Testing the effectiveness of advertising is a big business.

With the cost of producing a commercial at $500,000 or more -- and media budgets of $50 million -- there is a natural desire, on the part of advertisers, to make sure that the advertising they are running is effective.

John Wanamaker's famous quote, "I know that half of my advertising money is wasted… I just don't know which half," practically begs for a method to identify effective ad campaigns, commercials, or print ads.

Research companies, recognizing this need, have developed a myriad of testing approaches. They use conceptual models of how advertising works, various methods of gathering the data, different response measures, and different analytic approaches.

It's safe to say that there is no general consensus, on the part of advertisers or advertising researchers, as to the best way to test advertising.

This tutorial will lay out a taxonomy of the different approaches used, and some of the strengths and weaknesses of each approach. It will describe the decisions that an advertiser must make in choosing the most appropriate method for their particular type of product or service, their customers or users, and their type of advertising.

A Taxonomy of Advertising Testing Approaches

• The type of advertising (TV spot, print ad, etc.)
• The type of stimulus you want to test (storyboard, finished commercial, etc.)
• The measures of effectiveness you want to obtain.