A technique for psychological study of poster board advertising and some preliminary results

Abstract

The authors describe the technique used in a "field" experiment on advertising psychology. The observers were 19 university undergraduates. In groups of 4 or 5 they were driven past poster boards at the rate of 20 miles an hour, and after a 5-minute interval were given an opportunity for spontaneous recall and recognition. There were two sets of poster boards with about 20 boards in each set. They were driven past the first set when "naïf" (not having been told the nature of the experiment) and past the second when "sophisticated." The results show that the effect of recency is considerable; the effect of primacy is considerable with the "sophisticated." In scoring, one point was given for each of the following: commodity, picture, slogan, trade name, dealer, and color. Commodities and trade names were remembered best. There was no apparent sex difference. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved)