Measuring Media Effectiveness: Comparing Media Contribution Throughout the Purchase Funnel
By Commissioned by Magazine Publishers of America (MPA) and conducted by Marketing Evolution
Magazines
"This study shows that magazines add an important influence to all segments of the purchase funnel -- especially the most noteworthy category of purchase"
Year: December 2006
Source: Magazine Publishers of America (MPA)
Type of Promotional Material/Activity Tested: Magazines
Methodology: An aggregation of twenty cross-media accountability studies (performed by Marketing Evolution from 2004-2006) measuring media impact across the various stages of the consumer purchase decision-making process. Online surveys were primarily used and supplemented by telephone surveys if the online population wasn't well represented.
Metrics: Return on Marketing Objective (ROMO). To provide transparency and fair comparisons across various media, a cost-per-impact measure of media effectiveness was used. For each medium, the difference in the metric(s) was calculated between exposed and control respondents. The gain in the impact measure between exposed and control was divided by the cost of the media buy to calculate the “cost per impact.”
Independent Variables:
- Television (network, syndication, cable and/or spot)
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Magazines (consumer)
- Internet (banners and rich media)
Dependent variables:
- Consumer perceptions throughout the purchase funnel: brand awareness, brand familiarity, brand imagery, purchase intent
Top Line Results:
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Marketing campaigns having the greatest impact on the purchasing decision use a synergistic media combination.
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In examining different media combinations, the addition of magazines to a media campaign consistently produce the most successful results.
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Throughout the purchase funnel, magazines are the most consistent performers versus other media studied. Across 20 studies, magazines produce a positive result in more stages of the purchase funnel, and in more ad campaigns, than TV or online.
| Total Brand Awareness |
Brand Familiarity |
Brand Imagery |
Purchase Intent |
|
| Magazines | 78% | 93% | 82% | 80% |
| TV | 69% | 69% | 68% | 57% |
| Online | 56% | 67% | 57% | 26% |
| Percentage of 20 Studies in which Overall Purchase Metrics Were Positively Influenced by Medium | ||||
Effectiveness of Individual Stages of the Purchase Funnel:
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While each medium achieves an increase in consumer ad awareness, magazines are most successful, followed closely by TV, and trailed by online advertising.
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TV is the strongest overall medium in building top-of-the-funnel brand awareness, with magazines following a strong second as an effective means to engage consumers. Online ads are a distant third. Magazines excel in promoting brand awareness in the categories of automotive and entertainment advertising.
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Magazines and TV both perform well in increasing consumer familiarity and knowledge of a brand. Magazines show strongly in increasing customer brand familiarity for autos, entertainment, and pharmaceutical products.
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Brand imagery communicates "the message" and influences perception. Overall, TV and magazines are more likely to produce positive brand associations than online ads and consistently show a positive influence across all categories. TV does particularly well in the electronics category, and magazines lead the way in the entertainment category.
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Purchase intent is most closely tied with the consumer’s likelihood to take action that hopefully results in a sale—and thus is the all-important advertising objective. Magazines outperform both television and online advertising in driving positive shifts in overall purchase intent.
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Magazines outperform both television and online advertising in driving positive shifts in overall purchase intent:
- Magazines - 5%
- TV - 2%
- Online - 2%
Across the five advertising categories, magazines rank #1 in influencing purchase intent in all but electronics where it comes in a close second to television:
Purchase Intent Lift by Category
Magazines Television Online Automotive 5% 3% 2% Entertainment 6% 1% 4% Electronics 3% 4% 0% General 4% 1% 1% Pharmaceuticals 3% 2% 0%
Take Aways:
- Of the client studies aggregated for this MPA commissioned study, Marketing Evolution, a respected leader in market research, was asked by clients in 16 of the 20 studies to recommend revised spending across media to bring balance to their marketing mix and increase ROI. Marketing Evolution found that magazines were often under-represented in clients' marketing media mix, demonstrating an under-appreciation for the power of print. Overall, the most often advised change was to increase the share of spending allocations for magazines -- and by substantial amounts.
- This study shows that magazines add an important influence to all segments of the purchase funnel -- especially the most noteworthy category of purchase intent. The gains from adding print magazine advertising to the mix are greater than repeating ads in the same media.
Complexity Rating: 1 (Complex statistical analysis scale: 1 = none, 2 = moderate, difficult)
Source: Measuring Media Effectiveness: Comparing Media Contribution Throughout the Purchase Funnel
