A model used by businesses when making decisions over advertising (and other methods of promotion). The suggestion is that for advertising to be effective, it must move potential customers through AIDA, ie move customers from ignorance of a business and / or its products and (1) raise awareness that the business and / or its product(s) exists; (2) create interest in the product; (3) stimulate desire to obtain the product; (4) promote action eg encourage the customer to contact the business to find out more about the product and / or actually purchase the product. AIDA is often talked about in relation to advertising but can apply to any method of promotion. In some case, for instance, advertising is needed to get potential buyers to the awareness and interest stage, and sometimes it is sufficient to move them to action. In other cases, the effort should shift to personal selling to promote action and secure the deal.