ABSTRACT
Advertising research became a standard part of agency service around 1910; but N. W. Ayer & Son used research to help land a major account as early as 1879, and at least one agency, Lord & Thomas, began an ongoing research operation in 1900. University of Minnesota psychologist Harlow Gale, who began conducting mail surveys of opinions about advertising in the 1890s, published a 32-page monograph on advertising research. Advertising psychology received early support from the Association of National Advertisers (ANA), and the American Association of Advertising Agencies. ANA was founded in 1915 as an offshoot of the Association of Advertising Clubs of America. During the 1930s, with other advertising media in the doldrums and radio advertising growing rapidly, advertisers had much to learn about “the psychology of the ear.” With the proliferation of readership, listenership, and copy testing services, advertising research experienced its first “crisis of confidence.”
