The carousel effect: leveraging sideways swiping for enhanced ad effectiveness in social media

Carousel ads introduce a unique interactive element to in-feed social media advertising by prompting consumers to swipe sideways. Four studies offer novel insights into the “carousel effect” that results from the interactivity and multi-card structure of carousel ads. An exploratory investigation of how consumers perceive and experience carousel ads reveals four experiential themes: curiosity, convenience, perceived control, and immersion. A real-world, mobile eye-tracking study further shows that activated carousel ads significantly increase attention and brand recall compared with other advertising formats, and longer carousel ads enhance attention further. Two additional studies demonstrate that brand attitude drives carousel ad activation, such that consumers are more likely to interact with carousel ads from strong brands. These findings extend perceived control and attitude–behavior consistency theories by identifying psychological mechanisms that underlie the effectiveness of carousel ads. They also offer actionable guidance for marketers seeking to improve the effectiveness of their advertising.