MBM012 Integrated Marketing Communications | MBA08

MEASURING AD
MESSAGE
EFFECTIVENESS
Session 19, 22 nd November 2023

Dr Aswathy Asokan Ajitha

MBM012 Integrated Marketing Communications | MBA08

National Youth Anti-Drug Media Campaign

Print Ad

Dr Aswathy Asokan Ajitha

MBM012 Integrated Marketing Communications | MBA08

National Youth Anti-Drug Media Campaign

Dr Aswathy Asokan Ajitha

MBM012 Integrated Marketing Communications | MBA08

What Does Advertising Research

Involve?
• Testing the effectiveness of messages
• Pretesting ads during developmental stages
• Post-testing to determine if messages achieve their established
objectives

Media Effectiveness

Message Research
Dr Aswathy Asokan Ajitha
MBM012 Integrated Marketing Communications | MBA08

Overview of Advertising Research

◦ More than 80% of advertisers and agencies pretest television

commercials before airing them on a national basis.

It’s not easy or inexpensive, but the

value outweighs the drawbacks.

Dr Aswathy Asokan Ajitha

MBM012 Integrated Marketing Communications | MBA08

Four Stages At Which Ad Message Research

Might Be Conducted

1. Copy development stage (focus groups)

2. “Rough” stage
3. Final production stage (pretesting; e.g., copy tests)
4. After the ad has been run in the media (post-testing, e.g.,
tracking)

Dr Aswathy Asokan Ajitha

MBM012 Integrated Marketing Communications | MBA08

Ideal Measures in Advertising

Research
• Provide an early warning signal
• Evaluates in terms of sales volume generated by advertising
• Satisfy reliability & validity
• Permit quick & inexpensive measurement

Dr Aswathy Asokan Ajitha

MBM012 Integrated Marketing Communications | MBA08

Industry standards for advertising

research
A good copy testing system should (have) ...

(1) Measures that are (2) Agreement about

relevant to the how the results will be
advertising used
objectives

(4) A model of human

(3) Multiple
response to communications
measurements
(information processing steps)

Dr Aswathy Asokan Ajitha

MBM012 Integrated Marketing Communications | MBA08

Cont..
(5) Consider whether the (6) Alternative executions
ad stimulus should be that are tested in the
exposed more than once same degree of finish

(7) Provide controls to

(8) Take into account
avoid the bias normally
found in the exposure basic considerations of
context the sample definition

(9) Demonstrate
reliability and validity

Dr Aswathy Asokan Ajitha

MBM012 Integrated Marketing Communications | MBA08

Illustrative Media Research Methods

• Magazine Audience Measurement
◦ Simmons Market Research Bureau
◦ GfK Mediamark Research & Intelligence (MRI)

• Radio Audience Measurement

◦ Arbitron ratings (RADAR – national, 70,000 > 12 yrs.; Arbitron – 250 local markets, 13,000
> 12 yrs.)
◦ Portable people meters
◦ Naviguage (continuous tracking, moment by moment)

• Television Audience Measurement

◦ Nielsen people meters

Dr Aswathy Asokan Ajitha

MBM012 Integrated Marketing Communications | MBA08

Advertising Research Methods

Recognition & Recall

Message Emotion
Research
Methods Persuasion

Sales Response

Dr Aswathy Asokan Ajitha

MBM012 Integrated Marketing Communications | MBA08

Illustrative Message Research Methods

Dr Aswathy Asokan Ajitha

MBM012 Integrated Marketing Communications | MBA08

Message Research Methods: Recognition &

Recall
• GfK MRI’s Starch Ad Readership Studies (magazine recognition)

• Bruzzone tests (TV recognition) Recognition & Recall

• Day-after recall testing (TV recall)
Emotion

Persuasion

Sales Response

Dr Aswathy Asokan Ajitha

MBM012 Integrated Marketing Communications | MBA08

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
◦ Read Any: read any part of the ad’s copy
◦ Read Most: read half or more of the written material in the ad

• Two indices are developed:

1. ISSUE index: Compares an ad’s scores against the average scores for all ads in the magazine issue,
and

2. 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)

Dr Aswathy Asokan Ajitha

MBM012 Integrated Marketing Communications | MBA08

Starch Advertising Research Report

Dr Aswathy Asokan Ajitha

MBM012 Integrated Marketing Communications | MBA08

Measure of Recognition (TV)

• Bruzzone Tests
◦ Provides advertisers with a test of
consumer recognition of television
commercials

Dr Aswathy Asokan Ajitha

MBM012 Integrated Marketing Communications | MBA08

Cont..
• Bruzzone Tests
◦ Advertising Response Model (ARM) links
responses to 27 descriptive adjectives to
consumers’ attitudes toward both the ad and
the advertised brand and to purchase intent

Dr Aswathy Asokan Ajitha

MBM012 Integrated Marketing Communications | MBA08

Measures of Recognition & Recall

• Burke Day-After Recall Testing (TV)
◦ Although no longer in use, the day-after recall test serves as the model for many
other recall tests
◦ Run test TV commercials
◦ Next day – telephone interviews with ~150 consumers
◦ Watch TV program? Present when commercials aired?
◦ Give product/brand cue. See commercial? Recall ad elements?

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

Dr Aswathy Asokan Ajitha

MBM012 Integrated Marketing Communications | MBA08

Message Research Methods:

Emotion
• BBDO’s Emotional Measurement System
• Facial imaging technology Recognition & Recall
• Self reporting
• Physiological tests Emotion
• Brain Imaging (fMRI)
• Biometrics
Persuasion

Sales Response

Dr Aswathy Asokan Ajitha

MBM012 Integrated Marketing Communications | MBA08

BBDO’s Emotional Measurement

System

BBDO Emotional Measurement System and Photos

That Might Reflect Disgust and Happiness
Dr Aswathy Asokan Ajitha
MBM012 Integrated Marketing Communications | MBA08

nViso Tracks Facial Muscles

Dr Aswathy Asokan Ajitha

MBM012 Integrated Marketing Communications | MBA08

Emotional Reactions: Physiological

Tests
• The Galvanometer
• The Pupillometer
• Eye Tracking
• Voice-pitch analysis
• Binocular rivalry

• Physiological tests may give indications of arousal or engagement, but they do

not always indicate true valence, i.e., the positive or negative directions of this
arousal or engagement.

Dr Aswathy Asokan Ajitha

MBM012 Integrated Marketing Communications | MBA08

Message Research Methods:

Persuasion
• Ipsos ASI: Connect Method
Recognition & Recall
• Ipsos ASI Next*TV Method

• MSW*ARS Brand Preference Method

(“ARS Scores”) Emotion

Persuasion

Sales Response

Dr Aswathy Asokan Ajitha

MBM012 Integrated Marketing Communications | MBA08

Measures of Persuasion:
Ipsos ASI Next*TV Method

1. Ask consumers to evaluate TV programs

2. Mail videotape of 30-minute TV program (with commercials) to a national
sample from a panel
3. Consumers are instructed to view the program in their homes
4. One day after, measure message recall, attitude toward the brands, shifts in
brand preference, and purchase intent/frequency
5. Measure message recall

Dr Aswathy Asokan Ajitha

MBM012 Integrated Marketing Communications | MBA08

Measures of Persuasion: ARS Scores

1. Test TV commercials inserted with other commercials into a TV program and shown
to approximately 1000 randomly selected men/women at a central location
2. Participants give preference for brands they would prefer to receive from product
categories if their names were selected to win a basket of free items (pre-measure)
3. After exposure to TV program (with the test commercial), they again are asked for
brand preferences if they would win the basket of free items (post-measure)
4. ARS Score = Post % for target brand – Pre % for target brand
5. In general, and based on history, whenever the ARS Score is +5.9 or greater,
significant sales differences usually are detected at the end of the test

Dr Aswathy Asokan Ajitha

MBM012 Integrated Marketing Communications | MBA08

Message Research Methods: Sales

Response
◦ Nielsen Catalina Solutions (formerly
Nielsen “ScanTrack”): (1) National
Consumer Panel (Nielsen/iRI) (“buy Recognition & Recall
data”) and (2) Nielsen Catalina’s
AdVantics (“watch data”)
Emotion

Persuasion

Sales Response

Dr Aswathy Asokan Ajitha

MBM012 Integrated Marketing Communications | MBA08

Measures of Sales Response

Single-Source Data:
Gathers and combines from households...

1. Demographic data
2. Scanner data: universal product codes (UPC) from retail purchases
3. Ad exposure via split-cable technology

Dr Aswathy Asokan Ajitha

MBM012 Integrated Marketing Communications | MBA08

Measures of Sales Response:

Nielsen Catalina Solutions
◦ (1) National Consumer Panel: Joint venture – Nielsen/iRI; 60 million households
buying from 26 major grocers use handheld scanners to record purchases via
UPCs. They also record coupons, store deals, etc... This “buy data” is
combined with demographics.

◦ (2) A portion of the National Consumer Panel (650,000) agrees to participate

in Nielsen Catalina’s AdVantics on Demand measuring what they watch on
TV in addition to their purchases (“watch data”). TV set-up boxes and local
metered data provide household viewing records. Split cable signals allow
different ad exposure levels (see next slide).

Dr Aswathy Asokan Ajitha

MBM012 Integrated Marketing Communications | MBA08

Measures of Sales Response

Via TV set-up boxes and split cable, two types of tests are offered: weight tests
and copy tests
1. Weight tests - panel households are divided into test and control groups and
vary weight.
2. Copy tests - hold the amount of weight constant, but vary the commercial
content with test and control groups.

Dr Aswathy Asokan Ajitha

MBM012 Integrated Marketing Communications | MBA08

Measures of Sales Response: Nielsen

Catalina’s AdVantics on Demand

Dr Aswathy Asokan Ajitha

MBM012 Integrated Marketing Communications | MBA08

Major Conclusions about TV Advertising Based

on Copy Testing

1. Ad copy must be distinctive

2. Ad weight without persuasiveness is insufficient
3. Advertising wears out over time
4. Advertising works quickly or not at all

Dr Aswathy Asokan Ajitha

MBM012 Integrated Marketing Communications | MBA08

Today’s Ads…

Dr Aswathy Asokan Ajitha

MBM012 Integrated Marketing Communications | MBA08

Thank You ’08 & ’02 Batch

Dr Aswathy Asokan Ajitha