Advertising Research - Diagnostic Testing
Advertising Research - Diagnostic Testing
A whole category of advertising research methods are primarily designed not to test the impact of a total ad but rather to help creative people understand how the parts of the ad contribute to its impact. Which are weak and how do they interact? Most of these approaches can be applied to mock-ups of proposed ads as well as finished ads.
17The TEC Audit, TEC Measures, Inc. New York, NY.
Qualitative Research
Focus-group research is widely used at the front end of the development of an advertising campaign. In one study of the techniques used by 112 (out of 150 surveyed) of the top advertisers and agencies, focus groups were used 96 percent of the time to generate ideas for advertisements, and 69 percent of the time to test reactions to rough executions.18 In such groups, people will discuss their opinions about the product and the brand, their use experiences, and their reaction to potential advertisement concepts and actual advertisements.
Audience Impressions of the Ad
Many copy test approaches append a set of open-ended questions designed to tap the audience's impressions of what the ad was about, what ideas were presented, interest in the ideas, and so on. One goal is to detect potential misperceptions. Another is to uncover unintended associations that may have been created. If too many negative comments are elicited, there may be cause for concern. A Volkswagen commercial showing a Detroit auto worker driving a VW Rabbit because of its superior performance, was dropped because a substantial part of the audience disliked the company disloyalty portrayed.19
Adjective Checklists
The BRC mail questionnaire includes an adjective checklist that allows the advertiser to determine how warm, amusing, irritating, or informative the respondent thinks that the ad is. Similar checklists are used by ASI, Tele-Research, and other firms and agencies. The agencies Leo Burnett and Young & Rubicam use a similar phrase checklist extensively. Several of their phrases tap an empathy dimension. "I can see myself doing that," "I can relate to that," and so on. Some believe that unless advertisements can achieve a degree of empathy they will not perform well.
18Benjamin Lipstein and James P. Neelankavil, "Television Advertising Copy Research: A Critical Review of the State of the Art," Journal of Advertising Research, 24 (April/May 1984), 19-25.
i9"VW had some clinkers among classics," Advertising Age (September 9, 1985), 48.
Eye Movement
Eye movement devices, such as those used by Perception Research and Burke, record the point on a print ad or package where the eye focuses 60 times each second. An analysis can determine what the reader saw, what he or she "returned to" for reexamination, what point was "fixed on." In packaging research the package can be "placed" on a shelf with competing packages, and the respondent can be asked to "find" the test brand.
Physiological Measurement
Of particular interest in advertisements that are intended to precipitate emotional responses is the use of measures the reflect physiological arousal that is normally uncontrollable by the respondent. Among the measures used are Galvanic Skin Response (GSR), skin resistance, heart beat, facial expressions, muscle movement, and voice pitch analysis. The difficulty is in the interpretation, because a variety of reactions can stimulate arousal. The key is to operate in a context such that the response is clearly interpreted. For example, GSR is correlated with other measures of warmth for warm commercials, but is not so correlated for humorous or irritating commercials.20
Monitoring Commercial Response
In the ASI theater test, 200 seats are equipped with dial interest recorders that allow the respondents to continuously dial their interest in the material. The output allows advertisers to determine which parts of a commercial are interesting. The output provides diagnostic information as to the points in the commercial that stimulate responses and those that do not. Aaker, Stayman, and Hagerty have used a computer joy stick driven monitor to allow respondents to record their feeling of warmth. It can also be used to monitor other feelings such as irritation, humor, or liking.21
Market Facts has developed a system in which a respondent presses a button when something in the commercial strikes her or him as especially interesting or irritating. The respondent is then shown the commercial again and asked why the button was punched at each point. The result is a second by second understanding of the audience reaction.
A whole category of advertising research methods are primarily designed not to test the impact of a total ad but rather to help creative people understand how the parts of the ad contribute to its impact. Which are weak and how do they interact? Most of these approaches can be applied to mock-ups of proposed ads as well as finished ads.
17The TEC Audit, TEC Measures, Inc. New York, NY.
Qualitative Research
Focus-group research is widely used at the front end of the development of an advertising campaign. In one study of the techniques used by 112 (out of 150 surveyed) of the top advertisers and agencies, focus groups were used 96 percent of the time to generate ideas for advertisements, and 69 percent of the time to test reactions to rough executions.18 In such groups, people will discuss their opinions about the product and the brand, their use experiences, and their reaction to potential advertisement concepts and actual advertisements.
Audience Impressions of the Ad
Many copy test approaches append a set of open-ended questions designed to tap the audience's impressions of what the ad was about, what ideas were presented, interest in the ideas, and so on. One goal is to detect potential misperceptions. Another is to uncover unintended associations that may have been created. If too many negative comments are elicited, there may be cause for concern. A Volkswagen commercial showing a Detroit auto worker driving a VW Rabbit because of its superior performance, was dropped because a substantial part of the audience disliked the company disloyalty portrayed.19
Adjective Checklists
The BRC mail questionnaire includes an adjective checklist that allows the advertiser to determine how warm, amusing, irritating, or informative the respondent thinks that the ad is. Similar checklists are used by ASI, Tele-Research, and other firms and agencies. The agencies Leo Burnett and Young & Rubicam use a similar phrase checklist extensively. Several of their phrases tap an empathy dimension. "I can see myself doing that," "I can relate to that," and so on. Some believe that unless advertisements can achieve a degree of empathy they will not perform well.
18Benjamin Lipstein and James P. Neelankavil, "Television Advertising Copy Research: A Critical Review of the State of the Art," Journal of Advertising Research, 24 (April/May 1984), 19-25.
i9"VW had some clinkers among classics," Advertising Age (September 9, 1985), 48.
Eye Movement
Eye movement devices, such as those used by Perception Research and Burke, record the point on a print ad or package where the eye focuses 60 times each second. An analysis can determine what the reader saw, what he or she "returned to" for reexamination, what point was "fixed on." In packaging research the package can be "placed" on a shelf with competing packages, and the respondent can be asked to "find" the test brand.
Physiological Measurement
Of particular interest in advertisements that are intended to precipitate emotional responses is the use of measures the reflect physiological arousal that is normally uncontrollable by the respondent. Among the measures used are Galvanic Skin Response (GSR), skin resistance, heart beat, facial expressions, muscle movement, and voice pitch analysis. The difficulty is in the interpretation, because a variety of reactions can stimulate arousal. The key is to operate in a context such that the response is clearly interpreted. For example, GSR is correlated with other measures of warmth for warm commercials, but is not so correlated for humorous or irritating commercials.20
Monitoring Commercial Response
In the ASI theater test, 200 seats are equipped with dial interest recorders that allow the respondents to continuously dial their interest in the material. The output allows advertisers to determine which parts of a commercial are interesting. The output provides diagnostic information as to the points in the commercial that stimulate responses and those that do not. Aaker, Stayman, and Hagerty have used a computer joy stick driven monitor to allow respondents to record their feeling of warmth. It can also be used to monitor other feelings such as irritation, humor, or liking.21
Market Facts has developed a system in which a respondent presses a button when something in the commercial strikes her or him as especially interesting or irritating. The respondent is then shown the commercial again and asked why the button was punched at each point. The result is a second by second understanding of the audience reaction.
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