A PRESENTATION ON

Pretesting Techniques for Measuring Advertising Effectiveness

For the subject of............................Marketing Communication Presented By.........................................................Harshul Nagpal 6th Semester Roll No. - 50

PRETESTING
Pretests may occur at a number of points, from as early on as idea generation to rough execution to testing the final version before implementing it.
More than one type of pretest may be used.

ADVANTAGES
The advantage of pretesting at this stage is that Feedback is Relatively Inexpensive. Any sort of Problems are Identified, with the concept or the way it is to be delivered, before large amounts of money are spent in development. Sometimes more than one version of the ad is evaluated to determine which is most likely to be effective.

DISADVANTAGES
The disadvantage is that mock-ups, storyboards, or animatics May Not Effectively Communicate nearly as the final product.

The mood-enhancing and/or Emotional Aspects of the message are very Difficult To Communicate in this format.
Another disadvantage is Time Delays. Many marketers believe in being first in the market.

LABORATORY METHODS
Consumer juries Portfolio tests Theater tests Concept tests

FIELD METHODS
Dummy Advertising Vehicles On-air tests

Readability tests
Comprehension and Reaction Tests

CONCEPT TESTING
Concept testing is conducted very early in the campaign development process in order to explore the targeted consumers response to a potential advertisement. Positioning statements, copy, headlines, and/or illustrations may all be under scrutiny. The colors used, typeface, package designs, and even point-of-purchase materials may be evaluated. One of the more commonly used methods for concept testing is focus groups, which usually consist of 8 to 10 people in the target market for the product.

Weaknesses associated with focus group research

The results are not quantifiable. Sample sizes are too small to generalize to larger populations. Group influences may bias participants responses. Consumers become instant experts. Members may not represent the target market. Results may be taken to be more representative than they really are.

COMPREHENSION AND REACTION TESTS

1. One key concern for the advertiser is whether the ad or commercial conveys the meaning intended. 2. The second concern is the reaction the ad generates. These tests are designed to assess these responses. Personal interviews, group interviews, and focus groups have all been used for this purpose.

CONSUMER JURIES
This method uses consumers representative of the target market to evaluate the probable success of an advertisement. Consumer Juries may be asked to rate a selection of layouts according to either (1) the order of merit method or (2) the paired comparison method.

Limitations of Consumer Juries

The consumer may become a self-appointed expert. The no. of ads that can be evaluated is limited. A halo effect is possible. Preferences for emotional overshadow objectivity. advertising may

PORTFOLIO TESTS
Portfolio tests are a laboratory methodology designed to expose a group of respondents to a portfolio consisting of both control and test ads. Respondents are then asked what information they recall from the ads. The assumption is that the ads that yield the highest recall are the most effective.

Weaknesses in Portfolio Tests

Factors other than advertising creativity may affect recall. Interest in the product or product category, the fact that respondents know they are participating in a test. Recall may not be the best test.

DUMMY ADVERTISING VEHICLES

In an improvement on the portfolio test, ads are placed in dummy magazines developed by an agency or research firm. The magazines contain regular editorial features of interest to the reader, as well as the test ads, and are distributed to a random sample of homes

Advantages It provides a more natural setting than the portfolio test. Readership occurs in the participants own home. The test more closely approximates a natural reading situation And the reader may go back to the magazine as people typically do.

Disadvantage The testing effect is not eliminated, and product interest may still bias the results.

READABILITY TESTS
The communications efficiency of the copy in a print ad can be tested without reader interviews. This test uses the Flesch formula to assess readability of the copy by determining the average number of syllables per 100 words. Human interest appeal of the material, length of sentences, and familiarity with certain words are also considered and correlated with the educational background of target audiences.

Advantage This method eliminates many of the interviewee biases associated with other tests and avoids gross errors in understanding. Disadvantage Direct input from the receiver is not available. Without this input, contributing elements like creativity cannot be addressed. To be effective, this test should be used only in conjunction with other pretesting methods.