Advertising best practice, evidence and insights

What we know about wearout and decay

Article • WARC Best Practice, September 2019

This article provides marketers with information and guidance about avoiding advertising wearout and decay.

What we know about scheduling TV ads

Article • WARC Best Practice, November 2019

This article provides marketers with information and guidance about scheduling TV ads.

How ads protect auto brands' market share

News • 07 June 2019

Automotive brands that are not currently advertising may be at increased risk of losing market share, according to a study published in the Journal of Advertising Research (JAR).

TV ads have 'variable shelf life' on DVRs

News • 10 May 2019

Television spots may have a “variable advertisement shelf life” among DVR audiences depending on the genre of content they appear in, according to a study published in the Journal of Advertising Research (JAR).

Understanding ad frequency in OOH

News • 22 April 2019

Marketers can make use of cognitive science research to tailor OOH media campaigns to maximise emotional connection with target audiences and boost sales in the long term.

The Mere Exposure Effect: Understanding how marketers can optimise emotional responses to OOH ads

Article • Jennie Roper and Dr Alistair Goode, WARC Exclusive, March 2019

Media company Kinetic turned to the Mere Exposure Effect to gain a better understanding of how to apply behavioural cognitive science to today’s advertising industry, and made several discoveries.

The impact of advertising on market share: Controlling for clutter, familiarity, and goodwill decay

Article • Nicholas De Canha, Michael Ewing, and Ali Tamaddoni, Journal of Advertising Research, Digital First, March 2019

The advertising-sales relationship remains paramount. This study, believed to be the largest that focuses on automotive sales and advertising, investigates ceilings and thresholds by optimizing budget allocations among media.

A new 'wearout' standard for a new era of advertising

News • 15 March 2019

Established assumptions about advertising wearout are in doubt following changes in the media ecosystem, a study in the Journal of Advertising Research (JAR) has argued.

Understanding ad frequency across platforms

News • 14 March 2019

Advertisers considering the optimal reach and frequency for their campaigns need to also think about the cross-platform effects of frequency and carry-over, according to Comscore, which has developed a new metric to take account of these factors.

Revisiting the relationship between ad frequency and purchase intentions: How affect and cognition mediate outcomes at different levels of advertising frequency

Research Paper • Jennifer Lee Burton, Jan Gollins, Linda E. McNeely, and Danielle M. Walls, Journal of Advertising Research, Vol. 59, No. 1, 2019, pp. 27-39

This research examines the influence of repeated exposure to advertisements on purchase intentions. Contrary to prior findings that wear-out happens after exposure to an advertisement 10 or more times, consumers who saw an advertisement 10 or more times had greater purchase intentions than consumers with less exposure.

Ad frequency – the issue no-one is talking about

News • 07 March 2019

The advertising industry is fighting fires on multiple fronts as it attempts to deal with issues affecting consumer trust while neglecting the one issue over which it has complete control, according to Direct Line’s Mark Evans.

How to make sense of cross-platform measurement

Article • Sean Pinkney, Admap, March 2019

Explains the results of research by Comscore, which details a sophisticated model to combine recency, frequency and interactive effects on campaigns across digital media.

Frequency: How much is too much? Admap summary deck

Article • Admap, March 2019

A summary of new thinking and best practice on frequency in the age of ad blocking from Admap.

The risks of over-exposure: how ad bombardment promotes consumer mistrust

Opinion • Mark Evans, March 2019

This month, Admap puts the spotlight on Frequency. We asked Mark Evans, Marketing Director, Direct Line Group, for his views on this challenging topic.

What we know about recall and recognition

Article • WARC Best Practice, December 2018

Provides marketers with information and guidance about using recall and recognition to test the effectiveness of a campaign.

Television advertising wearout

Article • ARF - Knowledge at Hand, 2018

Discusses the issue of ad wearout, including the challenges for advertisers and tips on how to face them.

The Dilution Effects of Media Strategy on Brands’ Copromotion Efficiency: Identifying Best Practices for Copromotion Media Planning

Research Paper • Kyung-Ah Byun, Doori Song and Mikyoung Kim, Journal of Advertising Research, Vol. 57, No. 2, 2017, pp. 207-226

Drawing on media-dilution effects, this article investigates the role of media planning, such as media use and scheduling, in copromotion efficiency, calculated with super-efficiency data-envelopment analysis.

Television's brand building power – From GRPs to PRPs

Research Paper • Frank Findley, Douglas Crang and Kelly Johnson, ARF Experiential Learning, Audience Measurement, June 2017

This paper examines the effectiveness of television advertising and changes in audience response since the 1980s within the United States.

Advertising creativity and repetition: recall, wearout and wearin effects

Research Paper • Kevin Lehnert, Brian D. Till and Brad D. Carlson, International Journal of Advertising, Vol. 32, No. 2, 2013, pp. 211-231

Creativity is seen as an important component of advertising, with highly creative ads being easier to recall than control ads.

Mythbuster: Replace ads before they wear out

Article • Les Binet and Sarah Carter, Admap, December 2012, pp. 9-9

Clients and agencies have many different reasons for making new work: partly it's self-interest as both can make their names from new work and partly it's a kind of restlessness - they tire of their own ads long before the public does.

Do TV ads “wear out”?

Article • Millward Brown Knowledge Point, February 2012

This Knowledge Point article looks at advertising wear-out. Broadly speaking, the response generated by a TV ad doesn't change much over time.

Assessing Celebrity Endorsement Effects in China: A Consumer-Celebrity Relational Approach

Research Paper • Kineta Hung, Kimmy W. Chan and Caleb H. Tse, Journal of Advertising Research, Vol. 51, No. 4, 2011, pp. 608-623

Celebrity endorsement is a salient executional strategy in China, where national celebrities often endorse more than 20 brands.

Mythbuster: Stick with what works

Article • Les Binet and Sarah Carter, Admap, July/August 2011, pp. 9-9

In this article from the "Mythbuster" series in Admap, Les Binet and Sarah Carter challenge the idea that novelty and creativity are inextricably connected.

Generalizations about Advertising Effectiveness in Markets

Research Paper • Gerard J. Tellis, Journal of Advertising Research, Vol. 49, No. 2, June 2009, pp. 240-245

Based on over 260 estimates, the mean elasticity of sales or market share to advertising is 0.1 percent.

Do TV ads work harder as they “wear in”?

Article • Millward Brown Knowledge Point, 2007

Generally speaking, it’s true that repeated exposure to the same ad is likely to result in it becoming better established in consumers’ memories.

Wearout & decay