QMS Study Claims DOOH Needs Just 1 Second of Attention to Work
2026-08-12 · via DailyDOOH
QMS has released a new attention study arguing that digital out of home needs far less active viewing time than other digital media to influence purchases and stick in memory. The research, called Turning Attention into Brand Equity: Digital Out of Home's Superpower, was produced with Amplified, the measurement firm led by Professor Karen Nelson-Field, and follows an earlier QMS attention study from 2024.
For operators and media owners, the headline claim is about efficiency. QMS says most digital channels need roughly 2.5 seconds of active attention before an ad starts to register, particularly for memory encoding. According to the study, DOOH produces measurable brand and sales effects at around 1.0 active second. QMS frames this as a structural advantage for the channel when advertisers are deciding how to split budgets across screens, feeds and video.
The study expanded on the 2024 work by covering both vehicular and pedestrian traffic, looking at QMS's Digital Large Format billboards and City of Sydney street furniture. QMS says the research drew on more than 400 hours of footage collected over 9 days, covering more than 200 campaigns and over 12,000 real-time biometric ad views from 300 participants. Average time-in-view was reported at 24.2 seconds for the City of Sydney assets and 13.9 seconds for the large format roadside boards, which QMS says gives passive attention room to support active attention rather than compete with it.
What the study does not settle
The release does not explain how "active attention" and "passive attention" were defined or measured beyond referencing biometric ad views, nor does it detail how sales uplift was tracked or over what period. It also does not say whether the findings generalise beyond Sydney's specific mix of billboards and street furniture to other markets, formats or screen sizes. Readers should treat the underlying methodology as something to check against the full report rather than the press summary.
QMS Chief Strategy Officer Christian Zavecz and Amplified's Nelson-Field both stress that media placement and creative execution have to be planned together, arguing that distinctive branding is what converts a brief glance into recalled brand equity. OMD's Thad King, quoted in the release, describes the research as a planning tool rather than a standalone metric, useful for decisions on format mix, flighting and creative deployment.
For buyers and planners, the study adds to a growing body of attention-based research being used to justify DOOH spend against other channels. For operators, the practical takeaway is that site selection and dwell time remain central to the sales pitch, and that QMS is positioning itself as a lead voice in attention measurement for the sector.
The announcement in full
Reproduced from DailyDOOH for reference. Digital Signage Magazine did not write the text below.
Leading Digital Out of Home (DOOH) media company QMS has today launched its next iteration of landmark Attention research, Turning Attention into Brand Equity: Digital Out of Home’s Superpower , revealing that DOOH requires far less active attention than traditional digital channels to drive both immediate sales and build long-term memory encoding.
Amplified Founder and CEO, Professor Karen Nelson-Field , said the findings are significant and reinforce how DOOH has evolved to be an essential, high-efficiency anchor in modern media plans. “What stands out in this study is the efficiency of DOOH. In many digital environments, we typically look for around 2.5 seconds of active attention to begin seeing an effect, particularly for memory. Here, DOOH begins to deliver measurable brand and sales outcomes at around one active second. That doesn’t mean attention is easy to earn, but it does show that in the right environment, even a short active glance can do valuable commercial work. The study also reinforces that media and creative cannot be separated. DOOH creates the opportunity for attention, but visible distinctiveness is what banks that attention into brand equity. Good creative earns the glance; strong branding ensures the brand gets the credit. For advertisers, the implication is clear: the strongest outcomes come when site selection, time-in-view and distinctive creative are planned together.”
Partnering once again with Amplified, the latest study expands the scope of the original 2024 study (click here) to capture both vehicular and pedestrian traffic across Digital Large Format billboards and City of Sydney Street Furniture.
Analysing over 400 hours of footage across 9 days, 200 plus campaigns, and over 12,000 real-time biometric ad views from 300 participants, the research provides the most comprehensive study of human attention and of how consumers naturally move through and interact with outdoor assets and environments.
QMS Chief Strategy Officer, Christian Zavecz , said that expanding the study was the natural next step to give advertisers a complete, real world understanding of how Digital OOH delivers impact across different physical environments. “What we’ve uncovered is that DOOH operates on a completely different attention model. You don’t need 3 to 5 seconds of viewing, instead with DOOH all that is needed is just one active second on a high-impact DOOH screen and brands can deliver both immediate action and create long-term brand equity which is crucial for marketers to build great brands. QMS is proud to continue leading the global conversation around attention in OOH and its subsequent media accountability. Our inaugural Attention study established that the channel commands powerful attention, but our latest findings provide granular, real-world detail across both driving and pedestrian journeys to prove DOOH’s true superpower and its ability to play a major part in omnichannel campaign solutions.”
The landmark study reveals DOOH’s commercial superpower of driving a powerful dual effect that simultaneously triggers immediate, short-term sales uplift while compounding long-term brand memory.
Where traditional digital channels require a 2.5-second active attention exposure threshold to register an impact, the DOOH advantage triggers positive outcomes by delivering measurable brand equity and sales response at around just 1.0 active second.
This rapid payoff is supported by DOOH’s substantial attention footprint, averaging 24.2 seconds across City of Sydney assets and 13.9 seconds across Large Format roadside billboards. Here, time-in-view demonstrated that it creates the opportunity to engage, with passive attention working for active attention rather than against it.
OMD Chief Planning Officer, Thad King told us “The value of this research isn’t simply proving that attention matters. It’s helping us understand what kind of attention thresholds drive different outcomes across different environments, which is a meaningful shift for planners. Understanding how active and passive attention work together gives us a stronger foundation for designing more effective media experiences. Our continued investment in this research moves attention beyond a standalone metric and into a practical planning tool, providing valuable evidence on how creative, context and channel design work together to build memory, create relevance, influence behaviour and improve campaign effectiveness. Ultimately, it helps planners make better decisions about format mix, flighting and creative deployment to drive stronger business outcomes for clients.”
The research also underscores creative effectiveness as the ultimate performance multiplier, proving that while good creative earns attention, strong, distinctive branding is what ultimately banks the equity. By mapping how attention behaves across pedestrian and driving routes, the study gives advertisers a clear blueprint of how to optimise site mix, flighting, and creative execution for maximum ROI.
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