Memory Measures for Pretesting Advertisements: An Integrative Conceptual Framework and a Diagnostic Template

Abstract

This article develops a conceptual framework for interpreting performance patterns on a battery of memory tests and presents a diagnostic template for ad testing based on this framework. We first review concepts and empirical findings on direct (rec-ognition and recall) and indirect memory tests. Then we discuss the processes by which these tests may tap the memory traces induced by ad exposure. Next, we out-line how relevant stimulus, processing, retrieval, and individual difference factors produce parallel or dissociated performance on these memory tests. Finally, we enumerate likely test performance patterns and propose how these may be used as a diagnostic template to identify (a) the deficient aspects of an ad, (b) facilitation or interference among ad components, and (c) whether ad memory deficits stem from encoding or retrieval problems. We highlight how indirect tests tap ad-induced memory traces that are inaccessible to conscious retrieval but that may infiuence be-havior. We conclude with a discussion of the implications of the work and priorities for future research. In the United States alone, companies like P&G and Philip Morris spend more than 2 billion dollars annually on advertising to inform, persuade, and remind target au-