Modeling the Microeffects of Television Advertising: Which Ad Works, When, Where, for How Long, and Why?

Most past research has focused on how aggregate advertising works in field settings. However, the information most critical to managers is which ad works, in which medium or vehicle, at what time of the day, at what level of repetition, and for how long. Managers also need to know why a particular ad works in terms of the characteristics (or cues) of its creative. The proposed model addresses these issues. It provides a comprehensive method to evaluate the effect of TV advertising on sales by simultaneously separating the effects of the ad itself from that of the time, placement (channel), creative cues, repetition, age of the ad, and age of the market. It also captures ad decay by hour to avoid problems of data aggregation. No model in the literature provides such an in-depth and comprehensive analysis of advertising effectiveness. Applications of the model have saved millions of dollars in costs of media and design of creatives.