Measuring Affective Advertising: Implications of Low Attention Processing on Recall

Measuring Affective Advertising: Implications of
Low Attention Processing on Recall
Robert Heath & Agnes Nairn
University of Bath
School of Management
Working Paper Series
2005.04

This working paper is produced for discussion purposes only. The papers are expected to be published in due course, in revised form and should not be quoted without the author’s permission. 1

University of Bath School of Management
Working Paper Series
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Robert Heath & Agnes
Nairn

Measuring Affective Advertising: Implications of Low
Attention Processing on Recall

1

MEASURING AFFECTIVE ADVERTISING: IMPLICATIONS OF LOW
ATTENTION PROCESSING ON RECALL by Robert Heath & Agnes Nairn
Summary:
This paper is about affective advertising, defined as that which works on our emotions and feelings not just on our knowledge and beliefs. We compare the most popular recall-based metric – claimed ad awareness – against an approach which deduces effectiveness from recognition, and find claimed ad awareness seriously underestimates the effectiveness of the advertising tested.
Introduction:
In 1961, in response to Vance Packard’s famous polemic ‘The Hidden Persuaders’, Rosser
Reeves declared ‘There are no hidden persuaders. Advertising works openly, in the bare and pitiless sunlight.’ (Reeves 1961: 70). Doubtless there are some who believe, or would like to believe, that

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