Which ad works, when, where, and how often? Modeling the effects of directtelevision advertising

The authors develop a model to decompose the effects of television advertis ing for a toil-free referral service, at the hourly level. The model estima tes which ad works, when, in which station, and for how long. Results of th e analysis show that ads do stimulate direct response, but their effects di ssipate very rapidly. Effectiveness and profitability vary substantially by creative, television station, and station x time of the day. The results u nderscore the need for managers to undertake such analyses and for research ers to use such a disaggregate approach.