Can we have your Attention please? Attention is evolving in the digital age. How brands think about it needs to evolve as well...

1. SELECTIVE
ALTERNATING
The core attention skill we use
to focus for long periods
Keeping focus when faced with
competing distractions
Switching quickly between
different tasks at once
“I don’t like to switch
tasks until I’ve
completed one or
the other.”
ATTENTION SPANS ARE EVOLVING IN A DIGITAL AGE
Advertisers need to provide the right content
for the right contexts in people’s everyday lives.
PRIORITISEALTERNATINGATTENTIONPRIORITISESELECTIVEATTENTION
How to advertise to Ninjas:
Immersive narratives
Engaging and attention
grabbing
Out of the ordinary and
unexpected
How to advertise
to Pragmatists:
Interactive and
entertaining
Direct, clear and
interesting
Original, quality content
How to advertise
to Ambidextrous:
Cross-platform
Short and to the point
Sequential narratives
To explore attention in more detail visit our site at www.microsoftattentionspans.co.uk
To get in touch email MSAStudy@Microsoft.com
Research and design by Sparkler www.sparkler.co.uk
Attention: A day in the life
Our natural attention abilities and the demands of everyday life
determine which attention mode we will be in at any given time:
09:35 Hard at work
86% of people
now have one
eye on another
screen when
watching TV,
gaming or
surfing the Web
SUSTAINED
In a multi-screen world, Selective and Alternating Attentions are increasingly important.
We use three types of attention every day:
ATTENTION PRAGMATIST: Fluid between tasks, but maintaining priorities
ATTENTION AMBIDEXTROUS: Juggling tasks, flexible with attention
“When I need to get things
done, I can get my head into
it, but I also know when to
let my attention slide a little”
“I like splitting my
attention across several
things - it makes me feel
more productive”
ATTENTION NINJA: Compartmentalizing tasks, “in the zone”
13:07 – Quick social break
18:45 – Dinner with the family