Cross-device synergy VERSUS Cross-media synergy

Synergy can increase or decrease the effectiveness and efficiency of advertising campaigns that combine multiple communication devices. But in previous research, the effects of using different devices (e.g., TV-sets, radios and personal computers) have been confounded with the effects of using different communication formats (e.g. respectively, video, audio and websites). This paper documents empirical patterns across three studies that measured cross-device effects after controlling the format and viewing environment, to be identical across four different viewing screens: TV-sets, PCs, iPods, and mobile phones. Overall, when the format is the same, the device makes no difference to ad effectiveness. Furthermore, under those conditions, any combination of devices is equally effective. In other words, cross-format synergies may be possible but cross-device synergies are not possible