A nonverbal test of naturalistic memory for alcohol commercials

This study investigated a nonverbal test of memory for naturally occurring events: alcohol commercials. Such tests, supported by dual‐code and transfer‐appropriate processing perspectives from basic research, are useful for research on consumer behavior and public health. The participants were 750 adolescents who completed a nonverbal test of memory, tailored to detect prominent visual features of remembered alcohol commercials. The results showed (a) that independent judges reliably coded primary features of remembered advertisements along most dimensions, and (b) the test met important criteria for convergent and discriminant validity in comparisons with other measures. Applications were proposed for research on advertising effects, health behavior, and media copy testing. © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.