Chapter Twelve
Assessing Ad
Message
Effectiveness
Chapter Twelve Objectives
• Explain the rationale and importance of
message research.
• Describe the various research techniques
used to measure consumer’s recognition
and recall of advertising messages.
• Illustrate measures of physiological
arousal to advertisements.
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Chapter Twelve Objectives
• Explicate the role of persuasion
measurement, including pre- and posttesting of consumer preference.
• Explain the meaning and operation of
single-source measures of advertising
effectiveness.
• Examine some key conclusions regarding
television advertising effectiveness.
3
Overview of Advertising Research
It’s not easy or inexpensive
but the value outweighs the drawbacks.
• More than 80% of advertisers and agencies
pretest television commercials before airing
them on a national basis.
4
What Does Advertising Research
Involve?
Media Effectiveness (covered later)
Message Research
• To test effectiveness of messages
• Pretesting ads during developmental stages
• Posttesting to determine if messages achieve
their established objectives
5
Four Stages At Which Ad Message
Research Might Be Conducted
1.
2.
3.
4.
Copy development stage
“Rough” stage
Final production stage
After the ad has been run in the media
6
Industry Standards for Message Research
PACT Principles
Principle 1: provide measurements that are
relevant to the advertising objectives
Principle 2: requires agreement about how the
results will be used in advance of each
specific test
Principle 3: provides multiple measurements
because single measurements are generally
inadequate
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Industry Standards for Message Research
PACT Principles
Principle 4: based on a model of human
response to communications
Reception of a stimulus
Comprehension of the stimulus
The response of the stimulus
Principle 5: allows for consideration of
whether the advertising stimulus should be
exposed more than once
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Industry Standards for Message Research
PACT Principles
Principle 6: recognizes that a more finished
piece of copy can be evaluated more
soundly
Alternative executions be tested in the same
degree of finish
Principle 7: system provides controls to
avoid the bias normally found in the
exposure context
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Industry Standards for Message Research
PACT Principles
Principle 8: takes into account basic
considerations of sample definition
Requires that the sample be representative of
the target audience
Principle 9: can demonstrate reliability and
validity
A reliable test is one that yields
consistent results
A valid test is one that is predictive of
the marketplace performance
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What Can Be Learned from
Message Research?
• Message research is needed to diagnose
an advertisement’s prospective equityenhancing and sales-expanding potential.
• The ARF assessed which of 35 measures
best predicts the sales effectiveness of
television commercials. The only definitive
conclusion of their study is that no one
measure is universally appropriate or best.
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Message Research Methods
Qualitative Message
Research
Quantitative
Message Research
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Quantitative Message Research
Measurement
Understanding
Control
Improvement
13
Illustrative Message Research
Methods
14
Advertising Research Methods
Message
Research
Methods
Recognition & Recall
Physiological Arousal
Persuasion
Sales Response
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Message Research Methods
• Starch readership
service (magazines)
• Bruzzone tests (TV)
• Burke day-after recall
(TV)
Recognition & Recall
Physiological Arousal
Persuasion
Sales Response
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Starch Readership Service
Measures the primary objective of a
magazine ad—to be seen and read
Examines reader awareness of ads in
consumer magazines and business
publications
Readers are classified
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Starch Readership Service
Classifications
Noted—remember having previously
seen the ad in the issue being studied
Associated—noted the ad and saw or
read some part of it that clearly
indicated the name of the brand or
advertiser
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Starch Readership Service
Classifications
Read Some—read any part of the ad’s
copy
Read Most—read half or more of the
written material in the ad
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Starch Readership Service
Indices are developed
ADNORM index: compares an
advertisement’s scores against other ads in
the same product category as well as the
same size (e.g., full page) and color
classifications (e.g., four-color ads)
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Measures of
Recognition &
Recall
• 39% of people
noted the ad,
• 37% associated it,
• 27% read some of
it, and
• 10% read most of
the body copy
contained in the
ad.
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Measures of
Recognition &
Recall
• 58% of people noted
the ad,
• 54% associated it,
• 39% read some of it,
and
• 39% read most of
the body copy
contained in the ad.
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Starch Readership Service
• Kia Sorento ad
Adnorm index scores
• 72 (noted)
• 74 (associated)
• 73 (read some)
• 59 (read most)
• The ad performed
28% worse than the
average noted score
for similar ads.
• Jose Cuervo Especial
Tequila ad
• 107 (noted)
• 108 (associated)
• 105 (read some)
• 229 (read most)
• The ad performed
slightly above
average noted score
for similar ads.
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Bruzzone Tests
Bruzzone test provides
advertisers with a test of
consumer recognition of
television commercials.
Anything identifying the
brand is removed, to test
whether viewers
remember the name of the
advertiser.
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Measures of Recognition & Recall
Bruzzone test
Advertising Response Model (ARM)
links responses to the 27
descriptive adjectives to consumers’
attitudes toward both the ad and the
advertised brand and to purchase
interest.
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ARM for the “Thanking the Troops”
Commercial
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Measures of Recognition & Recall
Bruzzone test
Provides valid prediction of actual marketplace
performance along with being relatively
inexpensive
Doesn’t provide a before-the-fact indication
Tests offer important info for evaluating a
commercial’s effectiveness and whether it
should continue to run
Tests are performed online
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Measures of Recognition & Recall
Burke Day-After Recall Testing
• Used to assess the effectiveness of test
commercials and to ID strengths and
weaknesses
(1) Claimed-recall scores—indicate the
percentage of respondents who recall
seeing the ad
(2) Related-recall scores—indicate the
percentage of respondents who accurately
describe specific advertising elements
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Measures of Recognition & Recall
Burke Day-After Recall Testing
Coke execs reject recall as a valid
measure
1) Recall simply measures whether an ad
is received but not whether the message
is accepted
2) Recall is biased in favor of younger
consumers
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Measures of Recognition & Recall
Burke Day-After Recall Testing
3) Recall scores generated by ads are not
predictive of sales performance
4) Day-after recall testing is biased against certain
types of advertising content
Understate the memorability of commercials that
employ emotional or feeling-oriented themes and are
biased in favor of rational or thought-oriented
commercials
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Day-After Recall Vs. MaskedRecognition Research Findings
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Message Research Methods
Recognition & Recall
• Psychogalvanometer
• Pupilometer
Physiological Arousal
Persuasion
Sales Response
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Measures of Recognition & Recall
Measures of Physiological Arousal
• Ads that are better liked are more
likely to be remembered and to
persuade
• Efforts are now made to measure
consumer’s affective and emotional
reactions to ads
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Measures of Recognition & Recall
Measures of Physiological Arousal
• Galvanometer—measures minute levels of
perspiration in response to emotional arousal
• Pupillometric tests—measure pupil dilation
• Advertising researchers use changes in
physiological functions to indicate the actual,
unbiased amount of arousal resulting from
ads.
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Message Research Methods
• Ipsos-ASI Next*TV
method
• Rsc’s ARS Persuasion
method
Recognition & Recall
Physiological Arousal
Persuasion
Sales Response
35
Measures of Persuasion
Used when an advertiser’s
objective is to influence
consumers’ attitudes toward and
preference for the advertised
brand.
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Measures of Persuasion
Ipsos-ASI Next*TV Method
• Performs ad research in more than 50
countries
• Tests television commercials in
consumers’ homes
• Tells consumers to evaluate a TV
program, but actually evaluating the
commercials within the program
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Measures of Persuasion
Ipsos-ASI Next*TV Method
• One day after viewing—personal contact
with sampled consumers and measure
their reactions to the TV program and
the advertisements
• Measures message recall and
persuasion
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Measures of Persuasion
Ipsos-ASI Next*TV Method
• Persuasion measured by:
Consumers’ attitudes toward
advertised brands
Shift in brand preferences
Brand-related purchase intent and
frequency
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Measures of Persuasion
Ipsos-ASI Next*TV Method
1) Tests in a natural environment
2) Assesses the ability of TV commercials to
break through the clutter
3) Determines how well tested commercials
are remembered after this delay period
4) Allows the use of a representative national
sampling
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Measures of Persuasion
The ARS Persuasion Method--rsc
1) Respondents indicate what brands they prefer
to receive among a “basket” of options—the
pre measure.
2) After exposure to a television program
respondents again indicate what brands they
would prefer to receive if their name were
selected in a drawing—the post measure.
ARS Persuasion Score = Post % for target brand –
Pre % for target brand
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Measures of Persuasion
The ARS Persuasion Method--rsc
The ARS Persuasion score simply represents the
post-measure percentage of respondents
preferring the target brand minus the premeasure percentage who prefer that brand
A positive score indicates a shifted preference
toward the target brand
A higher-scoring commercial generates greater
sales volume and larger market share gains
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Measures of Persuasion
The ARS Persuasion Method--rsc
ARS Persuasion scores are valid predictors
of in-market performance
The higher the score, the greater the
likelihood that a tested commercial will
produce positive sales gains when the
focal brand is advertised under realworld, in-market conditions
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Predictive Validity of ARS
Persuasion Scores
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Message Research Methods
Recognition & Recall
• AC Nielsen’s
SCANTRACK
• IRI’s BehaviorScan
Physiological Arousal
Persuasion
Sales Response
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Measures of Sales Response
Single-Source Systems
Gather purchase data from panels of
households using:
(1) electronic television meters
(2) optical laser scanning of universal
product codes (UPC) at retail checkout
(3) split-cable technology
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Measures of Sales Response
Nielsen’s SCANTRACK
SCANTRACK collects purchase data by having
panel households use handheld scanners
Panelists record purchases of every bar-coded
product purchased regardless of the store
where purchased
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Measures of Sales Response
Nielsen’s SCANTRACK
Use handheld scanners to enter:
Any coupons used
Record all store deals
Record in-store features that influenced
their purchasing decisions
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Measures of Sales Response
IRI’s BehaviorScan
IRI knows what items each household
purchases by linking up optically
scanned purchases with ID numbers
Members provide IRI with detailed
demographic information
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Measures of Sales Response
IRI’s BehaviorScan
Single source data consists of:
(1) household demographic info
(2) household purchase behavior
(3) household exposure to new television
commercials that are tested under real
world test conditions
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Measures of Sales Response
IRI’s BehaviorScan
Uses optically scanned purchase data
to know exactly which commercial
each household had the opportunity
to see and how much of a brand is
purchased
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Measures of Sales Response
IRI’s BehaviorScan
Two types of tests are offered: (1) weight
tests and (2) copy tests
1) Weight tests—panel households are
divided into test and control groups
2) Copy tests—holds the amount of weight
constant but varies commercial content
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Conclusions by rsc
• Ad copy must be distinctive
• Ad weight without persuasiveness is
insufficient
• The selling power of advertising
wears out over time
• Advertising works quickly if it works at
all
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Conclusion 1: All Commercials Are
Not Created Equal: Ad Copy Must
Be Distinctive
• Commercials having strong selling
propositions are distinctive and tend to
achieve higher ARS Persuasion scores.
• Commercials for new brands tend to be
most persuasive, but commercials for
established brands can be made
persuasive via brand differentiation.
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Illustration
Of a
Commercial
With a Strong
Selling
Proposition
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Evidence from Frito-Lay’s Copy
Tests
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Conclusion 2—More is Not
Necessarily Better: Weight Is Not
Enough
• Ad weight means the number of gross
rating points (GRP) that support an
advertising campaign.
• An ineffective ad (not distinctive or
persuasive) has no likelihood of increasing
sales even if the ad weight is doubled or
tripled.
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Relations
Among
Advertising
Weight,
Persuasion
Scores,
and Sales.
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The Role of Sales-Effective Advertising
for an Undisclosed Campbell Soup Brand
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The Relationship Between Media
Weight and Creative Content
47 commercials for established brands were
tested and classified as:
1. Rational information
2. Heuristic appeals
3. Affectively based cues
Finding: increased advertising weight led to
significant sales increases in sales only
for commercials using affective cues.
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Conclusion 3—All Good Things
Must End: Advertising Eventually
Wears Out
• Advertising ultimately wears out and must
be refreshed to maintain or increase brand
sales.
• Familiar brands have been shown to wear
out more slowly than unfamiliar brands.
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Conclusion 4—Don’t Be Stubborn:
Advertising Works Quickly or Not at
All
• Some advertisers tend to “hang in there”
and wait for an ad to increase sales.
• Most of the sales impact occurs in the first
three months of a new ad.
• “Sunk costs” are an issue to consider, but
if an ad is not working at first, it probably
never will.
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