The influence of media multitasking on advertising effectiveness

Recent years have seen an increasing trend among consumers toward using two or more media simultaneously, a phenomenon known as media multitasking. The majority of the extant literature agrees that media multitasking has detrimental effects on advertising effectiveness. However, opportunities exist for reducing these negative effects or even creating effects favorable to advertising outcomes. Nevertheless, the literature on media multitasking during advertising exposure is highly fragmented and findings are inconclusive. This literature review synthesizes the extant studies on message processing in media multitasking situations. It develops a comprehensive conceptual framework on the effects of media multitasking on advertising effectiveness, with particular attention to mediating processes and moderating variables. The conceptual model explains the circumstances under which individuals devote voluntary or involuntary attention to advertisements during media multitasking, advances knowledge on the role of different sensory modalities, and reveals how the two types of information processing complement each other during simultaneous media usage.