What Likeability Attributes Attract People to Watch Online Video Advertisements?

As online video viewing increases, so does the size of the online video advertising market. However, it is challenging to create an advertising creative suitable for online video services. Advertising likeability helps to provide the strategies necessary for producing video advertisements that can facilitate consumer responsiveness and generate persuasive effects. Therefore, this study aimed to identify the likeability attributes of online video advertising content that increase online video advertisement views and to validate them with actual user data. To achieve this objective, this study applied a mixed-methods approach using two studies. The first study was an exploratory study in which users’ reviews on recently popular online video advertisements were analyzed through text mining, after which we identified key likeability attributes. We then conducted a focus group discussion method to measure the degree of video ads in each attribute. The second study was a confirmatory study, in which the key likeability attributes identified in the first study were verified empirically through an econometric model. As a result, we derived six likeability attributes of online video advertisements. The findings also highlight the effects of music, storytelling, influential people, and novel ideas on the number of views. Altogether, our study offers practical insights into which factors and identified likeability attributes enable effective online video advertisements.