The Influence of Multimedia Advertising on Business-to-Consumer Communication

Multimedia advertising — the integrated use of text, image, audio, and video across digital and traditional channels — has transformed how firms communicate with consumers. This paper reviews scholarly work on multimedia advertising and develops a theoretical framework to explain how multimedia elements shape business-to-consumer (B2C) communication outcomes, including attention, comprehension, persuasion, engagement, and purchase intention. Drawing on Media Richness Theory, Dual-Coding Theory, the Elaboration Likelihood Model, and Uses and Gratifications perspectives, the paper proposes a qualitative research design for exploring consumers’ lived experiences of multimedia advertising across platforms (social media video, mobile display, native content, and broadcast ads). The methodology details purposive sampling, semi-structured interviews, visual elicitation, and reflexive thematic analysis. Ethical considerations, trustworthiness strategies, and limitations are discussed. Practical recommendations for advertisers and avenues for future research are offered. The paper is intended as both a literature synthesis and a blueprint for rigorous qualitative inquiry into multimedia advertising’s role in modern B2C communication. Keywords: Multimedia advertising; business-to-consumer communication; media richness; dual coding; elaboration likelihood model; qualitative methodology; thematic analysis.