CYBERSPACE – A Canadian study published in the journal Behavior and Information Technology has startled internet ad experts with its revelations about how quickly surfers make decisions when exposed to advertising content.Originally, researchers anticipated that the average viewer took approximately two seconds before deciding whether or not to pursue or discard information provided by online advertisements. The results of a recent study, however, revealed that decisions are made within a 20th of a second. Not only did scientists learn how quickly the mind could be made up, they learned that once made, viewers stuck with their decisions.

During the study, lead researcher Gitte Lindgaard of Carleton University of Ottawa had her team show glimpses of websites to volunteers, and then have them rate their impressions of their aesthetic appeal. Each viewing lasted only 50 milliseconds, which proved plenty of time for those involved to have opinions about what they saw.

Of particular interest to those involved with the study was the fact that initial opinions tended to carry over even when viewers were allowed to spend more time looking at the websites later. Researchers posit that this is due to something psychologists refer to as the “halo effect,” meaning that if people think something looks good, that positive opinion will expand to other areas, such as the likely content of a website. Further adding to this effect is the fact that people like to be right and are thus more likely to continue to use a website if they’ve developed an initially positive impression.

Lindgaard urges website owners to pay heed to the study’s results. “Unless the first impression is favorable, visitors will be out of your site before they even know that you might be offering more than your competitors.”