AIDA (marketing)

The AIDA marketing model was originally created by St Elmo Lewis to breakdown how an advert should work (drive Awareness, spark Interest, create Desire and prompt Action). However, it has been re-used by many marketers to represent the first part of the customer journey instead. However, there are other models such as the RACE model (Chaffey) which offer a more thorough representation of this.

AIDA is a model within the class known as hierarchy of effects models or hierarchical models, all of which imply that consumers move through a series of steps or stages when they make purchase decisions. These models are linear, sequential models built on an assumption that consumers move through a series of cognitive (thinking) and affective (feeling) stages culminating in a behavioural (doing e.g. purchase or trial) stage.