Analysis of effective recall in radio adverting

Abstract

Purpose – The purpose of this research is to determine the relationship between frequency and recall in radio advertising by studying the main features of reach and frequency.

Design/methodology/approach – The authors consider the outcome of a frequency model specifically designed for radio campaigns that gives the probability distribution of recall as a function of weekly exposures and GRPs over a dataset of 1,117 radio campaigns broadcast in Spain.

Findings – An increase in factors such as advertising format and creativity are more significant to achieve effective recall than increasing the number of advertising exposures.

Practical implications – This study has important managerial implications regarding radio campaigns’ planning: (1) Effective frequency is a range between 4 and 17 impressions (being 7 the optimal average). (2) The way to optimize the campaign is by using the following factors: live read format (Δ 4.4%), good creativity (Δ 2.8%), endorsement format (Δ 2%), sponsorship format (Δ 1.8%), increase the length of the spot (Δ 1.5%), place the ad in first (Δ 0.8%) or last (Δ 0.7%) positions in the pod. From the results we conclude that the format is at least as important as the creativity itself.

Originality/value – This study contributes to the effective repetition literature in two ways: giving specific clues to the effective frequency in the radio medium and setting advertising factors that predict the effective frequency in radio.