Abstract:

Due to the fact that advertising for tobacco goods was banned from Austrian TV, the Austrian Tobacco Company (Osterreichische Tabakregie) was forced to carry out its advertising campaigns predominantly by posters. This study is a result of cooperation with one of the largest poster publicity companies in Austria (Heimatwerbung). The main objective was to analyze the advertising effect of various poster sizes, proceeding from the situation given at that time: The original dominance of 8-sheet posters was dwindling, and a strong trend to 16-sheet posters was noted. 24-sheet posters were (like to- day) of rather small importance. It was up to us - as the market research institute involved - to find the most efficient test method which would guarantee control over the individual factors of influence on the test results. We finally decided on a lab-test in our own test station, also because we wanted to use this method as a pre-testing instrument. In addition, we were able to exclude several external factors linked with on-air tests, e.g. quality of location, and display period.