Recognition, Recall and Rating Scales

This paper is one of 18 selected by the Editorial Review Board of The Journal of Advertising Research to be a 'classic' - an article that has withstood the test of time.

Recognition, Recall, and Rating Scales

William D WellsRutgers University and Benton&Bowles, Inc.

To gauge interest in an advertisement, use the recognition method. To plumb how meaningful the message is and how well the brand name registers, use recall. But to predict subsequent sales, just ask people to rate the ad.

With large resources and good research designs, we now can measure the sales effects of advertising campaigns (Wolfe, etal., 1962, 1963). But, except under very unusual circumstances, we cannot measure the sales effects of individual ads.

Without a real measure of sales effectiveness, advertisers...

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