Advertising pre-testing works - or does it?

Wendy Gordon suggests that all methods used for advertisement pre-testing are artificial and are variations of short-term memory tests.

Advertising pre-testing works - or does it?

Pre-testing has an important role to play, but it is not an objective predictive measure of the effectiveness of the advertising

Wendy Gordon

Wendy Gordon suggests that all methods used for advertisement pre-testing are artificial and are variations of short-term memory tests. Whilst the findings may be reassuring that the advertisement is capable of communicating the desired messages, how do we know it will, unless viewers or readers pay it serious attention, think about it and forget their own prejudices about the category or brand? Individual interviews rather than group discussions...

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