ABSTRACT
In a general sense, scientific research can be described as the process of articulating and answering questions about phenomena. In the study of advertising, econometric studies can, at best, tell us if something has happened through evaluation of sales response models. Positioning studies typically address the issue of what happened in terms of brand perceptions by the consumer. However, in designing and choosing copy to promote a particular brand, important and difficult questions that surface are how and why does advertising work. If we were gifted with knowledge of these particulars, copy evaluation would be a relatively simple matter. Several decades of work in copy research has explored various methods of assessing advertising effectiveness and understanding the underlying variables theorized to contribute to advertising effectiveness. Measures and theories have abounded, many of which have received acceptance in industry without proven validity (Ostlund, Clancy, & Sapra, 1980).
