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The Effects of Commercial Length On Advertising Impact

What Short Advertisements Can and Cannot Deliver

Duane Varan, Magda Nenycz-Thiel, Rachel Kennedy, Steven Bellman
DOI: 10.2501/JAR-2019-036 Published 30 September 2019
Duane Varan
MediaScience,
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  • For correspondence: varan@mediasciencelabs.com
Magda Nenycz-Thiel
Ehrenberg-Bass Institute, University of South Australia,
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  • For correspondence: magda@marketingscience.info
Rachel Kennedy
Ehrenberg-Bass Institute,
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  • For correspondence: Rachel.Kennedy@marketingscience.info
Steven Bellman
Ehrenberg-Bass Institute,
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  • For correspondence: Steven.Bellman@marketingscience.info
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ABSTRACT

There are competing explanations for why longer advertisements are remembered better, such as more time to memorize, add branding and claims, tell stories, and get attention, with some acknowledgment of diminishing returns. The authors compared seven-, 15-, 30-, and 60-second versions of the same commercials for their brand recall, advertisement liking, and brand attitude, with additional biometric measures. Seven-second advertisements were almost as effective (measured by unaided recall) as 15-second advertisements and 60 percent as effective as 30-second advertisements, a finding that confirms and extends a diminishing-returns explanation for recall and other measures of effectiveness, such as advertisement liking. With six-second commercials appearing on television and online, short advertisements can provide an efficient option if used with the knowledge of what they can and cannot deliver.

  • Received March 11, 2018.
  • Received (in revised form) November 12, 2018.
  • Accepted December 19, 2018.
  • Copyright© 2019 ARF. All rights reserved.
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Vol 62 Issue 2

Journal of Advertising Research: 62 (2)
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The Effects of Commercial Length On Advertising Impact
Duane Varan, Magda Nenycz-Thiel, Rachel Kennedy, Steven Bellman
Journal of Advertising Research Sep 2019, JAR-2019-036; DOI: 10.2501/JAR-2019-036

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The Effects of Commercial Length On Advertising Impact
Duane Varan, Magda Nenycz-Thiel, Rachel Kennedy, Steven Bellman
Journal of Advertising Research Sep 2019, JAR-2019-036; DOI: 10.2501/JAR-2019-036
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    • ABSTRACT
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