Study rebuts 'engagement' assumptions.

The article offers information on a new study on engagement with magazines delivers a blow to true believers. The study suggests that advertisements in high-engagement magazines perform no better than advertisements in magazines whose readers pay a lot less attention. That contradicts not just conventional wisdom but the hopes of publishers whose books really grip their readers. Publishers and media buyers said engagement is more complex than the study acknowledges, but its authors said magazines should welcome the implications. Brenda White, VP-director of print investment, Starcom World-wide, said more research is always good, but creative execution is only one factor alongside elements such as relevancy and magazine characteristics.