What is AIDA (Attention, Interest, Desire, Action) - A model of direct sales dating back to the 1890s

AIDA (Attention, Interest, Desire, Action) - A model of direct sales dating back to the 1890s when salesman St Elmo Lewis introduced the concept, and which has been developed constantly since then - notably in 1925 when E. K. Strong included it in his 1925 book, The Psychology of Selling. The online concept requires the marketer to ask: did the ad grab attention, arouse an interest, stimulate desire and provide a call for action? It is included here because the AIDA model is highly pertinent for both web sites and emails. Some contemporary authors (and practitioners) have added an 'S' to the acronym, standing for satisfaction. While this does close the loop in the action-cycle, the original concept was intended for advertising, whose action-cycle would end at their response to the ad, at which point sales procedures would take over. To add 'satisfaction' to the AIDA model suggests that the customer jumps from the call to action straight to post-purchase, missing out a number of stages in the sales process. Even online - where the 'S' has been added most prominently - the customer would have to go through an online buying procedure, and then take delivery of the goods before satisfaction was determined. Both of these events (purchase and delivery) are fraught with complications that may cause the user to fall out of the conversion funnel. As previously mentioned, the AIDA concept belongs to a time long before most modern media - let alone the Internet - existed. While the model is still valid, attempts have been made to bring it into the Internet age by renaming the process. Although some work well (for example the scent trail from grokdotcom.com), all follow the basic principles of AIDA. An element in the online buying cycle, AIDA is also the basis for persuasion architecture.