and have internalized that the information in rectangular blocks are advertising messages. Thus, to increase users' arousal and attention toward banner ads, we propose that changing the shape of banner ads produces schema-inconsistent and can break up existing schemata. In a laboratory experiment, participants' eye movements are tracked while they browse a website where the shapes of banner ads and the amount of exposure to them is manipulated. The results reveal that a banner shape that is incongruent with consumers' existing schema generates more browsing behavior than when the shape is congruent. However, after additional exposure to the new shape, browsing behavior is significantly decreased compared with the first exposure. This is the first study to offer evidence for the process of creating a new advertising schema by measuring participants' physiological behavior, and the findings have substantial implications for how advertising providers can attract Internet users' attention to banner ads.