Thales S. Teixeira
Assistant Professor of Business Administration
Thales Teixeira is an assistant professor in the Marketing Unit. He holds a Ph.D. in marketing from the University of Michigan. He earned a bachelor’s degree in business administration and master’s degree in statistics at the University of São Paulo, Brazil. Before joining HBS, Professor Teixeira was an independent quantitative marketing consultant to technology and financial services companies, among them Microsoft, HP, and Prudential. He researches the Economics of Attention.
His research domain comprises advertising and the Economics of Attention, particularly within TV and Internet videos. With developments in information technology and telecom, videos – both commercial and noncommercial – will become pervasive in many activities of daily life. Discovering how to communicate effectively through videos will therefore become increasingly important over time.
Professor Teixeira is also a proponent of using eye-tracking and facial-tracking technologies to engineer the design of video communications moment-to-moment in order to attract and retain viewer attention. Among his most recent findings, published in Marketing Science, is the optimality of what he terms brand pulsing (brief and frequent insertions of the brand logo on-screen) in TV commercials as a means to minimize ad skipping.
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Article
| JMR, Journal of Marketing Research
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Emotion-induced Engagement in Internet Video Ads
Thales S. Teixeira, Michel Wedel and Rik Pieters
This study shows how advertisers can leverage emotion and attention to engage consumers in watching Internet video ads. In a controlled experiment, joy and surprise were assessed through automated facial expression detection for a sample of ads. Concentration of attention was assessed through eye tracking and retention of viewers by recording zapping behavior. This allows tests of predictions about the interplay of these emotions and inter-individual attention differences at each point in time during exposure. Surprise and joy effectively concentrate attention and retain viewers. But importantly, the level rather than the velocity of surprise impact attention concentration most, whereas the velocity rather than the level of joy impact viewer retention most. The effect of joy is asymmetric, with higher gains for increases than losses for decreases. Based on these findings, the authors develop representative emotion trajectories to support ad design and testing.
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Article
| GfK Marketing Intelligence Review
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To Zap or Not to Zap: How to Insert the Brand in TV Commercials to Minimize Avoidance
Thales S. Teixeira, Michel Wedel and Rik Pieters
Huge amounts of money are spent on TV advertising. In an environment of rising per-viewer rates for advertisers and increased skipping past ads by consumers, it is necessary for advertising managers to understand the determinants of commercial avoidance. In order to optimize brand exposure they need information on how to best retain consumers' attention from moment-to-moment during television advertising. This large-scale eye tracking study shows that the decision to zap or not to zap depends on how the brand is presented within the commercial. First, the ability of a commercial to concentrate consumers' visual attention reduced avoidance significantly. Second, the likelihood that viewers will zap can be decreased with a "pulsing strategy" in which brand images are shown more frequently for a shorter period of time within the commercial instead of longer at the beginning or end.
Keywords: Brands and Branding;
Television Entertainment;
Advertising;
Decisions;
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Article
| Harvard Business Review
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The New Science of Viral Ads
Thales Teixeira
It's the holy grail of digital marketing: the viral ad, a pitch that large numbers of viewers decide to share with family and friends. Several techniques derived from new technology can help advertisers attain this. In our research, two colleagues and I use infrared eye-tracking scanners to determine exactly what people are looking at when they watch video ads. We also use a system that analyzes facial expressions to reveal what viewers are feeling. These technologies make it possible to isolate elements that cause people to stop watching and to find ones that keep them engaged. In addition, they make it possible to determine what kinds of ads are most likely to be shared and what types of people are most likely to share them. Here are five big problems online advertisers face, along with solutions that have emerged from our research.
Keywords: Online Advertising;
Technology;
Research;
System;
Marketing;
Emotions;
Television Entertainment;
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Article
| Marketing Science
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Moment-to-moment Optimal Branding in TV Commercials: Preventing Avoidance by Pulsing
Thales S. Teixeira, Michel Wedel and Rik Pieters
We develop a conceptual framework for understanding the impact that branding activity (the audio-visual representation of brands) and consumers' dispersion of attention have on their moment-to-moment avoidance decisions during television advertising. It formalizes this in a Dynamic Probit Model and estimates it with MCMC methods. Data on commercial avoidance through zapping along with eye tracking on 31 commercials for nearly 2000 participants are used to calibrate the model. New, simple metrics of attention dispersion are shown to strongly predict avoidance. Independent of this, central on-screen brand positions but not brand size further promote commercial avoidance. Based on the model estimation, we optimize the branding activity under marketing control for ads in the sample to reduce commercial avoidance. This reveals that pulsing the brand presence—while keeping total brand exposure constant—decreases commercial avoidance significantly. Both numerical simulations and a controlled experiment using regular and edited commercials provide evidence of the benefits of brand pulsing to ward off commercial avoidance. Implications for advertising management and theory are addressed.
Keywords: Advertising;
Decision Choices and Conditions;
Television Entertainment;
Brands and Branding;
Consumer Behavior;
Mathematical Methods;
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Teaching Note
| HBS Case Collection
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2012
Mekanism: Engineering Viral Marketing
Thales S. Teixeira
The Mekanism case introduces students to a digital media production company specialized in creating viral marketing campaigns for advertising agencies and their clients (e.g., Microsoft, AXE, eBay, Toyota, etc.). Mekanism has grown tremendously from 2007 to 2010 in part due to the rise of viral marketing as a promising promotion tool for advertisers to reach and engage with consumers cheaply and quickly via word-of-mouth. Mekanism's president is contemplating expanding its services to other advertising content and media (e.g., televison, print, online) in effect becoming a full-service ad agency. This case is intended to discuss whether Mekanism should "evolve" into an ad agency or keep focused on producing and distributing viral marketing content.
Keywords: Viral Marketing;
advertising;
viral ads;
virality;
Mekanism;
advertising agency;
social media;
influencer;
storytelling;
advertising content;
Advertising;
Advertising Industry;
North and Central America;
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Background Note
| HBS Case Collection
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2012
Marketing Communications
Thales S. Teixeira and Thales S. Teixeira
This note identifies the main issues involved in the effective management of the marketing communications process. It first defines the purpose of communication. Then it classifies the tools available to communicate with consumers. In the sequel, it elaborates on how consumers respond to communication attempts. Finally, it lays out a framework for marketers to manage the entire communication process.
Keywords: marketing communication;
advertising;
promotion;
social media;
digital media;
viral advertising;
Marketing;
Communications Industry;
North and Central America;
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Case
| HBS Case Collection
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2012
(Revised from original 2012 version)
Mekanism: Engineering Viral Marketing
Thales S. Teixeira and Alison Caverly
Mekanism introduces students to a digital media production company specializing in creating viral marketing campaigns for advertising agencies and clients (e.g., Microsoft, AXE, eBay, Toyota, etc.) Mekanism has grown tremendously from 2007 to 2010 in part due to the rise of viral marketing as a promising promotion tool for advertisers to reach and engage consumers cheaply and quickly via word-of-mouth. Mekanism's president is contemplating expanding its services to other advertising content and media (e.g., television, print, online) in effect becoming a full-service ad agency. This case is intended to discuss whether Mekanism should 'evolve' into an ad agency or keep focused on producing and distributing viral marketing content.
Keywords: Viral Marketing;
viral advertising;
core competencies;
growth strategy;
Online media;
videos;
advertising;
advertising media;
Advertising;
Media;
Strategy;
Marketing;
Advertising Industry;
North and Central America;
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Teaching Note
| HBS Case Collection
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2012
Pepsi-Lipton Brisk (TN)
Thales Teixeira
Keywords: Food;
Food and Beverage Industry;
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Case
| HBS Case Collection
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2012
(Revised from original 2011 version)
Pepsi-Lipton Brisk
Thales S. Teixeira and Alison Caverly
This case showcases key decisions in promoting the re-launch of Brisk, a ready-to-drink iced tea by Pepsi-Lipton. The decisions are: creative, media and metrics selection. It also deals with budget allocation to traditional (Super Bowl, television) and new (viral ads and social) media.
Keywords: Marketing Channels;
Marketing Communications;
Advertising Campaigns;
Decision Making;
Media;
Product Launch;
Resource Allocation;
Performance Effectiveness;
Budgets and Budgeting;
Food and Beverage Industry;
Citation: Teixeira, Thales S., and Alison Caverly. " Pepsi-Lipton Brisk." Harvard Business School Case 512-011, December 2012. (Revised from original September 2011 version.)
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Other Teaching and Training Material
| 2011
Immersion Experience Program Note: Brazil
Aldo Musacchio, Thales S. Teixeira, Stephanie Galloway, Cassie Bordeau and Felix Oberholzer-Gee
Companies visited: Allied Advanced Technologies, BrasilAgro, Clearsale, Dafiti.com.br, Globo, Groupon Brazil, Insper, JGP Investimentos, LIGHT, Maracana Stadium, Petrobras S.A., Vale S.A.
Keywords: Brazil;
Citation: Musacchio, Aldo, Thales S. Teixeira, Stephanie Galloway, Cassie Bordeau, and Felix Oberholzer-Gee. "Immersion Experience Program Note: Brazil." Harvard Business School Publishing, 2011.
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