Exploring the Effectiveness of Exploratory Research on Print Ad Readership Scores

Abstract

Past research has identified a limited number of generalizable relationships between print ad characteristics and syndicated readership score measures of ad effectiveness. But, print ads are an outcome of hundreds of creative choices, so many other characteristics remain to be investigated. The effectiveness of particular forms of exploratory research has not received much attention in the advertising literature. This paper compares the effectiveness of three exploratory research procedures, commonly used in this heavily researched domain, with a fourth procedure, which may be more appropriate for such circumstances.