Copy Testing
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Transcript Copy Testing
Evaluating Creatives*
Concept Testing: Assessment of potential
creatives
Communication Research: A Look at the
Advertising Creative
Copy Testing: Assessment of creative
achievement
*
The word creative when used as a noun refers to an
actual advertisement
Copy Testing
Communication research is performed during creative
development and is diagnostic in nature
Copy testing takes place after creative developments
using actual ads, and is evaluative in nature (more and
more MR firms are treating Copy Testing as diagnostic,
as a follow up to concept testing, making it more like
communication research)
Independent marketing research companies specialize in
copy testing, and have established a set of norms upon
which go/stay decisions are made
The majority of copy testing is done on television
advertising, although options exist for print, radio, and
outdoor advertising as well
Television advertising is far more expensive to create
and run than other media, hence the abundance of tv
copy testing
Post Test Creative Selection
Statistical vs. Pragmatic Choice
1) Establish a confidence level a priori; if
copy measures differ to that extent, the
winner is obvious; otherwise use
judgment call as each copy is
statistically equivalent
2) Choose a criterion measure, and use this
as the ‘ultimate’ judge; whichever copy
has the higher score on this measure is
the winner, regardless of the magnitude
of difference
Four key decisions to make
Place: in home viewing or out of home
Naturalness: forced versus unforced
exposure
Number of exposures before data collection
Key measures:
Recall
Message communication
Persuasion
Purchase intention
Brand Attitude
Ad attitude
Et cetera
Key Measures
Intrusiveness: measure of the ads ability to break through
the clutter and earn a place in the consumer’s mind
Unaided recall – correct brand
Proved unaided recall
Proved brand aided recall
The Lead Idea is the idea that is most often cited by
respondents
Communication: identifies the ideas that consumers got out
of the ad
Persuasion: ad’s ability to generate favorable brand
attitudes
Purchase intent
Standard brand attitude measure
Standard ad attitude measures
Commercial Reaction
Typical structure of Television
Copy Test
Show a sample of 200 respondents a 30 minute program with test
ad imbedded
Program is broadcast on an unused cable channel so respondents
may view the program in their homes
The day after viewing, respondents are contacted and asked to
name the commercials they remember seeing during the program
If unable to name the commercials, they are prompted with correct and
incorrect answers
This tests both aided and unaided recall
Purchase intent can be ascertained with a pre-post exposure
measurement
Prior to watching, respondents are asked what brand they are likely to
purchase next time
After exposure, respondents are asked what brand they would prefer to
win
Asking the same preference question in a different context masks the
purpose of the question to ensure accurate responses
Typical Structure of a Magazine
Copy Test
125 respondents are recruited through mall intercepts
They are asked questions about media and product
usage
They are provided a fake magazine with test ad
imbedded and asked to quickly flip through and give
initial reactions
Ask respondents what ads they remember seeing
Have them look through magazine again, for a longer
time this time
Now ask recall, persuasion and communication
questions
Direct respondents to the test ad and ask them to
read it
Ask customized communication and diagnostic
questions
Typical Measures in Print Copy
Testing
Recall/Recognition
Idea Communication
Brand Attitude
Ad Attitude
Purchase Intent
Stopping Power
Noted Readers: only remember seeing it
Associated Readers: read part of it
Read Most Readers: read more than half of it
Copy Testing Notes
Methodology should be as close to
“real world” as possible
Using multiple exposures and
collecting different data after each
exposure allows identification of long
term effects
Responses are more valid when
exposure occurs without respondent
knowledge of participation
When Using Outside Firms
Research Services
Some measures between companies may
have similar names, but measure
completely differently. Understand the
method completely so you can truly
ascertain the meaning of the data
Know what the “norms” are, and be sure
that they are current and appropriate to the
product
Ensure that measures used by research
firm are reliable and valid; if firm does not
share, or claims to not know, reliability and
validity diagnostics, be wary of results