An evaluation of the semantic differential technique as applied to the copy-testing of advertisements
Michael L. Lyons · CSUN ScholarWorks (California State University, Northridge) · 1971
This study attempted to measure attitudes towards advertisements and to investigate the results of such measurements for po ssible differences between test and retest performances.The semanti c differential, a technique utilizing rating scales for the measurement of con•� cepts, was adapted for the purpo ses of thi s study.The measuring instrument used consisted of ten seven-category semantic differential scal ese Copy-testing of two different magazine adve rtise-• ments was performed on a total of 358 students at San Fernando Valley State Collegee The subje cts compri sed four independent sample groups, each of which had approxima tely the same number of persons.. Tl'lO of the groups eaci1 rated only one of the t\'JO advertisements; in the vi icase.of the other two groups, a second ad was introduced between test and retest of the initial ad.•The experimen tal design of the study provided for comparative analyses between samples to investigate any effects on retest scores that may be attributable to the introduction of the second advertisement.From the results obtained in this study, it was deduced thatl t. the measuring instrument used in this study is sufficiently reliable to be used in the evaluation of attitudes toward ( i.e. to copy-test ) advertise ments' 2. the introduction of a second, different advertise ment between a given ad's test and retest can affect individual subject's retest ratings.viii 1 Cre st Cre st 2 Pepsi Pepsi 3 Crest Pepsi Cre st 4 Pepsi Cre st Pepsi -As shown in Table 3.1 , samples 1 and 2 ra ted only one advertisement each, on a test-retest basis, whi le samples 3 and 4 al so rated a second advertisement interposed be tween the test and re test of the primary ad .Su ch an arrangement permi ts two independent comparative analys es : Crest-Cre st vs .Crest-Pepsi-Cre st and Pepsi-Pepsi vs .Pepsi-Cre st-Pepsi .