AN ANALYSIS OF 159 EXECUTIONAL VARIABLES IN THE 1985 CLIO AWARD-WINNING COMMERCIALS (1987, R2)
Alice Gagnard and Jim Morris

This study was an analysis of the 1985 CLIO award-winning television commercials using the Stewart and Furse coding scheme as an instrument for measurement. The CLIO commercials were chosen because they are recognized among advertising professionals as the standard of excellence for what was produced during a given year. The researchers postulated that if in fact the CLIOs are acknowledged to be an example of the best of what the industry has to offer, then practitioners, educators, and students all could benefit from knowing what makes a commercial an award-winner. The paper presented a systematic content analysis of more than 150 commercial characteristics of CLIO winners from 1985. There emerged from the findings certain notable trends, techniques, and common characteristics that were quantified. The ñidealî commercial was profiled.

The effect of nonsensical humor on recall and credibility of television commercials was tested among two groups of university students. No significant differences were found between straight and humorous versions of the same advertisement. The results suggest that existing assumptions regarding the use of humor may not be well founded.

This study examined the effects of various layouts, including Ayer #1 and Rebus, on responses to industrial print advertisements. Unlike previous studies, higher-order measures of interest and preference served as dependent variables. Although it was found that layout did not significantly affect the dependent variables, it was found that certain components of the ads, such as the number of illustrations they contained, did affect Ad Sell "Arouse Interest" and "Build Preference" scores. It was found that the number of illustrations is positively related to the higher-order responses.

The concept of "declining reach" is examined in the context of magazine exposure distribution models. Declining reach occurs in such models when additional insertions to a schedule lead to lower reach than the initial schedule reach. Such an outcome is a logical impossibility and indicates a serious deficiency in any reach/frequency model. Empirical tests in this study conducted on 1,907 randomly selected schedules show the frequently used beta binomial distribution-direct estimation method (BBD-DE), Hofmans Beta Binomial Distribution (HBBD), and the Morgensztern sequential aggregation distribution (MSAD) are all subject to the declining reach phenomenon. However, of the three models tested, the MSAD approach is least susceptible to this problem.

For the past twenty years, media researchers have argued for adoption of a planning strategy called effective frequency. This is the setting of minimum and maximum exposure levels for successful communication. While the theory has had acceptance, there has been little discussion of how this theory of repetition is affected by the many other variables in the communication situation. Using a tri-component taxonomy, this paper identifies significant variables operating in the environments of: marketplace, message development and media channel that can influence the appropriate level of frequency needed. The paper also suggests the need of field testing of the model before any arbitrary level of frequency is assigned to any brand.

The deregulation of professional service advertising has led to the serious exploration of this new genre of advertising. However, the inception of professional service advertising can also provide researchers with an opportunity to shed light on the way in which general attitudes toward advertising develop. One way to capitalize on this is by examining people's attitudes toward the use of different media in this novel situation. This paper examines some possible dimensions which may serve to create hierarchy of media acceptability, and then investigates consumers' and professionals' attitudes toward the appropriateness of various media as vehicles for professional service ads in order to determine if the proposed hierarchy of acceptability exists.

The paper examines pairs of terms that describe advertising claims: "objective-subjective," "informative-persuasive," etc. The meanings are explicated in detail to determine whether the pairs represent the same or different phenomena. The terms are found to depict a total of four types of advertising claims, with an accompanying improvement in descriptive ability.

This Q-analysis examines the underlying motivational factors influencing consumers' preferences for message content of advertisements promoting a symbolic product. A two factor solution provides support for the proposition that target audiences for symbolic products may be differentiated on the basis of ego-involvement and complexity of message structure.

Advertising researchers have begun to focus on classical conditioning as a basic framework to understand advertising effects. Particularly in the low-involvement route of persuasion, it is typically argued that the pairing of music, exciting voices, likable characters, and so forth, with a product produces an automatic, unconscious response. Preliminary work in advertising is controversial with one central issue revolving around subject awareness. The current study involves preschool children as subjects. Not only are they a prime target of broadcast advertising, but children are likely to be less aware of a researcherÍs purpose. A preliminary effort pairing a character with a product did not offer statistical support in favor of classical conditioning. Yet results indicated that repeated pairings may be needed to capture an effect, if forthcoming.

Although conflict between account and creative personnel seems to be endemic to the advertising agency, it may be functional or dysfunctional depending on how the conflict is managed. This study investigates attitudes of account and creative personnel in three advertising agencies, one of which has a history of dysfunctional conflict.

Vulnerability to hostile takeover is a function of attractiveness and corporate defense. This research shows a sample of publicly-held broadcasting companies to be more attractive to investors than a typical corporation. It also reveals that the broadcasters are better defended against unfriendly takeover. Analysis of broadcasters and the general stock market for the first nine months of 1986 shows that broadcasters remain attractive to investors, although by diminishing margins, and that already stout defenses against takeover were strengthened further. On this evidence, it is concluded that broadcasters are not especially vulnerable to takeover.

Despite the rapid growth of cable television networks, their increasing use as an advertising medium, and the vast amount of literature on the subject, little has been published concerning their reach/frequency characteristics from the perspective of advertisers. This article attempts to initiate a literature on the topic by analyzing recent cable television network audience ratings and advertising cost data. The ability of 11 networks to reach national household advertising audiences is examined using available data and a cable television version of the beta binomial exposure distribution model to obtain estimates of network reach assuming reasonable levels of insertions, gross rating points, and total schedule costs. Reach curves and corresponding multiple regression equations are presented and discussed along with other media evaluation factors. The conclusion is that although cable television network audiences are relatively small, they can be targeted and reached efficiently. Furthermore, moderate levels of national reach can be achieved through the use of multiple networks.

A new wave of actual and proposed laws prohibiting certain product advertising has focused public attention once again on the informational/persuasional aspects of product advertising. This paper synthesizes previous research on the search for product information and presents an alternative ñindifference curveî model to help explain consumer behavior in this area. The economic implications of advertising bans are examined within the context of the model and the case of contraceptive commercials illustrates its applicability.

While advertising practitioners and academicians have regularly engaged in speculation and debate over probable public perceptions of advertising in the United States, very little empirical research has been conducted which examines both general public attitudes toward advertising and specific issues related to advertising ethics. This paper presents the results of such a study. Results of the study indicate that consumers have ambivalent feelings about advertising. While some consumers harshly criticize certain advertising practices, most recognize the benefits of advertising. The findings also indicate that many issues in advertising which have historically been criticized for their unethical implications live on in the minds of consumers despite admirable efforts by various interested groups to reform the industry.

The properties that distinguish services and goods are used as the basis for examining Federal Trade Commission enforcement and regulatory actions. Services provide both constraints and opportunities for action by the FTC. Past FTC cases against services are reviewed and directions for future actions are discussed.

The results of this study suggest that messages conveyed through an audiovisual or an audio-only modality may have differential impact on consumers' emotional and cognitive responses generated during advertising exposure. Depending on whether the message appeal is primarily emotional or factual, the internal responses generated may also be different. By adhering to the notion of emotional responses and cognitive responses as two integrated unities rather than discrete components, we see as the primary concern the effects of message modality and appeal on general patterns of responses rather than on discrete types of response.

This experiment examines the persuasive impact of two-sided messages. The research design, based on an attribution paradigm, was a 3 x 3 between-subjects design in which both positivity/negativity of the information and order of presentation were manipulated. Subjects were exposed to a realistic advertisement which included consumer testimonials, one of which was the experimental treatment. There were no significant main effects--ads with mildly negative information were not perceived differently from ads containing no negative information. However, as hypothesized, where negative information was presented, more positive impressions resulted when that negative information was presented early in the ad.

Previous studies of cognitive style dealing with the construct's information management effects have concentrated on decision making in rather high involvement situations. The current exploratory research was part of a larger low-involvement radio experiment in which receiver cognitive style was a covariate. This paper reports the relationship of a receiver's cognitive style to the advertising hierarchy of effects. The study results are the first to offer some evidence of the advantages of a detail-orientation in the perception and comprehension of advertising.

This paper proposes an alternative sequence of consumer responses to television advertising. It is derived from: (1) the US literature on "involvement" and "hierarchies of consumer behavior," (2) observation of successful US and Japanese television commercials, and (3) the perspectives and practices of those who plan and execute such commercials. Suggestions from readers for further research are invited.

The problem of creating an advertisement that is easily understood and comprehended by all readers has plagued marketing communicators for years. The old advertising adage of "keep it simple" may be losing ground as more and more advertisers today are using numbers of statistics in their copy for print advertising. This study presents the results of an experiment which investigates how number-oriented copy influences readers' perceptions of an ad. The results suggest that: a number-based ad is perceived differently than a similar ad without numbers, and the perceived differences between number and non-number-based ads may be influenced by individual differences. These results held true across two product categories, aspirin and automobiles.

The strategy of using "filler" ads in advertising research, although justifiably popular, is not without reasonable cause for concern. This paper presents a summary of published findings and the results from a recent study that, taken together, provide a note of needed caution to advertising researchers.

This paper discusses the PEAC system of continuous measures copy testing and examines "order" effects. Order effects are defined as "the impact of commercial presentation order on respondent's reactions." This study represents the first large scale test of order effects in a continuous measures copy testing system.... The results suggest that order effects are not a significant problem with the PEAC continuous copy testing methodology. A control commercial can be inserted to the first pod position to eliminate the first order effect. The PEAC system was found to provide considerable diagnostic information not obtainable from current recall or forced exposure persuasion methods.

Over the past few years there has been substantial increase in the mature consumer market. At the same time, technology and a desire for closer targeting of markets has led to an increase in direct mail usage by advertisers. This study provides a profile of the mature consumer who reports being a direct mail user. Results from the analysis suggest that there are both demographic and lifestyle dimensions which may differentiate between users and non-users of direct mail. Demographically, users tend to be younger, female, and have lower income. Lifestyle items indicate they are less financially secure, more price conscious, and like to shop around.

A study is described which demonstrates a possible means of pretesting actual direct marketing executions with relatively small samples using multidimensional scaling. Because direct response executions can be evaluated on so many different factors, a multidimensional approach is favored over traditional unidimensional advertising effectiveness measures. This study has shown that the perceived clutter of a direct mail piece's appearance, and the degree of personalization are key in invoking consumer response.

Consumers who respond to retail price advertising are often classified in the literature as "deal prone." Retailers express a special concern about consumers who react to retail price advertising by buying large quantities of loss leader items and not buying anything else on that shopping trip, e.g., the consumer who leaves the store with four cases of toilet paper when it is on sale at a low price but nothing else, or worse, who leaves with large quantities of several items, all loss leaders. Both retailers and consumers confirm that cherry picking occurs. This study shows that cherry pickers, consumers who responded to advertising for loss leaders by buying in larger quantities and buying only the advertised item, have different characteristics than the much larger set of consumers who have been identified and explicated in the marketing literature and are called deal prone consumers, those who respond in less dramatic ways to price advertising.

Public service advertising (PSA) is in need of theory development in order to progress as theoretical advances in commercial advertising cannot be fully transformed into the unique public service communication setting. This paper demonstrates the plausibility of basing a theoretical orientation for the gatekeeper behavior/source effects component of public service advertising on H.C. Kelman's framework for behavioral analysis; developed in the 1950s, Kelman's framework has been successfully applied in social psychology, communications and marketing studies. Kelman's framework accommodates the antecedent states of source control, source attractiveness, and source credibility.

Not withstanding the rapid growth in the use of sales promotion by advertisers, little has been done to develop a practical body of sales promotion theory for guiding sales promotion decisions. This paper describes a preliminary version of a rule-based expert system to organize what limited knowledge we have to assist in making sales promotion decisions. The system was contracted using ESIE (Expert System Inference Engine), utilizing a data base of inference rules extracted from previously published studies.

As marketers find dollars being spent on sales promotion dramatically increasing every year, there is some concern that the effectiveness of such programs is less than optimal. Thus, many see a need for studies which provide more information about consumer usage of these promotional offers. The current study uses cluster analysis in an attempt to identify unique groupings of consumers based on their use of and attitude toward coupons, rebates and refunds, sweepstakes, and sampling.

With the increasing emphasis on global advertising, advertisers seek to create ads which can be standardized throughout the world. This paper focuses on a particular communication technique, the use of closure, as an effective technique in global advertising. Based in Gestalt psychology, closure is the psychological need to complete something unfinished. It is effective as a global communication technique because of its demonstrated importance as an archetype across time and culture. A small content analysis indicates closure is used in 44% of a sample of international advertisements.

One of the most critical problems facing advertising education at the college and university level is the lack of qualified faculty. While enrollment, particularly at the undergraduate level has soared, search committees are finding it increasingly difficult to fill authorized positions. Several reasons are given for this lack of faculty: (a) a decreasing number of newly graduate Ph.D.s, (b) the increasing salary differential between academia and industry which lures advanced degree holders out of classroom positions, (c) increased faculty course and student loads which "burn out" professors earlier than usual and (d) academic barriers such as degree requirements and/or promotion restrictions which prevent "non-academics" from entering or succeeding in the field, are the most commonly mentioned.

One of the most frequent comments made by professionals when talking to professors is, "someday I sure would like to teach." While many professionals aren't qualified and many would never make the financial sacrifice, the fact there is an interest in teaching and a predisposition to do it "someday," should be taken advantage of. This paper explores things the AAA can do to help encourage qualified professionals to enter teaching. Not only are many advertising positions going unfilled, the advertising discipline would benefit by having more teachers with more real world experience. It's suggested that professionals be surveyed to determine the extent of interest in teaching and the barriers that are keeping them from making the switch. Assuming that one barrier is "not knowing how to teach," a teaching methods short course is outlined. Finally, four additional suggestions are made of ways to increase the number of professionals in the classrooms.

Advertising is one of the fastest growing majors in U.S. colleges and universities. New teachers for advertising are in short supply. The American Academy of Advertising project report compiled by Sandra Moriarty discussed the experiences of 26 former advertising professionals who have become advertising educators. This paper describes the transition of one of the "new" teachers and the positive/negative aspects of such a career change. Ways the AAA could recruit new teachers are discussed.

The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate how measurable marketing, advertising and media objectives and budgets can be developed and tightly integrated. A microcomputer program called ADGOAL allows users to quantify simultaneously a large array of potential marketing--communication factors which might influence objectives. These include monthly sales patterns, target market size and purchase behavior, communication-purchase ratios and advertising carry-over effects. A theoretical framework is outlined, followed by examples using ADGOAL on hypothetical industry data.

Using a CATI system for a retail class survey project has several distinct advantages over the more usual system of having students make calls at home, record answers on a printed questionnaire, then hand code. Students work in a professional atmosphere. The system displays questions in order, automatically skipping where appropriate and does not accept answers that fall outside of prescribed range. Results are available for class interpretation within a day, allowing a unified learning situation.

A variety of software modeling/spreadsheet packages, such as LOTUS 1-2-3, VisiCalc, and Framework, are being used successfully by both large and small organizations. Typically, these packages have been utilized in financial or accounting situations. However, a significant potential exists to use this software to model advertising phenomena. This paper presents the authors' experience in using a financial software package called "MICRO-FCS" to teach students response-based advertising budgeting. The use of MICRO-FCS challenges the student to understand the theory of quantitative methods of budgeting. In addition, an assignment allows students to use the software to determine an advertising expenditure for a hypothetical company. The use of MICRO-FCS proved to be an effective, easily implemented and enjoyable method for developing modern advertising management skills, as well as enhancing computer literacy.

The D'Arcy Collection, a recent acquisition of the University of Illinois Library, is a collection of almost two million original advertisements published largely between 1890 and 1970. In its own right it may be viewed as a treasury of research information which is irreplaceable, priceless, and is believed to be the only one of its kind and size in a public institution. It is unique in that is encompasses products advertised by many agencies, not just one. While the vast majority of these advertisements appeared in newspapers, magazines and trade journals, there are a few in miscellaneous forms such as brochures, signs, programs, photostatic copies of other materials, and even some correspondence and direction sheets for use of the product. The magazine and journal ads are generally in excellent condition, but many of the newspaper clippings are yellowed and brittle. Most ads are dated and their sources identified. The advertisements range in size from approximately 1 x 2 inches in magazines to full pages in newspapers. Included are numerous full-page ads that appeared in the Saturday Evening Post, Advertising Age and other large-format publications.

The Archives Center of the National Museum of American History (Smithsonian) has a History of Modern Advertising project collecting oral histories and supporting documentation on Pepsi (soft drinks), Alka Seltzer (patent medicines) and Marlboro (cigarettes). The goals, activities and future plans of this project are described. The types of information available, and their value for contemporary research issues, are illustrated in specifics, giving glimpses of the history for these brands.

The visiting professor program offers unexpected benefits to those participating. This article summarizes the reflections of an eight week internship with a large New York advertising agency.

AN ANALYSIS OF 159 EXECUTIONAL VARIABLES IN THE 1985 CLIO AWARD-WINNING COMMERCIALS (1987, R2)
Alice Gagnard and Jim Morris

This study was an analysis of the 1985 CLIO award-winning television commercials using the Stewart and Furse coding scheme as an instrument for measurement. The CLIO commercials were chosen because they are recognized among advertising professionals as the standard of excellence for what was produced during a given year. The researchers postulated that if in fact the CLIOs are acknowledged to be an example of the best of what the industry has to offer, then practitioners, educators, and students all could benefit from knowing what makes a commercial an award-winner. The paper presented a systematic content analysis of more than 150 commercial characteristics of CLIO winners from 1985. There emerged from the findings certain notable trends, techniques, and common characteristics that were quantified. The ñidealî commercial was profiled.

The effect of nonsensical humor on recall and credibility of television commercials was tested among two groups of university students. No significant differences were found between straight and humorous versions of the same advertisement. The results suggest that existing assumptions regarding the use of humor may not be well founded.

This study examined the effects of various layouts, including Ayer #1 and Rebus, on responses to industrial print advertisements. Unlike previous studies, higher-order measures of interest and preference served as dependent variables. Although it was found that layout did not significantly affect the dependent variables, it was found that certain components of the ads, such as the number of illustrations they contained, did affect Ad Sell "Arouse Interest" and "Build Preference" scores. It was found that the number of illustrations is positively related to the higher-order responses.

The concept of "declining reach" is examined in the context of magazine exposure distribution models. Declining reach occurs in such models when additional insertions to a schedule lead to lower reach than the initial schedule reach. Such an outcome is a logical impossibility and indicates a serious deficiency in any reach/frequency model. Empirical tests in this study conducted on 1,907 randomly selected schedules show the frequently used beta binomial distribution-direct estimation method (BBD-DE), Hofmans Beta Binomial Distribution (HBBD), and the Morgensztern sequential aggregation distribution (MSAD) are all subject to the declining reach phenomenon. However, of the three models tested, the MSAD approach is least susceptible to this problem.

For the past twenty years, media researchers have argued for adoption of a planning strategy called effective frequency. This is the setting of minimum and maximum exposure levels for successful communication. While the theory has had acceptance, there has been little discussion of how this theory of repetition is affected by the many other variables in the communication situation. Using a tri-component taxonomy, this paper identifies significant variables operating in the environments of: marketplace, message development and media channel that can influence the appropriate level of frequency needed. The paper also suggests the need of field testing of the model before any arbitrary level of frequency is assigned to any brand.

The deregulation of professional service advertising has led to the serious exploration of this new genre of advertising. However, the inception of professional service advertising can also provide researchers with an opportunity to shed light on the way in which general attitudes toward advertising develop. One way to capitalize on this is by examining people's attitudes toward the use of different media in this novel situation. This paper examines some possible dimensions which may serve to create hierarchy of media acceptability, and then investigates consumers' and professionals' attitudes toward the appropriateness of various media as vehicles for professional service ads in order to determine if the proposed hierarchy of acceptability exists.

The paper examines pairs of terms that describe advertising claims: "objective-subjective," "informative-persuasive," etc. The meanings are explicated in detail to determine whether the pairs represent the same or different phenomena. The terms are found to depict a total of four types of advertising claims, with an accompanying improvement in descriptive ability.

This Q-analysis examines the underlying motivational factors influencing consumers' preferences for message content of advertisements promoting a symbolic product. A two factor solution provides support for the proposition that target audiences for symbolic products may be differentiated on the basis of ego-involvement and complexity of message structure.

Advertising researchers have begun to focus on classical conditioning as a basic framework to understand advertising effects. Particularly in the low-involvement route of persuasion, it is typically argued that the pairing of music, exciting voices, likable characters, and so forth, with a product produces an automatic, unconscious response. Preliminary work in advertising is controversial with one central issue revolving around subject awareness. The current study involves preschool children as subjects. Not only are they a prime target of broadcast advertising, but children are likely to be less aware of a researcherÍs purpose. A preliminary effort pairing a character with a product did not offer statistical support in favor of classical conditioning. Yet results indicated that repeated pairings may be needed to capture an effect, if forthcoming.

Although conflict between account and creative personnel seems to be endemic to the advertising agency, it may be functional or dysfunctional depending on how the conflict is managed. This study investigates attitudes of account and creative personnel in three advertising agencies, one of which has a history of dysfunctional conflict.

Vulnerability to hostile takeover is a function of attractiveness and corporate defense. This research shows a sample of publicly-held broadcasting companies to be more attractive to investors than a typical corporation. It also reveals that the broadcasters are better defended against unfriendly takeover. Analysis of broadcasters and the general stock market for the first nine months of 1986 shows that broadcasters remain attractive to investors, although by diminishing margins, and that already stout defenses against takeover were strengthened further. On this evidence, it is concluded that broadcasters are not especially vulnerable to takeover.

Despite the rapid growth of cable television networks, their increasing use as an advertising medium, and the vast amount of literature on the subject, little has been published concerning their reach/frequency characteristics from the perspective of advertisers. This article attempts to initiate a literature on the topic by analyzing recent cable television network audience ratings and advertising cost data. The ability of 11 networks to reach national household advertising audiences is examined using available data and a cable television version of the beta binomial exposure distribution model to obtain estimates of network reach assuming reasonable levels of insertions, gross rating points, and total schedule costs. Reach curves and corresponding multiple regression equations are presented and discussed along with other media evaluation factors. The conclusion is that although cable television network audiences are relatively small, they can be targeted and reached efficiently. Furthermore, moderate levels of national reach can be achieved through the use of multiple networks.

A new wave of actual and proposed laws prohibiting certain product advertising has focused public attention once again on the informational/persuasional aspects of product advertising. This paper synthesizes previous research on the search for product information and presents an alternative ñindifference curveî model to help explain consumer behavior in this area. The economic implications of advertising bans are examined within the context of the model and the case of contraceptive commercials illustrates its applicability.

While advertising practitioners and academicians have regularly engaged in speculation and debate over probable public perceptions of advertising in the United States, very little empirical research has been conducted which examines both general public attitudes toward advertising and specific issues related to advertising ethics. This paper presents the results of such a study. Results of the study indicate that consumers have ambivalent feelings about advertising. While some consumers harshly criticize certain advertising practices, most recognize the benefits of advertising. The findings also indicate that many issues in advertising which have historically been criticized for their unethical implications live on in the minds of consumers despite admirable efforts by various interested groups to reform the industry.

The properties that distinguish services and goods are used as the basis for examining Federal Trade Commission enforcement and regulatory actions. Services provide both constraints and opportunities for action by the FTC. Past FTC cases against services are reviewed and directions for future actions are discussed.

The results of this study suggest that messages conveyed through an audiovisual or an audio-only modality may have differential impact on consumers' emotional and cognitive responses generated during advertising exposure. Depending on whether the message appeal is primarily emotional or factual, the internal responses generated may also be different. By adhering to the notion of emotional responses and cognitive responses as two integrated unities rather than discrete components, we see as the primary concern the effects of message modality and appeal on general patterns of responses rather than on discrete types of response.

This experiment examines the persuasive impact of two-sided messages. The research design, based on an attribution paradigm, was a 3 x 3 between-subjects design in which both positivity/negativity of the information and order of presentation were manipulated. Subjects were exposed to a realistic advertisement which included consumer testimonials, one of which was the experimental treatment. There were no significant main effects--ads with mildly negative information were not perceived differently from ads containing no negative information. However, as hypothesized, where negative information was presented, more positive impressions resulted when that negative information was presented early in the ad.

Previous studies of cognitive style dealing with the construct's information management effects have concentrated on decision making in rather high involvement situations. The current exploratory research was part of a larger low-involvement radio experiment in which receiver cognitive style was a covariate. This paper reports the relationship of a receiver's cognitive style to the advertising hierarchy of effects. The study results are the first to offer some evidence of the advantages of a detail-orientation in the perception and comprehension of advertising.

This paper proposes an alternative sequence of consumer responses to television advertising. It is derived from: (1) the US literature on "involvement" and "hierarchies of consumer behavior," (2) observation of successful US and Japanese television commercials, and (3) the perspectives and practices of those who plan and execute such commercials. Suggestions from readers for further research are invited.

The problem of creating an advertisement that is easily understood and comprehended by all readers has plagued marketing communicators for years. The old advertising adage of "keep it simple" may be losing ground as more and more advertisers today are using numbers of statistics in their copy for print advertising. This study presents the results of an experiment which investigates how number-oriented copy influences readers' perceptions of an ad. The results suggest that: a number-based ad is perceived differently than a similar ad without numbers, and the perceived differences between number and non-number-based ads may be influenced by individual differences. These results held true across two product categories, aspirin and automobiles.

The strategy of using "filler" ads in advertising research, although justifiably popular, is not without reasonable cause for concern. This paper presents a summary of published findings and the results from a recent study that, taken together, provide a note of needed caution to advertising researchers.

This paper discusses the PEAC system of continuous measures copy testing and examines "order" effects. Order effects are defined as "the impact of commercial presentation order on respondent's reactions." This study represents the first large scale test of order effects in a continuous measures copy testing system.... The results suggest that order effects are not a significant problem with the PEAC continuous copy testing methodology. A control commercial can be inserted to the first pod position to eliminate the first order effect. The PEAC system was found to provide considerable diagnostic information not obtainable from current recall or forced exposure persuasion methods.

Over the past few years there has been substantial increase in the mature consumer market. At the same time, technology and a desire for closer targeting of markets has led to an increase in direct mail usage by advertisers. This study provides a profile of the mature consumer who reports being a direct mail user. Results from the analysis suggest that there are both demographic and lifestyle dimensions which may differentiate between users and non-users of direct mail. Demographically, users tend to be younger, female, and have lower income. Lifestyle items indicate they are less financially secure, more price conscious, and like to shop around.

A study is described which demonstrates a possible means of pretesting actual direct marketing executions with relatively small samples using multidimensional scaling. Because direct response executions can be evaluated on so many different factors, a multidimensional approach is favored over traditional unidimensional advertising effectiveness measures. This study has shown that the perceived clutter of a direct mail piece's appearance, and the degree of personalization are key in invoking consumer response.

Consumers who respond to retail price advertising are often classified in the literature as "deal prone." Retailers express a special concern about consumers who react to retail price advertising by buying large quantities of loss leader items and not buying anything else on that shopping trip, e.g., the consumer who leaves the store with four cases of toilet paper when it is on sale at a low price but nothing else, or worse, who leaves with large quantities of several items, all loss leaders. Both retailers and consumers confirm that cherry picking occurs. This study shows that cherry pickers, consumers who responded to advertising for loss leaders by buying in larger quantities and buying only the advertised item, have different characteristics than the much larger set of consumers who have been identified and explicated in the marketing literature and are called deal prone consumers, those who respond in less dramatic ways to price advertising.

Public service advertising (PSA) is in need of theory development in order to progress as theoretical advances in commercial advertising cannot be fully transformed into the unique public service communication setting. This paper demonstrates the plausibility of basing a theoretical orientation for the gatekeeper behavior/source effects component of public service advertising on H.C. Kelman's framework for behavioral analysis; developed in the 1950s, Kelman's framework has been successfully applied in social psychology, communications and marketing studies. Kelman's framework accommodates the antecedent states of source control, source attractiveness, and source credibility.

Not withstanding the rapid growth in the use of sales promotion by advertisers, little has been done to develop a practical body of sales promotion theory for guiding sales promotion decisions. This paper describes a preliminary version of a rule-based expert system to organize what limited knowledge we have to assist in making sales promotion decisions. The system was contracted using ESIE (Expert System Inference Engine), utilizing a data base of inference rules extracted from previously published studies.

As marketers find dollars being spent on sales promotion dramatically increasing every year, there is some concern that the effectiveness of such programs is less than optimal. Thus, many see a need for studies which provide more information about consumer usage of these promotional offers. The current study uses cluster analysis in an attempt to identify unique groupings of consumers based on their use of and attitude toward coupons, rebates and refunds, sweepstakes, and sampling.

With the increasing emphasis on global advertising, advertisers seek to create ads which can be standardized throughout the world. This paper focuses on a particular communication technique, the use of closure, as an effective technique in global advertising. Based in Gestalt psychology, closure is the psychological need to complete something unfinished. It is effective as a global communication technique because of its demonstrated importance as an archetype across time and culture. A small content analysis indicates closure is used in 44% of a sample of international advertisements.

One of the most critical problems facing advertising education at the college and university level is the lack of qualified faculty. While enrollment, particularly at the undergraduate level has soared, search committees are finding it increasingly difficult to fill authorized positions. Several reasons are given for this lack of faculty: (a) a decreasing number of newly graduate Ph.D.s, (b) the increasing salary differential between academia and industry which lures advanced degree holders out of classroom positions, (c) increased faculty course and student loads which "burn out" professors earlier than usual and (d) academic barriers such as degree requirements and/or promotion restrictions which prevent "non-academics" from entering or succeeding in the field, are the most commonly mentioned.

One of the most frequent comments made by professionals when talking to professors is, "someday I sure would like to teach." While many professionals aren't qualified and many would never make the financial sacrifice, the fact there is an interest in teaching and a predisposition to do it "someday," should be taken advantage of. This paper explores things the AAA can do to help encourage qualified professionals to enter teaching. Not only are many advertising positions going unfilled, the advertising discipline would benefit by having more teachers with more real world experience. It's suggested that professionals be surveyed to determine the extent of interest in teaching and the barriers that are keeping them from making the switch. Assuming that one barrier is "not knowing how to teach," a teaching methods short course is outlined. Finally, four additional suggestions are made of ways to increase the number of professionals in the classrooms.

Advertising is one of the fastest growing majors in U.S. colleges and universities. New teachers for advertising are in short supply. The American Academy of Advertising project report compiled by Sandra Moriarty discussed the experiences of 26 former advertising professionals who have become advertising educators. This paper describes the transition of one of the "new" teachers and the positive/negative aspects of such a career change. Ways the AAA could recruit new teachers are discussed.

The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate how measurable marketing, advertising and media objectives and budgets can be developed and tightly integrated. A microcomputer program called ADGOAL allows users to quantify simultaneously a large array of potential marketing--communication factors which might influence objectives. These include monthly sales patterns, target market size and purchase behavior, communication-purchase ratios and advertising carry-over effects. A theoretical framework is outlined, followed by examples using ADGOAL on hypothetical industry data.

Using a CATI system for a retail class survey project has several distinct advantages over the more usual system of having students make calls at home, record answers on a printed questionnaire, then hand code. Students work in a professional atmosphere. The system displays questions in order, automatically skipping where appropriate and does not accept answers that fall outside of prescribed range. Results are available for class interpretation within a day, allowing a unified learning situation.

A variety of software modeling/spreadsheet packages, such as LOTUS 1-2-3, VisiCalc, and Framework, are being used successfully by both large and small organizations. Typically, these packages have been utilized in financial or accounting situations. However, a significant potential exists to use this software to model advertising phenomena. This paper presents the authors' experience in using a financial software package called "MICRO-FCS" to teach students response-based advertising budgeting. The use of MICRO-FCS challenges the student to understand the theory of quantitative methods of budgeting. In addition, an assignment allows students to use the software to determine an advertising expenditure for a hypothetical company. The use of MICRO-FCS proved to be an effective, easily implemented and enjoyable method for developing modern advertising management skills, as well as enhancing computer literacy.

The D'Arcy Collection, a recent acquisition of the University of Illinois Library, is a collection of almost two million original advertisements published largely between 1890 and 1970. In its own right it may be viewed as a treasury of research information which is irreplaceable, priceless, and is believed to be the only one of its kind and size in a public institution. It is unique in that is encompasses products advertised by many agencies, not just one. While the vast majority of these advertisements appeared in newspapers, magazines and trade journals, there are a few in miscellaneous forms such as brochures, signs, programs, photostatic copies of other materials, and even some correspondence and direction sheets for use of the product. The magazine and journal ads are generally in excellent condition, but many of the newspaper clippings are yellowed and brittle. Most ads are dated and their sources identified. The advertisements range in size from approximately 1 x 2 inches in magazines to full pages in newspapers. Included are numerous full-page ads that appeared in the Saturday Evening Post, Advertising Age and other large-format publications.

The Archives Center of the National Museum of American History (Smithsonian) has a History of Modern Advertising project collecting oral histories and supporting documentation on Pepsi (soft drinks), Alka Seltzer (patent medicines) and Marlboro (cigarettes). The goals, activities and future plans of this project are described. The types of information available, and their value for contemporary research issues, are illustrated in specifics, giving glimpses of the history for these brands.

The visiting professor program offers unexpected benefits to those participating. This article summarizes the reflections of an eight week internship with a large New York advertising agency.