Advertising research

Advertising research is a systematic process of marketing research conducted to improve the efficiency of advertising .

History

The highlights of the history of advertising research include:

1879 – NW Ayers conducts custom research in an attempt to win the business of Nichols-Shepard Co., a manufacturer of agricultural machinery. ^[1]

1895 – Harlow Gale of the University of Minnesota questionnaires to gather opinions about advertising from the public. ^[1]

1900s – George B. Waldron conducts qualitative research for Mahin’s Advertising Agency. ^[2]

1910s – 1911 can be considered the year of marketing research becomes an industry. That year, J. George Frederick leaves his position as an editor of Printer’s Ink to begin his research company, the Business Exchange with customers such as General Electric and the Texas Co. Also in 1911, Kellogg’s ad manager, Eastman RO creates the Association of National Advertisers which is well known to the Association of National Advertising Managers. The group’s first project is a postcard questionnaire to determine magazine readership. The results introduce the concept of duplication of circulation. In 1916, Eastman’s RO Eastman starts its own company, which has the Cosmopolitan, Christian Herald , and Eastman Research BureauGeneral Electric . ^[3]

1920s – In 1922, Dr. Daniel Starch tests reader recognition levels of magazine and newspaper advertisements and editorial content. In 1923, Dr. Gallup George begins measuring advertising readership. ^[3]

1930s – In 1936, Dr. George Gallup validates his survey by using the same tools polling voters during public elections. This enables him to compare and validate his study against the election results. ^[4]

1940s – Post World War II, the US sees a large increase in the number of market research companies. ^[4]

1950s – Market Researchers focus on improving methods and measures. In their search for a single-number statistic to capture the overall performance of creative advertising, Day-After-Recall (DAR) is created. ^[5]

1960s – Qualitative focus groups gain in popularity. ^[6] In addition, some advertisers call for greater accountability in the provision of advertising services. In response, Seymour Smith and Associates, using the Advertising Research Foundation as a jumping-off point, develops the Communicus System, a comprehensive approach to isolating the in-market impact of advertising across media.

1970s – Computers emerge as business tools, allowing researchers to conduct large-scale data manipulations. (Honomichl, p.175) Multiple studies prove DAR (Recall) scores do not predict sales. The measure, persuasion , also known as motivation , is validated as a predictor of sales. ^[7] The evidence is “breakthrough” is re-examined by researchers who make distinction between the attention-getting power of the creative execution ( attention ) and how well “branded” the ad is ( brand linkage ). ^[8] Herbert Krugman seeks to measure non-verbal measuresbiologically by tracking brain wave. (Krugman) Others with galvanic skin response, voice pitch analysis, and eye-tracking. ^[9]

1980s – Researchers begin to view business as a “flow-of-experience” rather than a “one-of-a-kind”, creating moment-by-moment systems such as the dial-a-meter. ^[10]

1990s – Ameritest Research Creates Picture Sorts to Provide Accurate Non-verbal Measurements in a Moment-by-Moment System. Picture Sorts results are graphed to visually represent commercial viewers’ moment-by-moment image recognition ( Flow of Attention ), positive and negative feelings ( Flow of Emotion ), and brand values ( Flow of Meaning ). ^[11] Trends in in-market tracking include a greater focus on the multimedia nature of entire advertising campaigns.

2000s – Global advertisers seek an integrated marketing research system that will work worldwide so they can compare results across countries. ^[12] For a look at trends for the 21st century, see Seven Trends for the Future . Dr. Robert Heath publishes the seminal and controversial monograph “The Hidden Power of Advertising”, which is one of the most popular models of advertising. His monograph leads to re-examination of in-market research approaches that compare the behaviors of those who have seen advertising versus those who have not, such as the CommunicusSystem, and the development of the new pretesting systems such as the OTX AdCEP system. ^[13]

Types

There are two types of research, customized and syndicated. Customized research for a specific client to address that client’s needs. Only that client has access to the results of the research. Syndicated research is a single research study conducted by a research company with its results available, for sale, to multiple companies. ^[14] Pre-market research can be Conducted to optimize Any advertisements for medium: radio, television, print (magazine, newspaper or direct mail), outdoor billboard (highway, bus, gold train), or Internet. Different methods would be appropriate to gather the necessary data. Post-testing is conducted after the advertising, or in a single market. The focus is on what the advertising has done for the brand, for increasing brand awareness, trial, frequency of purchasing.

Pre-testing

Pre-testing, also known as copy testing , is a specialized field of marketing research that determines the effectiveness of consumer-based responses, feedback, and behavior. Pre-testing is conducted before implementation advertisement to customers. The following methods can be followed by a pre-test:

Focus group discussion
In-depth interview
Projective techniques
Checklist method
Consumer jury method
Sales area test
Questionnaire method
Recall test
Readability test
Eye movement test

Campaign pre-testing

A new area of pre-testing driven by the realization that what works on TV does not necessarily translate into other media. Greater budgets allocated to digital media in particular. The creation of a media planning tool, and the creation of a market for the future. ^[15]

Post-testing

Post-testing / Tracking studies provide periodic or continuous market research monitoring, brand awareness, brand preference, product use and attitudes. Some post-testing approaches simply by using different methods to quantify the specific changes produced by advertising-or the campaign as a whole by the different media used.

Overall, advertisers use post-testing to plan future advertising campaigns, the most valued. The two types of campaign post-testing, which are carried out by the largest number of people in the market. . With the longitudinal approach, it is possible to go beyond the scope of awareness, and to isolate the campaign’s impact on specific behavioral and perceptual dimensions, and to isolate the impact of the media. ^[16]

Terminology

Advertising
Awareness
Brand preference
shock advertising

Notes

^ Jump up to:^a^b Honomichl p.173
Jump up^ Honomichl pp.173-174
^ Jump up to:^a^b Honomichl p. 174
^ Jump up to:^a^b Honomichl p.175
Jump up^ Young, p.6
Jump up^ Tom Greenbaum. “Internet Focus Groups: An Oxymoron” . Groups Plus, Inc.
Jump up^ Young, pp. 34-35
Jump up^ Young, April 2005, p. 5
Jump up^ Young, p.10
Jump up^ Young, p.24
Jump up^ Young, pp.21-26
Jump up^ Young, April 2005, pp. 127-135
Jump up^ Heath, RG (2001) The Hidden Power of Advertising. Admap Monograph No. 7. World Advertising Research Center. Henley-on-Thames, UK.
Jump up^ Marketing Research Association – Research Resources for the Consumer: Glossary of Marketing Research Terms ArchivedJanuary 21, 2007, at theWayback Machine.
Jump up^ Research’s Missing Link, Mediaweek, September 23, 2008
Jump up^ Thorson & Moore, 135-152