ABSTRACT
This chapter addresses concerns about the effectiveness of Internet advertising by prescribing a solution that can increase consumer motivation and experienced enjoyment of the interaction with Internet ads. It states the power of curiosity can be harnessed to design an effective advertising strategy that results in greater information acquisition, enhanced learning, and better evaluation of the advertised product. The chapter outlines the information acquisition patterns and other process measures related to gauging Internet advertising effectiveness, and also studies the relationship between these measures and the hypothesized product-related learning and evaluation. However, all forms of Internet advertising share the common characteristic that the consumer must initiate some action to be exposed to the communication. Motivating consumers to search for information and facilitating learning seem to be basic requirements of an Internet-based advertising strategy. Finally, this chapter suggests that, though curiosity may not dramatically increase the quantity of search, it might substantially improve the quality of search.
