ABSTRACT
Conversion studies represent an important and growing area of research for academicians and researchers in applied fields. A large number of state government tourism departments now have budget items for annual conversion studies. And a number of media companies also periodically conduct such research. Conversion studies typically sample a group of persons who have answered an ad by filling in a response card in a publication or by calling an 800 telephone number. The results of this study lead to several conclusions: With the billions of dollars spent on advertising each year, and the tens of millions of parallel dollars devoted to research attempting to measure the effectiveness of this advertising, a constant search exists to find new and better research approaches. Conversion research has one advantage over most of the other research approaches that exist: it is possible to track and follow up on specific individuals who responded to ads.
