AR advertising 'increases likelihood to buy by 53%'

Augmented reality (AR) lenses are an effective way for advertisers to capture audiences’ attention and increase purchase intent, according to research from attention measurement service Amplified Intelligence.

Conducted in partnership with Snap and OMD, gathering data across a panel of 2,121 users from six countries and over 32,000 total ad views, the study measured the impact of Snapchat’s AR lenses on both short-term and long-term brand uplift.

It found that AR lenses encourage five times higher active attention compared to other social media platforms, with ads being actively watched 81% of the time they are in view with an average active attention of 12.6 seconds.

After only one exposure, ads utilising AR lenses increased short-term likelihood to buy by 53% and long-term likelihood by 31%, emphasising the technology’s potential to help organisations from both branding perspectives.

Karen Nelson-Field, Founder and CEO of Amplified Intelligence, said: “AR has been transforming the way consumers interact with advertising, seamlessly integrating unique experiences with purchase decisions. This is especially valuable in a media ecosystem where budgets are tightening and advertisers need to make every second of attention count.

“Success here requires not only accurate attention measurement at the granular level, but also understanding how attention ties into viewer behaviour, which is critical to maximising ROI and delivering effective campaigns.

“As digital frontiers expand to incorporate complex and immersive technologies like AR, precise benchmarking and datasets – not mere proxy measures – will enable the industry to leverage these formats to deliver performance objectives.”

‘Drives not just improved levels of attention but also brand effects’

The research findings reflect how AR advertising brings a human-first approach to data collection, demonstrating the value of non-traditional formats when it comes to attention measurement.

The inherent interactivity of AR lends itself well to generating increased engagement between audiences and advertisers, suggesting the technology should be garnering additional ad dollars from marketers hoping to increase brand recognition and loyalty.

Jean-Paul Edwards, Managing Director, Product Strategy and Innovation at OMD Worldwide, said: “The interactive and immersive nature of lenses drives not just improved levels of attention, but also brand effects that work in different ways to more passively consumed formats such as display and video.”

Alexander Dao, Global Head of Agency Development and Sales Partnerships at Snap, added: “Brands have a ton of opportunity to leverage the immersiveness of AR to create engaging campaigns and capture more of their audience's attention. We're excited to see that AR lenses on Snapchat are driving strong short and long-term brand lift, and know it's because AR puts Snapchatters at the centre of action.”