Abstract:

Marketing tries to influence the consumer choice process and uses communication as one of its tools. Communication implies messages and media. Concerning media, in the past most attention was given to television and print. But, considering advertising expenditures, television and print have no monopoly. In the Netherlands, for example, a strong growth of direct marketing activities can be ascertained, resulting from tendencies in our society to individuality, fragmentation, and segmentation. The growth of direct advertising generated the need for figures on reach and effect. Veldkamp developed a research model for measuring reach, appreciation and effect of direct non-mail (unaddressed door-to-door advertising). Central element is the so-called twin procedure. The registration and collection of direct non-mail is split from the measurement of its reach and appreciation. One person collects and his/her twin- brother or -sister evaluates. The model was applied in three large-scale studies (1988, 1989/1990, 1992/1993) and also gave fresh impetus to the development of other experimental studies in the field of direct advertising. It has been shown that the research arrear of this medium has in the meantime been converted into a lead, mainly because our model generates figures that cross the borders of media research and also give indications on advertising reaction and effects.