What is the AIDA model? Ex­pla­na­tion, func­tion­al­i­ty, and examples

According to the AIDA model, potential new customers go through four phases, which give the ad­ver­tis­ing ef­fec­tive­ness model its name. The acronym AIDA stands for Awareness, Interest, Desire, and Action. It marks four sub-goals of strategic com­mu­ni­ca­tion measures within marketing.

What is the AIDA model?

As early as 1898, the American ad­ver­tis­ing strate­gist Elmo Lewis for­mu­lat­ed the three-part formula:

• attract attention
• maintain interest
• create desire

Later, Lewis added get action, creating an action phase, and thus the AIDA model was born.

Orig­i­nal­ly developed for the struc­tur­ing of sales con­ver­sa­tions, the formula soon found ap­pli­ca­tion in all areas of marketing. Even today, AIDA is one of the best-known models in ad­ver­tis­ing effect research. The model is an integral part of curricula in schools and uni­ver­si­ties and is still used in ad­ver­tis­ing practice as a guideline for creating and analyzing ad­ver­tis­ing materials. However, despite its pop­u­lar­i­ty, the model’s validity has become con­tro­ver­sial.

How does the AIDA model work?

Assuming that brand per­cep­tion is largely promoted and in­flu­enced by ad­ver­tis­ing and marketing measures, the AIDA model (also known as the AIDA formula, AIDA concept, AIDA principle, or AIDA schema) offers an ex­pla­na­tion of how ad­ver­tis­ing and other pro­mo­tion­al ac­tiv­i­ties are involved in brand choice.

According to the AIDA model, ad­ver­tis­ers must achieve 4 com­mu­ni­ca­tion goals to move potential customers from the initial per­cep­tion of a product to its purchase. The AIDA approach is thus part of the hi­er­ar­chi­cal ad­ver­tis­ing effect models, which assume a linear-se­quen­tial process of the purchase decision process, where consumers go through a series of cognitive and affective stages cul­mi­nat­ing in an (purchase) action.

A – Attract Attention

Attention, please! – For targeted in­di­vid­u­als to engage with an ad­ver­tis­ing message, ad­ver­tis­ers must first capture their target audience’s attention. The ad­ver­tis­ing goal of the first phase of the AIDA model is to initiate ac­ti­va­tion, per­cep­tion, and emotional processes. Ad­ver­tis­ing utilizes various strate­gies for this purpose, focusing on the content of the ad­ver­tis­ing message, its pre­sen­ta­tion, or its placement.

Content that grabs attention typically stands out by con­tain­ing new, con­tra­dic­to­ry, or provoca­tive in­for­ma­tion, or by de­lib­er­ate­ly omitting important in­for­ma­tion:

• “Only at Walmart: Square Wa­ter­mel­ons!”
• “Costco Apples: $0.95 per Pound!”

Other classic elements through which an ad­ver­tis­ing message reaches potential customers include the following:

• Graphic design elements: The visual pre­sen­ta­tion is essential for capturing attention. On festival posters, for instance, the main acts stand out in bold as eye-catchers, while less mar­ketable artists are barely readable in the last line. Display ads in browsers catch the eye, es­pe­cial­ly when they change, move, or blink. However, it is important to gauge the target audience’s tolerance and not exceed it.
• Auditory elements: On TV, radio, or the internet, ad­ver­tis­ers rely on auditory elements and proceed more or less subtly. In almost all ad-supported au­dio­vi­su­al media, com­mer­cial breaks are played sig­nif­i­cant­ly louder than the actual program. Ad­di­tion­al decibels ensure that the ad­ver­tis­ing messages are received, often ac­com­pa­nied by catchy jingles or current pop songs.
• Olfactory stimuli: Some ad­ver­tis­ers use olfactory stimuli to attract customers. Whether potential buyers are truly drawn into sales areas by scenting the business en­vi­ron­ment is debated. However, in the food sector—es­pe­cial­ly bakeries and pastry shops—this strategy is certainly not far-fetched.
• Key stimuli: Certain stimulus patterns are par­tic­u­lar­ly effective at capturing human attention. These include, for example, eyes, faces, the baby schema, or erotica (following the well-known motto: Sex sells).

I – Maintain Interest

Once a consumer’s attention is captured, the next step is to spark interest and maintain it long-term. In this phase of the customer journey, products and brands are showcased, their benefits high­light­ed, usage scenarios demon­strat­ed, and various pur­chas­ing options presented. The ad­ver­tis­ing goal of the second phase of the AIDA model is achieved when the customer engages deeply with the ad­ver­tis­ing materials and shows interest in the featured products or services.

Ad­ver­tis­ers excel in the second phase of the AIDA model when they know what interests the target audience, what matters to them, their needs, and the problems they want solved. AI-based tools and web analytics software provide online shop operators with detailed in­for­ma­tion about the nature and browsing behavior of users, allowing them to determine their current status in relation to the AIDA model or other marketing models—and to respond ac­cord­ing­ly.

D – Create Desire

In the third phase of the AIDA model, consumers develop a specific purchase intention from general interest. Now it is important to convey to a person in­ter­est­ed in Bluetooth head­phones that they should buy one of the models offered in the ad­ver­tised online shop—because they offer more features, are more af­ford­able, or look better than com­peti­tors’ models!

In this phase, ad­ver­tis­ing measures should provide in­for­ma­tion that high­lights the ad­van­tages of the company’s products and brands over competing products. The goal is to pos­i­tive­ly influence the target audience’s per­cep­tion of the ad­ver­tis­ing company, its brands, products, and services.

A – Get Action

Once a desire for specific products or services has been aroused in the target audience, this must lead to action in the final phase of the AIDA model. The ad­ver­tised product should ul­ti­mate­ly be purchased or the offered service utilized. Ad­ver­tis­ing intended to provoke action typically includes a Call-to-Action (CTA). Classic calls-to-action of this type are:

• “Order Bluetooth head­phones now!”
• “Simply call and get advice!”

Such a call-to-action is sometimes ac­com­pa­nied by time re­stric­tions intended to create ad­di­tion­al pressure on the potential buyer.

• “Bluetooth head­phones - bargain price today only.”
• “Order Bluetooth head­phones online now and save 20 percent.”
• “Limited Edition. Only for a short time.”

The will­ing­ness to act can be further increased by an explicit con­ces­sion that promises customers security or ad­di­tion­al services.

• “… test for free with a trial sub­scrip­tion.”
• “Buy one get one free.”
• “10 percent discount on first order.”
• “Now with free return shipping.”
• “Double data volume when you sign a new contract.”

The AIDA model in practice

Ad­ver­tis­ing success formulas are used in marketing to il­lus­trate processes. They aim to provide ap­proach­es for op­ti­miz­ing op­er­a­tions. Hi­er­ar­chi­cal ad­ver­tis­ing impact models, such as the AIDA formula, trace the de­vel­op­ment that consumers undergo during the purchase decision process.

Each phase is char­ac­ter­ized by different needs that must be con­sid­ered when designing ad­ver­tis­ing measures. The number of potential customers moving to the next phase con­tin­u­ous­ly decreases during the purchase decision process. This is known as the purchase funnel.

In practice, the model provides ad­ver­tis­ers with a kind of checklist that allows for the analysis and op­ti­miza­tion of com­mu­ni­ca­tion measures in ad­ver­tis­ing, sales talks, and pre­sen­ta­tions and mod­er­a­tion. Online shop operators could use the formula to check whether all aspects of an optimal purchase decision process have been con­sid­ered in product pre­sen­ta­tion. Possible questions might include:

• Is the shop easy to find?
• Does the shop design capture the target audience’s attention?
• Do the product de­scrip­tions provide the necessary in­for­ma­tion to spark the interest of potential customers?
• Do image galleries, product videos, or augmented reality elements give prospects an im­pres­sion of how the products would enrich their lives?
• Does the overall product pre­sen­ta­tion create a desire in the customer to “want to have” it?
• Does the website contain call-to-action elements that suggest potential buyers make an immediate purchase, or even make it appealing through in­cen­tives like discounts or free shipping?
• Has the ordering process been cleared of all hurdles and barriers (such as in­ap­pro­pri­ate data col­lec­tion, limited payment options, un­com­fort­able delivery con­di­tions, etc.)?

The list of possible check­points based on the AIDA formula is far from complete.

Criticism of the AIDA model

Since the de­vel­op­ment of the AIDA model more than a hundred years ago, the un­der­stand­ing of ad­ver­tis­ing and marketing com­mu­ni­ca­tion has fun­da­men­tal­ly changed, es­pe­cial­ly with the digital rev­o­lu­tion. The secret to the ad­ver­tis­ing success formula is its sim­plic­i­ty. This allows the staged model to be applied to many areas of marketing. Generally, single-stage com­mu­ni­ca­tion measures (ad­ver­tis­ing, B2C tele­mar­ket­ing) can be depicted more ef­fec­tive­ly than multi-stage processes used in dialogue-oriented media.

The reduction of the buying decision process to a simple stimulus-response schema is con­sid­ered outdated. Ad­di­tion­al­ly, the linear pro­gres­sion of a staged model can hardly trace modern sales processes and the in­creas­ing­ly erratic customer journeys. Critics also note that pur­chas­ing decisions depend on a variety of other factors such as avail­abil­i­ty, price ex­pec­ta­tions, advice, customer sat­is­fac­tion, or rec­om­men­da­tions (User Generated Content, reviews, in­flu­encer marketing, etc.). The influence of emotional aspects on brand per­cep­tion is also minimally con­sid­ered in the AIDA model.

Since the 1990s, however, insights from emotion research have been applied to marketing questions within the framework of neu­ro­mar­ket­ing, providing important insights for the design, analysis, and op­ti­miza­tion of ad­ver­tis­ing measures. Therefore, the AIDA model should be seen for what it is: a sim­pli­fied formula.

Ex­ten­sions and al­ter­na­tives for the AIDA concept

A major short­com­ing of the AIDA model is that the con­sid­er­a­tion of the pur­chas­ing decision process ends with the ac­qui­si­tion of the re­spec­tive company’s offer. All post-purchase effects such as sat­is­fac­tion, dis­sat­is­fac­tion, customer reviews, repeat purchases, or referrals are ignored.

Over time, various ap­proach­es have been developed based on the AIDA formula that extend or adapt the model, sometimes also con­sid­er­ing the role of modern, dialogue-oriented media like social media.

The “Hierarchy of Effects” model

The “Hierarchy of Effects” model by Lavidge and Steiner also assumes a hi­er­ar­chi­cal sequence of various ad­ver­tis­ing effects and divides the pur­chas­ing decision process into a total of six stages:

• Awareness: In the first phase of the “Hierarchy of Effects” model, ad­ver­tis­ing efforts aim to inform potential customers about the existence of the ad­ver­tised products.
• Knowledge: Following the awareness phase is the knowledge phase, where the product features are in­tro­duced in more detail.
• Liking: In the third phase, in­ter­est­ed in­di­vid­u­als should develop a liking for the ad­ver­tised products.
• Pref­er­ence: The liking cul­mi­nates in the fourth phase as a pref­er­ence for specific products over competing offers.
• Con­vic­tion: In the fifth phase, the purchase decision is made. The recipient is convinced of the product and aims to acquire it.
• Purchase: The final phase of the “Hierarchy of Effects” model includes the intended action: the purchase.

The DAGMAR formula

Building on the AIDA model, American ad­ver­tis­ing re­searcher Russell H. Colley published the so-called DAGMAR Formula in 1961, an acronym for the book title Defining Adver­tis­ing Goals for Measured Adver­tis­ing Results. DAGMAR is also a hi­er­ar­chi­cal ad­ver­tis­ing effect model based on the as­sump­tion that ad­ver­tis­ing must primarily fulfill com­mu­nica­tive tasks alongside economic goals. These can be divided into four areas:

• Awareness: Ad­ver­tis­ing must create awareness for the ad­ver­tised brands and products.
• Com­pre­hen­sion: Ad­ver­tis­ing must ensure an un­der­stand­ing of the function and benefits of the ad­ver­tised company’s services.
• Con­vic­tion: Good ad­ver­tis­ing is con­vinc­ing by outlining the personal benefits and ad­van­tages over al­ter­na­tives.
• Action: At the end of the purchase decision process is the ac­qui­si­tion of the ad­ver­tised company’s service.

The AIDAS model

The AIDAS model adopts the four phases of the AIDA model and expands them with “Sat­is­fac­tion” as a fifth phase, which in­te­grates the post-purchase effect of sat­is­fac­tion into the ad­ver­tis­ing ef­fec­tive­ness model.

• Attention
• Interest
• Desire
• Action
• Sat­is­fac­tion

What happens after consumers become customers? The “Sat­is­fac­tion” phase addresses exactly this question. Ad­ver­tis­ing efforts don’t end with the ac­qui­si­tion of the promoted company service. The goal of ad­ver­tis­ers is a satisfied clientele that happily returns and shares positive ex­pe­ri­ences with others. Once a person reaches the “Sat­is­fac­tion” phase within the pur­chas­ing process, it is important not to lose sight of them.

The AIS­DAL­SLove model

The AIS­DAL­SLove model by Bambang Sukma Wijaya also em­pha­sizes the im­por­tance of post-purchase effects and adds the phases “Search,” “Like/dislike,” “Share,” and “Love/hate” to the AIDA model.

• Attention
• Interest
• Search
• Desire
• Action
• Like/dislike
• Share
• Love/hate

With the “Search” phase, the ad­ver­tis­ing ef­fec­tive­ness model takes into account that consumers today are sig­nif­i­cant­ly more critical of ad­ver­tis­ing promises. The internet provides consumers with a com­pre­hen­sive research tool to verify facts and compare offers.

The “Like/dislike” phase considers the ex­pe­ri­ence after acquiring a company’s service. Sat­is­fac­tion usually results in repeat purchases. The same goes for dis­sat­is­fied customers. If a product delivers as ad­ver­tised, repeat purchases or rec­om­men­da­tions are likely. When a customer shares ex­pe­ri­ences with other potential customers, it’s referred to as Word-of-Mouth Marketing. In the AIS­DAL­SLove model, such repeat purchase effects are con­sid­ered as a separate stage with the “Share” phase.

Fur­ther­more, the AIS­DAL­SLove model assumes that ad­ver­tis­ing measures can also achieve long-term effects, leading to positive or negative feelings toward products, brands, or companies. This aspect is high­light­ed in the “Love/hate” phase.

The 5A model

While classic models like the AIDA model and its ex­ten­sions pre­dom­i­nant­ly describe linear processes of ad­ver­tis­ing impact, the 5A Model developed by Philip Kotler takes the changed con­di­tions in the digital age into account. It focuses on customers and their connected behavior and un­der­stands pur­chas­ing decisions not merely as reactions to ad­ver­tis­ing but as the result of a complex in­for­ma­tion and re­la­tion­ship process.

The 5A model divides the customer journey into the following phases:

• Aware: Initial per­cep­tion of a brand
• Appeal: Brand is perceived as relevant or at­trac­tive
• Ask: Targeted research – such as through Google searches, product reviews, or social network rec­om­men­da­tions
• Act: Product purchase or uti­liza­tion of the service
• Advocate: With a positive ex­pe­ri­ence, customers become brand advocates and recommend the brand further – online or in personal settings

Unlike tra­di­tion­al funnel models, the decision-making process in the 5A model is not always linear. Op­por­tu­ni­ties like digital channels and social media allow consumers to flexibly switch between phases at any time. This model addresses not only emotional and rational aspects of decision-making, but also ex­plic­it­ly the influence of com­mu­ni­ties, platforms, and reviews.