Bridging the gap between time and space: Examining the impact of commercial length and frequency on advertising effectiveness

Abstract

Marketing research has provided insight into how a number of variables add to and detract from the success of commercial advertisements. Length and frequency of presentation are two of these variables, but extant literature gives little indication as to how these two variables may work together to influence consumer perceptions. This quasi-experiment empirically examined the impact of commercial length and frequency on advertising effectiveness. The results showed advantages of frequency over commercial length in enhancing audiences' prompted brand recall and advertising liking. Although both commercial frequency and length were found to be significant, the impact obtained by running an additional commercial was considerably higher than the impact acquired by increasing average and total commercial length. Marketing implications for the results are discussed.