Do billboard advertisements drive customer retention? Expanding the “aida” model to “aidar”

Abstract

Many researchers neglect the wider capabilities of billboards. Managers deploy billboards to generate awareness, evaluated through awareness-tracking studies, thus reinforcing their beliefs. This two-part investigation examines assumptions that billboards primarily serve initial attraction roles, early-stage effects in hierarchies such as the Attention–Interest– Desire–Action (AIDA) model. Study 1 indicates that billboards also affect existing customers and repatronage decisions. In Study 2, experienced marketing executives recognized billboards’ role in assisting reinforcement and customer retention. On the basis of these studies and evidence from related fields, it is timely to suggest a logical progression to AIDAR, which adds “retention” to the AIDA model.