Campaign evaluation after the release of the ads is known as “posttesting”.
It is done with the specific purpose of evaluating a campaign against
pre-determined objectives- awareness, attitude change or increase in sales. Many
of the areas of advertising that are pretested can also be posttested like media,
message and markets.
The post testing methods for communication effects of advertising fall into two
broad categories:
1. RECALL TESTS
this may be in the nature of “aided recall tests” or “unaided recall tests”. Aided
recall tests measure whether respondents recognize a particular ad. They are
shown certain ads and then asked questions to determine whether their previous
exposure to the ad was through reading, viewing or listening.
Recall tests indicate whether consumers got the point of the advertiser’s message.
They are very useful in determining whether ads are being read and how well
they are working, compared with the competitor’s ads. They can also yield
useful data on the relative effectiveness of different advertising components,
such as size, colour or attention-getting themes.
The disadvantage of recall tests is that they indicate only the readership of the
ads. This does not necessarily mean product sales. An ad may be remembered
for itself, while the brand name may not be remembered. Recall is also subject to
the variations of individual memory. Therefore they are at best only a short-term
measure of advertising effectiveness.
2. ATTITUDE TESTS
Tests that measure shifts in attitudes are generally a better measure of
effectiveness than recall tests, because attitudes relate more closely to the
purchase of a product. A positive attitude is an indication of an intention to buy
the product, and vice versa. A variety of measurement techniques like constant
sum, Likert scale, Semantic differentials are used.
The advantage of attitude tests is that they are easy to conduct and low in cost,
because they can be done via phone or mail. The difficulty lies in coming up with a
proper definition of attitude, which represents a complex mix of feelings. Many
people also find it difficult to express their attitudes. Also, attitudes are resistant
to change even by highly aggressive advertising efforts.
3. INQUIRY TESTS
They measure interest in and desire for a product.
The two broad categories of posttesting methods available to test the sales
effectiveness of advertising are:
Measurement of post sales: This method consists in comparing past sales
with the current sales.
Experimental designs: This method overcomes some of the problems of
sales tests by eliminating the influence of all variables that influence sales,
except advertising. One way to use an experimental design would be to
test which level of advertising expenditure produces the best sales level.
In addition, it can also be used to test alternative media mixes, creative
approach and the timing or frequency of ads. It is best suited for products
that are purchased frequently and advertising is the major factor in the
marketing mix.
The consumer’s emotional response to an ad is also considered a measure of
effectiveness. A special quantitative technique for measuring such responses
has been developed in US by Leo Burnett advertising agency, known as
“Viewers Response Profile”. It consists of a series of 52 different statements
about the ad or commercial, with which respondents are asked to agree or
disagree. These statements measure emotional response along seven different
dimensions: entertainment, confusion relevant news, brand reinforcement,
empathy, familiarity and alienation.
This technique can be used for both pretesting and posttesting of TV
commercials as well as print ads. It is based on what people feel after
watching ads, rather than what they know.
Although advertising is still in its infancy stage in India, its importance is
bound to grow in future. The “account planning” function; still a relatively
new concept in India will assume greater importance, as it is the integration
of research with campaign planning. The account planner will be responsible
for conducting advertising research, as well as taking strategic decisions
about the campaign.
48 Comments