BUILDING BETTER TV SCHEDULES - NEW LIGHT FROM THE SINGLE-SOURCE

Recent single-source analyses have shed new light on the media constru ct '' effective frequency.'' These contingency table investigations es tablish a relation between recent advertising exposure and brand choic e, which can be misleading. Rich single-source data demands multivaria te techniques that include other key variables like weight of category purchases and viewing, category seasonality, brand loyalty, competito rs' advertising, advertising decay rates, and response to brand advert ising. The authors' analyses of single-source data suggest that other considerations-the decay rate of advertising effects, market and media cost seasonality-should have equal, if not greater importance, than t he response function or effective frequency in scheduling television c ampaigns.