THE IMPACT OF INTRUSIVE ADVERTISING ON BRAND RECALL, ATTENTION, AND ATTITUDE WITHIN TELEVISED SPORT

Abstract

With sports broadcasting becoming increasingly reliant on dynamic, intrusive advertising formats to capture viewer engagement, understanding the cognitive and effective trade-offs of these placements is vital for marketers and networks. This study investigated the impact of televised sport sponsorships intrusiveness of visual attention, brand recall, and Attitude Toward the Brand (Ab). Utilizing a within-subjects experimental design, eye-tracking methodology measured the visual fixations of 20 college-aged participants as they viewed naturalistic sport broadcasts featuring three advertisement formats: Static (baseline), Video with Audio, and Picture-in-Picture (PiP). Survey instruments, including the Ab scale, evaluated brand recall and sentiment across multiple time points. A repeated measures ANOVA revealed that dynamic formats (Video with Audio and PiP) significantly increased visual fixation duration compared to static placements. Generalized linear mixed-effects modeling supported the theoretical framework that forced visual attention significantly and positively predicted successful brand recall. However, linear mixed-effects modeling demonstrated that lower overall consumer Attitude Toward the Brand scores associated with the Picture-in-Picture format reflect pre-existing baseline brand differences rather than an active affective cost or decline over time. Additionally, participants whose primary sport consumption channel was streaming services demonstrated lower overall brand recall, highlighting the cognitive load of digital viewing environments These findings establish a critical framework for modern sports sponsorship; while highly intrusive ad formats successfully capture visual attention and drive memory encoding without actively eroding long-term sentiment, sponsors must strategically deploy dynamic formats to build awareness for emerging brands rather than assuming uniform on-screen disruption. Keywords: sports sponsorship, intrusive advertising, visual attention, brand recall