The strongest evidence comes from a 2026 field experiment covering 1.3 million online store visits. Shoppers who used a product configurator were 27% more likely to buy. The effect grew with price and complexity, and shrank for cheap, simple products. But the same study found a limit: the more clicks and time people spent inside the configurator, the weaker the effect became. Interaction that helps you choose converts. Interaction that becomes work does not.

Attention shows the same pattern. In an IAB lab study, interactive video ads with a call to action earned a 134% lift in visual attention and higher brand recall among people already interested in the category. For cold audiences, a light learn more step outperformed a hard shop now.

Now the counterweight. A meta-analysis of 63 studies found that more interactivity does not automatically mean better recall or understanding. And field experiments with in-store touchscreens found no direct sales lift at all; the value came indirectly, through the feeling of control.

So yes, interactivity drives engagement: the attention and recall numbers back that up. But it converts when the interaction has a job to do: understand the product, compare the options, see your own configuration. What people do themselves is what they remember, provided what they do actually helps them decide. That is why we start every project with what your buyer needs to decide, not with what a screen can do.

Selling something complex? That is exactly where the evidence is strongest.

Sources: IAB (2018), The Interactive Ad Effect: CTAs in Mobile Video Shoppable Ads; Mosaic & Event Marketer (2018), EventTrack; Freeman & Edelman DXI (2023), Freeman Trust Report.