PRE-ALERTING ON-AIR TEST RESPONDENTS

WHEN EXPERIMENTS ARE CONDUCTED WHICH INVOLVE MEASURING THE EFFECTIVENESS OF ADVERTISING, THE MOST REALISTIC SETTING IS WHERE THE STIMULUS AND RESPONSE APPEAR IN NATURAL CIRCUMSTANCES. SERVICES WHICH EXPOSE THE STIMULUS IN AN ON-AIR SETTING TEND TO USE RECALL AS THE MAIN RESPONSE. THOSE WHICH EXPOSE IN A LABORATORY USE PRE/POST OR TEST/CONTROL PURCHASING PROPENSITY AS THE MAIN RESPONSE. A SYSTEM UTILIZING BOTH APPROACHES HAS PROBABLY BEEN AVOIDED BECAUSE OF ITS EXPENSE. ONE WAY TO ACCOMPLISH THIS END IS TO PRE-ALERT RESPONDENTS TO WATCH TV AT A CERTAIN TIME ON A CERTAIN CHANNEL. THIS REDUCES THE NUMBER OF POST-VIEWING CONTACTS THAT MUST BE MADE. GIVEN COST, TIMING, AND SENSITIVITY CONSTRAINTS THE PRE-ALERTING METHOD AND FOLLOW UP PROCEDURES DISCUSSED CONSTITUTE AN ADEQUATE MEASURE OF AD EFFECTIVENESS.