Such pretesting can be done quickly with less cost than the limited posttesting type.
The author's contention is that a collaboration of managerial, behavioral and quantitative people in advertising can be established with a research system that attacks the important "problems of the middle range" that occur repeatedly in advertising.
Most important for us, the selection-scheduling type of pretest has the potential of being used in a research system involving not only pretests but also behavioral analysis, media models, field experimentation, and campaign monitoring. There is a need to present materials in a very natural way with all of the key situational variables operating while at the same time there is clear experimental control and definitive measurement of response. So the goal of our research at Stanford has been to develop a standard pretesting format for general managerial problems in advertising. The copy testing procedures that are used are also deficient in several ways. Heeler studied in one project repetition with variation in message, in another repetition with variation in media and in a third study the effect of repetition on perceptual maps. The copy testing procedures that are used are also deficient in several ways. The first is what might be called developmental pretesting. There are essentially three types of pretests which come at different stages of the advertising decision-making process. (1973). By doing pretesting within the setting of the research system just described, it is possible to develop a more realistic assessment of the communication response that occurs in specific advertising situations. Silk of MIT and I developed a proposal for a Marketing Science Institute project on determining the extra value or qualitative value of medical publications. It is not always true that variation in message can extend the life of a campaign. The academic behavioral science applier tends to see a great deal of complexity in the world. It seems that psychological, organizational and political factors are often a greater reason for copy tests than anything else. Learn all about the complete Success Story. Several aspects of this procedure should be underlined. FIGURE THE STATE OF BEHAVIORAL APPLICATION IN ADVERTISING. Not only were there repetition effects but there were also interesting differences across product categories, ad types, life cycle stage of the product, and across specific ads. Since one of the goals of the repetition project was to develop response function information for media models, it seemed reasonable that we should attempt to apply some of the laboratory findings to runs of the well-known media model MEDIAC. This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Chicago: American Marketing Association, 1972, 475-478. Paper presented at the meeting of the Association for Education in Journalism. Dan Ariely, Duke University, USA, Veronika Kadomskaia, Monash University, Australia On several occasions, however, we have identified ads with tremendous potential to harm a brand, sparing the client tremendous stress, embarrassment and fiscal disaster. (1973) and Ward and Ray (1974). (1973) and Ward and Ray (1974). The last case describes how an energy drink brand wanted to improve its positioning with its target and increase its market share to catch the product category leader. The brand launched a Multi-Country study and, with those results in hand, they launched a second study that pitted the results of their own benchmark (from previous campaigns launched via Zinklar) with the results of the new campaign. It also allows the decision maker to see how the ideas from the behavioral area and past experience apply in this specific setting.
Respondents were told that they should watch the programs as they normally would, and coffee and doughnuts were provided in the room to get them moving about as they normally would when they watch television. As a result, the brand experienced a 9% increase in sales during its airing on a global scale. The pretest is quite inefficient if it is used in isolation or if a new form of pretest is developed for each individual situation. One preliminary finding was that on many of the measures, the gross amount of clutter was not as important as the position of each advertisement within the clutter stream and the scheduling of the nonprogram material during the program itself. We'd love to hear from you so do drop us a line or follow us on Twitter. On the basis of that discussion and references to simple-minded behavioral science ideas, media models were created. Typically, the materials are unfinished advertising or advertising in a rough form. A course of that expanding realization has run through the studies that are outlined below. ), Combined Proceedings. Certified Advertising Manager. ), New models for mass communications research. This is representative of the type of general, recurring problem that should be studied by such a research system. It is unreasonable to expect a variation in copy to show up in a test marketing situation in which these variations ln copy have not been experimentally manipulated. The general finding (reported in detail in Part II of the December,1971,Management Science) was that the model ran much more efficiently and produced better results when the more textured data from the laboratory pretests were used as opposed to a single function run of the model. Two of the messages that were found to have quite opposite and interesting effects on the parents audience were run in a month long split cable field experiment in the Ad Tel West split cable market. As the repetition project has developed, we have moved from a belief in the straight learning hierarchy of effects ideas with common exponential functions of response toward one in which there are a variety of hierarchy possibilities with unusual functional relationships. To learn more about Zinklars market research Success Stories, visit our page and learn how we helped world-class brands reach the next level and place the consumer at the centre of their organizations. Usually copy tests are done with accidental samples, without the normal surrounding material that is involved when ads are actually exposed, without the variations of exposure that allow a scheduling decision (that is, there tends not to be any repetition variation or variations in program type or variation in media type or variation in competitive setting), without measurement on the several levels that determine advertising response in an effective way, and without delayed measurement or measurement of purchasing action. This provides very little direction in terms of how the ads would operate in an actual schedule in an actual campaign. All exams are online now due to COVID related precautions. Sainsburys switched its TV account to M&C Saatchi soon after. The study ran over a 13 week period with respondents receiving mailings on a weekly basis. In fact, it is possible to add print ad versions of commercials and increase exposure up to 10. A good advertisement pre-test provides a view on how successful an ad will be and it provides insight on how to improve the creative idea and execution to optimise its impact. A small scale developmental study was done to determine the effects of asking for response during the exposure to repetitive advertising. In essence, there were three general types of attacks on advertising problems, none of which was totally satisfactory. It combines the advantages of experimental control with an effective cover story and relatively natural exposure conditions. There were essentially four experimental treatments: GSR only, teletype only, both GSR and teletype, and normal after-exposure measurement only. So his answer to the repetition function question. A course of that expanding realization has run through the studies that are outlined below. Given the ambivalent state of affairs with regard to the repetition function problem and others which recur in advertising, we felt that there was a need to develop a research system which could be applied to such problems. Ward, Scott & Ray, Michael L. Cognitive responses to mass communication: Results from laboratory studies and a field experiment. These findings,,which are presented in more detail in Ward and Ray (1974), indicated a planning procedure in which the three-orders hierarchy model is used as an initial planning step but copy testing with multiple measurement is essential to determine the nature of communication response in each specific advertising situation. Since, as shown on the chart, there is really no research done in this approach, the behavioral scientist answering the question usually said: "Well maybe, there might be response function differences.". Studies XI and XII: Television Clutter Research. This is done with finished advertising, and its goal is to determine which of several alternatives should be run and how those alternatives should be run or scheduled. Beverly Hills: Sage Publications, 1973. By attaching respondents to a GSR monitoring system, it was possible to see if resulting gross arousal changes had any pattern during the advertisement exposures. On the basis of that discussion and references to simple-minded behavioral science ideas, media models were created. Professor Alvin J.
You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. That is, pretests are often asked to predict to a situation in which the very variables which are manipulated in the lab are not cleanly manipulated. Once the previous five stages of the research system are done, there would be a great deal of information on the particular alternatives that survive and are actually run in campaigns. An ad pre-test is a market research type of survey that allows brands to get consumer feedback and test ads before launching a new campaign to make sure they nail it! These results are reported in Ray et al. Also included in the questionnaire are questions on respondent characteristics and past experience with the products and brands involved. Presidential campaign advertising seems to operate in a more high involvement way than the product advertising; whereas the congressional and state assembly advertising seems to operate in a more low involvement manner than the product advertising. According to Orlando Wood at BrainJuicer, the advertising ran in Q2 of 2007, and value sales in this quarter were up 218% vs the previous quarter and 126% vs the same quarter of the previous year. These can be print ads, animatics, storyboards, or even fully finished commercials. After all, it's impossible to replicate a Sunday afternoon in front of the telly during a research situation.
Professor Alvin J. The ads also sometimes are tested by advertisers on their own employees. Our data have been promising thus far and offer hope for improved advertising planning in the future. So the model builders answer to the question was typically: "No, there are no differential effects on the repetition response function due to the situation." Rothschild's study also included products that were similar to the classifications in Studies I and II. Parents, junior high school and senior high school students were the three kinds of audiences for the study, and they came to central school and organization locations for the test interviewing.
Membership in ACR is relatively inexpensive, but brings significant benefits to its members. The respondents are not told to concentrate on the commercials themselves. So emotion plays a much bigger role in our decision-making than we previously thought. Central location tests are also on of the effective means pf pre testing ads where the consumers are shown the ads in shopping centers with questions asked before and after the ad or commercial. Or Levis Bold New Breed, or Stella Artoiss French Peasants. All these ads did poorly in pre-testing but succeeded on-air. One current version of our recommended research system is in Figure 1, which originally appeared in Ray (1972, p. 476). Here the alternatives are in as finished form as possible, the sampling is more representative of the audience, and measurement is made to determine realistic communication response rather than physiological indicators or consumer opinions of advertising effectiveness. The studies that have been done with the technique have included competitive messages, multi-media effects, differences in cover story and degree of attention directed to messages, variation in distraction, and in the types of viewing groups. (Youd be surprised at how often this is a problem.) One current version of our recommended research system is in Figure 1, which originally appeared in Ray (1972, p. 476). Usually copy tests are done with accidental samples, without the normal surrounding material that is involved when ads are actually exposed, without the variations of exposure that allow a scheduling decision (that is, there tends not to be any repetition variation or variations in program type or variation in media type or variation in competitive setting), without measurement on the several levels that determine advertising response in an effective way, and without delayed measurement or measurement of purchasing action. Typically there are repetitive exposures of test commercials embedded in a stream of messages, and there is multiple measurement after test exposures to determine the nature of communication response. His research is reported in an article in the November,1974,Journal of Marketing Research. (Stanford GSB Research Paper No. By varying the amount of competitive advertising, Heeler was able to show that response was quite different depending on the measure. Field Study 1. We believe we have a useful pretesting technique that can be used in a wide variety of situations. Direct questions asked about the product or brand or service can elicit a number of responses giving the advertisers an idea as to how well the ad message has been designed and how capable is it of conveying the main points. That is, pretests are often asked to predict to a situation in which the very variables which are manipulated in the lab are not cleanly manipulated. This is usually used at a later stage in the decision-making process when the alternatives have been narrowed down to a very few, often times one. Given the ambivalent state of affairs with regard to the repetition function problem and others which recur in advertising, we felt that there was a need to develop a research system which could be applied to such problems. Our data have been used in media model runs with positive results. The system includes managerial aspects with multimeasures representing managerial goals, behavioral aspects with multimethods representing the main contributions of the behavioral sciences, and quantitative concerns with multisituations bringing in the quantitative sciences. Govt. (1973) as well as in an article by Rothschild and Ray in the July 1974 issue of Communication Research. One ad was quickly identified as a career killer and quickly eliminated. Imperial Leisure is a data-driven creative agency in London and Singapore working across all media including social media, PR, CRM, advertising, digital, mobile, print, retail and viral marketing. Study VII Methods of Continuous Repetition Response Measurement. One of the measures was galvanic skin response. Unlike the results in study one, which indicated that there was no consistent color versus black and white difference, this study found that the color campaign was more effective in generating gross awareness of the advertising, while the black and white campaign, if recalled, was recalled at a greater depth. Contrary to previous research in this series, the advertising was placed in the context of program material, and the cover story consisted of the "television violence-humor project." And feedback is almost non-existent. San Diego, August, 1974. It is possible to make the conditions of exposure quite natural and measure on a number of levels so the full texture of communication response can be gauged. Ravi Mehta, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, USA
FaceTrace uses pictures of these human faces in different states of emotion to measure emotional response. In most of the research we have done the "Shopping of the Future" cover story has been used. This affected him in several ways. Using pure reason alone, he seemed unable to weigh up the pros and cons of the two dates, and the hospital staff had to choose the date for him. Advertising Pre-Testing can help optimize and perfect your creative campaign prior to its large scale launch, protecting you from underperforming advertisements, potentially saving you thousands of dollars and preserving your brand reputation. Respondents were told that they should watch the programs as they normally would, and coffee and doughnuts were provided in the room to get them moving about as they normally would when they watch television. In addition, these were the first studies done with television advertising. Identifies strengths of weaknesses of an advertisement, Measures the overall appeal and appeal to different target groups. This was later echoed by scientists at Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, who found that a decision is formed in our subconscious around 10 seconds before we believe weve consciously made that decision. For most people, the first time they learn about a new product, service, or brand is through some type of advertising campaign. Several aspects of this procedure should be underlined. Michael Rothschild did a study in a shopping center storefront in which the key variables were levels of political contest and political involvement of respondents. It is with these types of goals in mind that the pretesting research and techniques of our project have been developed. Most important for us, the selection-scheduling type of pretest has the potential of being used in a research system involving not only pretests but also behavioral analysis, media models, field experimentation, and campaign monitoring. In essence, there were three general types of attacks on advertising problems, none of which was totally satisfactory. So the model builders answer to the question was typically: "No, there are no differential effects on the repetition response function due to the situation." There is one more stage of the research system which is not shown in Figure 1. Since these copy tests do not have the variations that might allow them to be related to the field, it is very difficult for copy testers to say anything more than Ad A seems to be better than Ad B. The measures tend to be either gross physiological ones or, on the other hand, consumer "expert" opinions about the content of advertising. The procedure we have used in the Stanford program is an after-only experimental design with a double-blind cover story. For instance, in the color versus black and white test, the black and white ads that did well on depth response in the lab tended to out-perform the color ads in ad and brand awareness in the field. In Peter Clarke (Ed. Continuous monitoring systems, especially of the repetitive survey type, can provide additional information which might be utilized in the earlier stages of the decision process. The function of copy testing in such a research system is to take the alternatives developed from the second stage and test the way they have been implemented in the specific situation of concern. This kind of question is almost immediately examined in a copy test without: (a) any intervening examination of past experience relative to the general types of ads involved or (b) behavioral science information which might provide hints as to whether either or both of the alternatives should be considered at all. The results are compared to the new creative executions to make sure your new ideas will out-perform whats already out there. There are several problems with this sort of validational approach. Weve seen a lot of advertising, well ahead of the general public. For those interested, there are three papers which give greater detail on the research (Ray, 1972, Ray et al. The research proposed was quite similar to that used in the repetition area, and it gave further testimony to the flexibility of this particular copy testing technique. In Descartes Error, neurologist Antonio Damasio recounts the case of a patient with ventromedial prefrontal brain damage who lost his ability to feel emotion. The second one involves a Spanish laundry detergent brand with an international portfolio (including in Poland, Hungary, Czech Republic, Italy and Portugal), which wanted to launch its new ad campaign across these countries and make sure it had the same impact in all of them. 