Advertising Research

Research is very important for planning, implementing and evaluating advertising campaigns. Advertising research has become important due to increased competition, massive markets and mounting costs. Advertising research is mostly applied research. The purpose is to answer such questions as what should the packaging cover be or does the competitor have better advertising.

§ Copy Testing

Copy testing refer to research that helps in identifying effective advertising and determine the few that are the most effective.

For example a variety of proposed prints are showed to a group of two more subjects, to check which is most effective.

- The Cognitive Dimension- Cognitive dimension which includes attention, awareness, exposure, recognition, comprehension and recall of ads.

- The Affective Dimension – This includes research into if a consumer attitude towards a product has changed.

- The Conative Dimensions- This dimension actually deals with consumer behaviour.

- Copy Research and Validity- This research identifies ads that work well in the market place.

§ Media Research

Two important term in media research is Reach and Frequency.

Reach is the number of people who are exposed to an advertisement atleast once.

Frequency is the number of times a person sees an advertisement according to advertising schedule.

- Audience Size and Composition- Analysis of audience size and composition is one of the most common components of advertising research. It gives insight into who the target audience is.

- Frequency of Exposure in Media Schedules- This research component measure, what medium would be best for the advertisement, consider its budget.

- Competitor’s Activities- It is good to know what the competitors are doing so as to not make their mistakes, and make a counter strategy.

§ Campaign Assessment Research

This research builds on copy testing and media research, but its research strategies are different. It assess the advertising campaign to see its effectiveness and success.

All these components in advertising research help to plan, implement and evaluate an advertising campaign.