Effects of Scheduling on Retention of Advertising Messages

The effects of varying the scheduling of message exposures on memory for advertisements was investigated. Four levels of concentration/spacing were used, with 10 advertisement exposures (embedded in 2½ hours of television programming) presented in 1 day, 1 week, 3 weeks, or 5 weeks. The results showed that the 1-week and 3-week advertising schedules gave higher levels of brand recall and recognition. The inferior performance with 1-day and 5-week schedules is explained in terms of a two-factor conceptual model of processes affecting attention to and memory for advertisements. Implications of these findings for marketing and marketing research are discussed.