Methods in Advertising Research:

•Research can be conducted to optimize advertisements for

Advertising Research- any medium: radio, television, print (magazine, newspaper or
Pre-Testing and Post-Testing direct mail), outdoor billboard (highway, bus, or train), or
Internet. Different methods would be applied to gather the
necessary data appropriately.
Presented and submitted by •There are primarily two broad types of advertising research
[Link] [19L31E0124]
VIGNAN INSTITUTE OF INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY {A} viz. Pre-testing and Post-testing.

PRE-TESTING Pre-Tests for Broadcast Media Advertisements:

• Pre-testing, also known as copy testing is a form of customized research that predicts in-market performance of an ad,
before it airs, by analyzing audience levels of attention, brand linkage, motivation, entertainment, and communication, as
• In Home Projection Tests: A movie projector screen is installed at consumer’s home to show him the test
well as breaking down the ad’s Flow of Attention and Flow of Emotion.
commercials. He is questioned before and after the exposure to the advertisements. The questions are related to the ad
and the change it causes after exposure. The strong and weak points of the ads can be assessed.
Pre-Tests for Print Media Advertisements:
• Consumer Jury Test: Few consumers form a group and act as jury to show their preferences for one or two ads out of • Trailer Tests: Two groups of customers are considered. Both are given discount coupons to purchase the brand under
several being considered. The jury members rank the ads and respond to the questions like which was the most impressive consideration and are invited to shop in a real life shopping environment, a departmental store, a shopping centre etc.
ad or which ad provoked you most to go ahead and buy the product or which ad did you notice first and so on. The prospects are invited to the display their products. Now one group is shown the test ads whereas the other group is
not. The redemption rate of coupons is measured for both groups which may give an idea about the effectiveness of test
ads.
• Portfolio Test: Along with the regular advertisements some dummy copies are kept in a folio. Then the consumer-sample
sees the folio. The consumer is then asked about what he has seen in each ads. The ad giving minimum playback is • Theatre Test: A group of people who could be a captive audience for an entertainment programme is considered and a
considered the best. But then it is necessary to observe whether the chosen advertisement is dummy or regular. If found questionnaire is sent to them. The free tickets are later sent to them for the programme where the test ads are run. On
dummy the actual one is improved on the same lines. viewing these, they are asked to fill up another questionnaire. It assesses product, brand and its theme.

• Mock magazine Test: Unlike the above method of keeping the advertisements in a folio, test ads are introduced in a real
magazine to an experimental group to read. The control group is also exposed to the same magazine, but is without test ads.
Later a recall test is conducted to assess the effectiveness оf test ads.
 POST-TESTING Progress Tests
• Post-testing or Ad tracking, as otherwise known, can be customised or syndicated. Tracking studies provide either periodic or • These tests assess the total sales effect from the ad and hence is also called sales effect test. In other words, the
continuous in-market research monitoring a brand’s performance, including brand awareness, brand preference, product usage various stages through which a customer passes and finally purchases are because of the advertisement or not is
and attitudes. Among the various post testing techniques used most common ones are: analysed. Some of the methods included are:

• Penetration tests: Recognition/recall.

• The Netapps Method: Netapps stands for Net-Ad-Produced-Purchases. It takes a sample population of which some
• Progress tests or Sales Effects Tests. have read or viewed the advertisement and others have not. In each group those who did and did not purchase the
brand under investigation are found and analysed as to what percentage bought under the influence of the
advertisement.
1. Penetration Tests:
• Intent-to-buy Test: The readers or viewers of the advertisement are asked about their intention to buy. For positive
Daniel Starch had given the details of this test for the first time in his book Principles of Advertising (Chicago- A W Shaw, 1923). responses further investigations are done to find the strong influences in the advertisement because of which they
The results are put into three categories: decide to buy.

• Sales Result Tests: Following are some of sales results tests which measure the additional sales generated by the
1. Noted (N): A person who only remembers having seen the ad in the issue under study ads. Past Sales before and after the ad are recorded and the difference is accounted for as an impact of
advertisement. An audit may be run on the dealers inventory before and after the advertisement.
2. Seen-Associated (A). A person who not only remembers seeing it but also claims to have seen or read some part of it. He may
even associate the ad with the product or advertiser
3. Read-Most (RM). The person who has read half or more of the written material in the ad.

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