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Infomercials and advertisingeffectiveness: an empiricalstudyBrett A.S. MartinSenior Lecturer, Department of Marketing, University of AucklandBusiness School, Auckland, New Zealand

Andrew C. BhimyLecturer, Department of Marketing, University of Auckland BusinessSchool, Auckland, New Zealand

Tom AgeeSenior Lecturer, Department of Marketing, University of AucklandBusiness School, Auckland, New Zealand

Keywords Advertising, Effectiveness, Surveys, New Zealand

Abstract Despite their increasing use by advertisers, little research has examined theeffectiveness of infomercials. This study explores the influence of infomercial

advertisement design elements, such as the use of customer testimonials or expertcomments, and consumer characteristics, such as level of prior interest in the advertised

product, upon perceptions of advertising effectiveness. With the assistance of the New

Zealand division of an international infomercial marketer, we conducted a survey ofconsumers who had bought products in response to viewing an infomercial. Based on 878

respondents, our findings indicate that infomercial advertising is more effective whenemploying expert comments, testimonials, product demonstrations, the use of target

market models, celebrity endorsers, product comparisons, and bonus offers. Age alsoimpacted how consumers view infomercials, as did the type of product purchased.

Introduction

Long regarded as a form of advertising targeting the gullible and nave

(Chapman and Beltramini, 2000), infomercials have recently experienced a

surge in popularity. Not only are infomercials increasingly popular

(Edwards, 2001) but they are also attracting well known brands such as

Apple, Nissan, Mercedes, Microsoft, Land Rover and Cadillac to advertise in

this format (Edwards, 2001; Guilford, 1999; Wellner, 2000). Yet despite this

increase, little research has examined infomercials. While recent research

has examined the infomercial clearance process at television stations (Wicks

and Abernethy, 2001) and the perceptions of the advertising profession

towards infomercials (Chapman and Beltramini, 2000), there is a lack of

research examining infomercial effectiveness. The exception is Singh et al.

(2000) who used an experiment of student subjects to compare different

advertising formats.

The purpose of this study is to examine what influences perceptions of

infomercial advertising effectiveness among a sample of actual

infomercial buyers. To this end, we examine infomercial elements (e.g. the

use of product demonstrations), and consumer characteristics (e.g. levels of

prior interest in the product purchased through an infomercial) across sixproduct types (e.g. fitness machines and skin care cosmetics). The results

offer insights for marketers and advertising strategists as to what influences

consumers to regard an infomercial as effective. In other words, what

The research register for this journal is available at

http://www.emeraldinsight.com/researchregisters

The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available at

http://www.emeraldinsight.com/0736-3761.htm

Infomercials becoming

increasingly popular

Infomercial elementsexamined

468 JOURNAL OF CONSUMER MARKETING, VOL. 19 NO. 6 2002, pp. 468-480,# MCB UP LIMITED, 0736-3761, DOI 10.1108/07363760210444850

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features of an infomercial or a consumer determine whether an infomercial is

viewed as interesting, entertaining, helpful and worth watching. Next,

relevant literature is reviewed. The method and results of a survey of

consumers who have purchased products in response to viewing an

infomercial are then presented. Finally, the implications of the results arediscussed.

Literature review

An infomercial is a program-length advertisement spanning anywhere from

30 minutes to two hours, promoting an organization's product or imagethrough information or persuasion (Chapman and Beltramini, 2000; Donthu

and Gilliland, 1996). In recent times infomercials have increased both in

numbers and scope as marketers increasingly recognise the value of longer

commercial formats (Chapman and Beltramini, 2000), however the

effectiveness of infomercials has become a major concern. While

practitioner perceptions of infomercials have been well documented(Beltramini, 1983; Chapman and Beltramini, 2000), there is a notable dearth

of empirical research focused on the elements of the infomercial that actually

persuade the consumer to make a purchase.

Benefits that characterise the effectiveness of direct marketing/direct

response advertising, such as convenience and choice (Evans et al., 2001;

Feinberg and Eastlick, 1997), are often seen as applying to infomercials, butthere is little evidence concerning what elements of infomercials consumers

view as effective. Likewise, although there is research assessing the profile

of the infomercial shopper relative to the non-shopper (Donthu and Gilliland,

1996), there is little evidence regarding the effect of cognitive processes andprevious purchasing behaviour on the infomercial shopper's view of

infomercial effectiveness. The objective of this study is to address these

issues, by studying the effect of consumer characteristics and infomercial

characteristics on consumer perceptions of infomercial effectiveness.

Consumer characteristics

Understanding if consumer characteristics influence perceptions of

infomercial effectiveness has several important benefits for marketers. Onebenefit is the ability to target consumer groups more effectively, especially

for marketers looking to enhance production values by increasing efficiency

(Donthu and Gilliland, 1996). Understanding consumer characteristics may

also contribute to the debate over infomercial legitimacy by providinginsights into the decision processes used to purchase from infomercials.

Previous studies that have examined consumers who watch or purchase from

infomercials have commonly focused on demographics, yet the results in this

area have been inconclusive. Donthu and Gilliland (1996) found that

infomercial shoppers were demographically similar to non-shoppers in terms

of age, education, gender, and income. They concluded that this similarity

highlights the potential use of infomercials to promote a wide range of

products to all demographic categories. However, these results have notfound universal support with previous studies of infomercials and home

shopping attesting to differences in age and gender (James and Cunningham,

1987), and age and income (Darian, 1987). Further, these findings have not

been tested on different groups of infomercial buyers, raising the important

question of whether some infomercial buyers are more inclined toward

infomercials than others. For example, it is possible that buyers fromdifferent age, income or gender groups have different purchase motivations,

resulting in different criteria for the assessment of infomercial effectiveness.

Value of longer commercial

formats increasinglyrecognized

Insights into the decision

processes

Potential use of

infomercials to promote a

wide range of products

JOURNAL OF CONSUMER MARKETING, VOL. 19 NO. 6 2002 469


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Elliot and Speck (1995) found that consumers under the age of 40, and

consumers who are unmarried, are more inclined to view infomercials than

their older or unmarried counterparts. However, these results did not extend

to the examination of those who purchased from infomercials, though the

results suggest that these viewers are variety seeking and looking for new

opportunities, a finding supported by Donthu and Gilliland's (1996) profile

of the infomercial shopper. If differences do emerge, infomercial advertisers

may have to consider treating these demographic segments as unique, and

take time to consider the motivations that are driving the perceived

effectiveness for each group.

Another major area requiring research is consumer cognition, given the

debate over whether infomercials should be designed to be informative or

persuasive (Elliot and Lockard, 1996; Tom, 1996; Wiener, 1994). Yet much

of the evidence regarding the level of useful information provided by

infomercials is confined to content analysis studies (e.g. Elliot and Lockard,

1996; Seitz, 1998; Tom, 1996). Consumer evidence provided by Donthu and

Gilliland (1996) suggests that infomercial shoppers are impulsive, noting

that they often purchase products without searching for alternatives. Yet this

evidence provides only indirect clues regarding the information dependence

of infomercial buyers. Although this may imply that infomercial buyers have

little information reliance, it is also plausible that, if they find a single

infomercial sufficiently informative, they may purchase without searching

for alternatives. Regarding information, Evans et al. (2001) found that

consumers believe that direct marketing techniques should provide

consumers with information and remind them of their needs. Hawthorne

(1998, p. 52) puts it more bluntly: ``The more you tell, the more you sell''.

Mitchell and Boustani (1994) suggest that consumers will search for less

alternative product information if an advertisement provides a high level of

certainty that the product will be satisfactory, and that there will be minimal

negative consequences. It is plausible that some infomercial formats may

provide such a level of certainty. Thus, we consider the influence of

infomercial elements, such as comparisons with other products.

An avenue that has been less well explored, and which is also addressed inthis study, is the possibility that consumers may be looking to be engaged by

the infomercial rather than simply informed by it. Objective assessments of

information content from content analyses tell us little about how effective

consumers believe this information to be, or whether they even care about it

at all. In fact consumers may often base their engagement with infomercials

on affective cues, and ``may be predisposed to an impulsive purchase when

affective advertising cues are present'' (Donthu and Gilliland, 1996, p. 72).

In a study of direct response radio commercials, Verhoef et al. (2000) found

that perceived effectiveness varied between products, and attributed this to

different levels of involvement. Likewise, it is well recognised that different

products are differentially effective in the world of infomercials (e.g.

Hawthorne, 1998), and it may be that differences in product involvement orinterest are responsible for this. Thus, rather than examining the information

level of infomercials as in previous studies, this study will focus on whether

infomercials that engage the consumer are viewed as more effective than

those that do not.

A third area of interest regarding consumer characteristics is behavioural

patterns, such as infomercial viewing and prior purchasing behaviour. An

area that has received some attention has been the influence of past viewing

habits and past exposure to the infomercial on perceptions of infomercial

Some consumer evidence

suggests infomercial

shoppers are impulsive

Perceived effectivenessvaried

Influence of past viewing

habits

470 JOURNAL OF CONSUMER MARKETING, VOL. 19 NO. 6 2002


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effectiveness. Elliot and Speck (1995) found that consumers are more likely

to be heavy infomercial viewers if they have the opportunity to view

infomercials and are interested in learning about new products. Thus we

might expect a positive relationship between amount of infomercial

viewership and perceptions of infomercial effectiveness. Likewise, priorexposure to the advertisement may also influence perceptions of

effectiveness, given that the consumer may not consider their need for a

product until after they have seen an infomercial initially, and may be more

susceptible to making a purchase during later exposures. Prior purchasing

patterns are another area of interest to marketers are infomercials perceivedas more or less effective by those who have previously bought from

infomercials, from mail order catalogues or from regular TV advertisements?

Positive results in this area would suggest the potential for cross-media

marketing strategies, perhaps using catalogues to ``prime'' the consumer,

then the selling power of infomercials to close the deal. Our study explores

these areas and their impact on advertising effectiveness.

Infomercial characteristics

As a marketing vehicle, infomercials have a number of potential benefits for

advertisers. These include the ability to present a detailed product story, to

make an emotional connection with the consumer, and to drive sales through

other retail and direct marketing channels (Hawthorne, 1998). Although suchguidance is useful for marketers looking to achieve certain promotional

objectives, how these benefits can be used to maximise their effect on

consumers is questionable.

Elliot and Lockard (1996) have noted that the typical infomercial comprisesa program segment and a direct response segment. These infomercials can

have a number of different formats, focusing on product demonstrations,

expert or celebrity testimonials, a ``documercial'' format taking on the

appearance of a documentary or newscast, a talk show format emphasising

entertainment value, or a dramatisation using a slice-of-life format to

demonstrate everyday product use. Elliot and Lockard (1996) found that

infomercials using product demonstrations and testimonials had the greatest

number of information cues, and the talk show and documentary formats theleast. Given the general belief that more information is better, it might be

expected that product demonstrations are positively and significantly related

to perceptions of infomercial effectiveness, but there are no empirical data

available to support this supposition. Likewise, customer testimonials shouldbe well received by infomercial buyers.

Another area that may influence the variables perceived to be effective in

infomercials is the type of product being advertised. For example, Seitz

(1998) found that direct response advertisements for perfume and women's

apparel tended to be image-based, whereas direct response advertisements

for cosmetics contained a more balanced mix of image-based and

information-based content. Seitz (1998, p. 273) concluded that ``image based

advertising is often employed when there is little difference in brands'', butthat ``reason comes more into play in the description of product benefits for

cosmetic brands''. Although these findings were developed in the context of

direct response magazine advertisements, they have suggested that

infomercials for products with little perceived difference may focus on

image elements, whereas products with major differences may focus

on emphasising unique benefits through a detailed description anddemonstration of the product. In this study, we examine buyer perceptions of

infomercial advertising effectiveness across six different products allowing

Potential benefits for

advertisers

``Documercial'' format

Perceptions of effectiveness

across different products

examined



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insight into the influence of product type. We also explore the influence of

infomercial content ranging from product demonstrations to the presentation

of payment information.

Method

Data were collected by means of a survey sent to customers of the New

Zealand division of a major international infomercial marketer. In

New Zealand, almost all of the infomercials are produced in or for the US

market and are televised with only the price and ordering information

modified. Thus, we surveyed 2,670 customers who had bought one of sixdifferent products across a two-week time-frame. These products were:

(1) a strider (i.e. similar to a skiing machine for aerobic fitness);

(2) a rider (i.e. providing resistance for all major muscle groups while

seated);

(3) an exerciser to reduce the buttock area;

(4) a facial cream program;

(5) a multi-media children's reading program; and

(6) a memory improvement course provided in a set of videotapes.

A total of 60 percent of the infomercials were televised weekdays,8 a.m.-12 noon; 28 percent midnight-1 a.m.; and 12 percent

Saturday, 8 a.m.-12 noon, which is consistent with world-wide practice.

The survey consisted of questions covering perceptions of advertising

effectiveness, the type of purchase decision, as well as information on

consumer characteristics such as amount of previous exposure to the

infomercial, and how often the respondent watches infomercials.

Respondents received a covering letter, a prize draw incentive, the

questionnaire, and a postage paid reply envelope. An additional survey was

sent approximately two weeks later with an additional prize draw

opportunity to improve response. This resulted in 878 respondents and a

response rate of 32.8 percent, which exceeds recommended guidelines of30 percent (Cooper and Emory, 1995). Table I presents a summary of sample

characteristics.

Perceptions of advertising effectiveness related to seven items such as `Ì

found the infomercial interesting and informative'', and ``The

demonstrations of how the product worked were very helpful in making my

decision to buy''. Respondents were asked to indicate their degree of

agreement with statements related to the above, measured by a five-point

scale with anchors 1 = strongly agree, 5 = strongly disagree. The sections of

the survey relevant to degree of planning consisted of questions relating to

the following: the degree of planning given to the TV purchase; previous

interest in the type of product purchased; previous exposure to TV

advertisements for the product purchased as well as similar products; amountof thought given to the TV purchase. For example, whether the purchase was

an impulse or planned decision was measured by the item ``To what degree

would you say your decision to purchase was planned in advance?'' (1 = not

at all just a spur of the moment impulse, 5 = very much had planned to

buy the next time I saw the advertisement). Likewise, predisposition toward

purchasing a product similar to that advertised included questions such as: `Ì

had seen TV advertisements for other products like this before'', `Ì had

realized I needed a product like this before I saw the TV advertisement, but

Almost all infomercialsproduced in New Zealand

were for the USA

Response rate exceeded

recommended guidelines



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had never really looked for one'', and `Ì had been looking around for a

product like this, even before I saw the TV advertisement.'' The amount of

thought that went into the purchase decision included statements such as: `Ì

thought a lot about the infomercial before I decided to buy'', `Ì thought a lot

about similar products I had seen in shops or on TV'', and ``Before I decided

I thought a lot about whether I might benefit from the product.''

Results

We first performed factor analysis on the data for measures containing three

or more items. As the items loaded on to single factors, six indices were

created (see Table II) for:

(1) advertising effectiveness;

(2) comments and demonstrations;

Demographics Frequency Percentagea

Gender

Male 162 18.5

Female 716 81.5

Age

< 20 38 4.4

20-29 257 29.6

30-39 299 34.5

40-49 150 17.3

50-59 79 9.160-64 18 2.1

65 + 26 3.0

Household income

< $20,000 130 15.9

$20,000-$29,000 107 13.1

$30,000-$39,000 134 16.4

$40,000-$49,000 120 14.7

$50,000-$59,000 108 13.2

$60,000-$79,000 98 12.0

$80,000-$99,000 63 7.7

$100,000 + 58 7.1

Education

< High school graduate 363 42.0High school graduate 145 16.8

Technical or trade qualification 97 11.2

Other tertiary qualification 153 17.7

Some college 25 2.9

College graduate 81 9.4

Marital status

Single 168 19.4

Married/living together 589 68.1

Divorced/separated 83 9.6

Widowed 25 2.9

Ethnicity

White 676 78.0

Maori descent 132 15.2

Pacific Island descent 19 2.2

Chinese/other Asian 18 2.1

Other 22 2.5

Total sample size 878 100.0

Note: aPercentages based on totals of each characteristic

Table I. Summary of the characteristics of respondents

Factor analysis performed

on the data



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(3) payment information;

(4) recognition comparison and extras;

(5) previous interest in the product index; and

(6) a pre-purchase thinking index.

Next, multiple regression was used to see what factors influence consumer

perceptions of what makes an effective infomercial. Therefore, a multiple

regression was performed with advertising effectiveness as the criterion

variable. This resulted in a significant regression model (p < 0.001), that

explained 30 percent of the variation in the data (adj. R-square = 0.30). As

displayed in Table III, variables that had a statistically significant positive

Factor Loadings Eigenvalue

Advertising effectivenessa 3.24

I found the infomercial interesting and informative 0.77

I found the infomercial entertaining and fun to watch 0.82

The demonstrations of how the product worked were very

helpful in making my decision to buy 0.77

I could relate to the people in the advertisement who tried

the product 0.72

The host or celebrity in the advertisement made me feel

the product was a good one 0.65

I often check TV listings to see when infomercials are on 0.54

Comments and demonstrationsb 3.64

Testimonials from satisfied users 0.84

Comments by an expert 0.77

People like me in the infomercial who seemed to benefit

from using the product 0.64

Payment informationb 1.33

Easy payment plan with credit card 0.71

Money back guarantee 0.69

The amount of information provided 0.63

Buying at home, free number 0.60

Recognition, comparison and extrasb 1.08

Someone I recognized from TV or the movies talkingabout the product 0.75

Comparing its benefits with similar products 0.43

Additional items included in the TV offer 0.73

Previous interest in the productc 1.48

I had seen the TV advertisement for the product I

purchased before 0.70

I had seen TV advertisements for other products like this

before 0.62

I realized that I needed a product like this before I saw

the TV advertisement, but had never really looked for one 0.56

Pre-purchase thinkingc 2.94

I thought a lot about the infomercial before I decided to buy 0.83

The infomercial made me think a lot about the

product before I decided to buy 0.83

I thought a lot about the reasons given for buying it 0.83

Before I decided I thought a lot about whether I might

benefit from the product 0.71

Notes: aAll factor item endpoints: 1 = agree strongly, 5 = disagree strongly.bAll factor item endpoints: 1 = very important, 5 = not important at all.cAll factor item endpoints: 1 = strongly agree, 5 = strongly disagree.

Table II. Summary of the factor analysis results

Perceptions of what makes

an effective infomercial



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association with advertising effectiveness (6 = highly effective to 30 = highly

ineffective) were: comments and demonstrations (p < 0.01), recognition,

comparison and extras (p < 0.01), pre-purchase thinking (p < 0.01), prior

exposure to the advertisement (p < 0.01), and amount of infomercial viewing

(p < 0.01).

Significant positive associations were also evident for product type regarding

the strider fitness machine and skin care cream products (p < 0.01), where

the butt reducer product served as the referent category. Given that higher

index ratings reflect unfavorable perceptions of advertising effectiveness,

this indicates that consumers who bought the butt reducing exerciser had

more favorable views of advertising effectiveness than those who boughteither the strider or the face cream. To investigate whether buyers of the butt

reducer actually had higher satisfaction scores with the actual product, a

one-way analysis of variance performed on satisfaction (1 = low satisfaction

and 7 = high satisfaction) revealed a significant product type effect

(F(5,762) = 6.15, p < 0.001). Specifically, the strider fitness machine had the

highest satisfaction ratings (mean = 5.45, s.d. = 1.61) of all products, above

that of skin care cream (mean = 4.71, s.d. = 1.93) and the butt reducer (mean

= 4.96, s.d. = 1.68).

Likewise, for age, a positive association was revealed for consumers less

than or equal to 29 years old, and also for consumers aged 30 to 39 years,

where consumers aged 40 years or more served as the comparison variable

(p < 0.01). This suggests that consumers in the 40-plus age bracket viewedinfomercials as more effective than consumers in the younger age categories.

Discussion

Our study examines what factors influence perceptions of infomercial

advertising effectiveness among a sample of consumers who have purchased

products in response to infomercials. The findings suggest that infomercials

are more likely to be seen as effective by consumers who value expert

comments, demonstrations, product comparisons, and bonus offers. Age also

Variable Advertising effectiveness beta

Infomercial elements

Comments and demonstrations 0.20*

Recognition, comparison and extras 0.20*

Consumer characteristics

Pre-purchase thinking 0.14*

Prior exposure to advertisement 0.12*

Amount of infomercial viewing 0.23*

Product type

Strider fitness machine 0.08*

Skin care cream 0.09*

Demographics

Age: < = 29 years 0.17*

Age: 30-39 years 0.17*

Diagnostics

R-square 0.34

Adjusted R-square 0.30

Standard error or estimate 2.93

Durbin-Watson statistic 2.10

Note: *Beta significant at p < 0.01

Table III. Multiple regression results

Strider fitness machine had

highest satisfaction ratings

40-plus age bracket viewed

infomercials as more

effective



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impacted how consumers view infomercials, as did the product type

purchased. For age, consumers in the 40-plus age bracket perceived

infomercials as more effective than younger consumers. This is of interest,

given the youth focus in many advertising campaigns (Carrigan and Szmigin,

1999). Thus, infomercial marketers should consider using models of this

older age bracket where appropriate in their advertising.

For product type, purchasers of the butt reducer perceived infomercials as

more effective than did purchasers of the strider fitness machine and skin

care cream products. This did not appear to be related to consumer

satisfaction as purchasers of the strider reported higher satisfaction with the

product they bought than the butt reducer purchasers. Of course it may be

that buyers of the butt reducer did not gain the anticipated benefits from

using the product, in altering their figure to a trimmer shape. Thus, while less

satisfied with product performance than strider-buyers, they admitted that the

infomercial had been effective in getting them to buy the product. An

interesting avenue for future research would be to examine levels of repeat

purchases amongst infomercial buyers with differing levels of satisfaction

and perceived infomercial effectiveness.

Further, consumers who think about the product as a result of viewing the

infomercial, consumers who purchased the product on the first exposure to

the infomercial and people who view infomercials frequently also view themas an effective means of advertising. Intriguingly, whether consumers

viewed infomercials as effective or not was unrelated to their previous

interest in the product, the payment information displayed on the screen, the

type of the product being advertised, or their level of experience. Results also

showed that whether consumers purchased a product in response to an

infomercial, TV advertisement or mail order catalog, had no bearing on their

perceptions of infomercial effectiveness. Nor did whether the infomercial

purchase was of a planned or impulse nature. In addition, with the exception

of age, demographics offered little insight into this issue.

A limitation of the present research is that the distribution of respondents is

skewed towards females. Yet given that we were conducting a survey

rather than experiment, this is considered acceptable and it does reflect asample of actual buyers. Our study indicates a number of future researchareas. For example, given that pre-purchase thinking is of value,

researchers could examine individual differences in how people are

predisposed to thinking about information. One avenue that would offer

promise in this area would be need for cognition (Cacioppo and Petty,1982) which measures how predisposed people are to engaging in, and

enjoying, cognitively demanding tasks. Another avenue would be to further

investigate the age differences to see whether they reflect differences in

attitudes towards advertising in general, such as scepticism or the perceived

level of informativeness provided by advertising, or some other inherentfactor.

Overall, these results suggest that, while celebrity hosts may initially ` hook''the viewer who happens on the advertisement while surfing, it is the ability

to create persuasive arguments based on product demonstrations,

testimonials from satisfied users and experts that is the key to an

infomercial's success. Interestingly, recent articles in the popular press have

debated whether the inclusion of customer testimonials is of benefit to

infomercial advertisers (e.g. Beardi, 2001). Our study, based on the findingsfor six different products, suggests that testimonials from satisfied customers

do positively enhance perceptions of advertising effectiveness. Other

Demographics offered littleinsight

Study indicated a numberof future research areas

Testimonials do positivelyenhance perceptions of

advertising effectiveness



10/13

infomercial advertisement design elements which are beneficial include:

expert comments, using models representative of the target market, using a

celebrity, adopting an element of comparative advertising where brands are

compared, and including additional extras, such as extra products, if the

advertised product is purchased. Regarding consumer characteristics, our

results suggest that the more an infomercial makes consumers think, the

more effective it is perceived to be.

Thus, advertisers may wish to consider ways to mentally engage consumers,

such as offering rhetorical questions or figures in their advertisements(McQuarrie and Mick, 1999).

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What elements work within an infomercial?

Martin et al. consider the elements within an infomercial and discuss what

appeals most and is most effective. It is interesting to note that many of the

effective techniques the celebrity as a ``hook'', the use of customer

testimonials, comments from independent ``experts'', comparative

advertising and extra product incentives are the same techniques that work

well in long copy direct marketing. The methods developed for successful

direct mail (long copy, testimonial, repetition of the key message,

highlighting points and endorsement, to mention just a few) should be

transferred in concept to the production of infomercials.

Significantly, Martin et al. suggest that it is making the consumer think that

is the key to infomercial effectiveness. The infomercial needs to ``. . . create

persuasive arguments based on product demonstrations, testimonials from

satisfied users and experts . . . '' to really succeed.

Using the infomercial effectively

The infomercial is, in its essence, a method of direct response advertising.

We want people to buy directly as a result of seeing the advertisement. Given

this it is important that analysis of infomercial effectiveness uses direct

marketing methods.

Assessing whether a direct response ad works requires an understanding ofadvertising costs, details of product margins and a robust system of

recording sales by advertising source. Given these elements, the analysis

becomes a simple calculation of cost per order (CPO) the lower the CPO,

the more successful the advertisement.

Infomercials are, for the right product, a useful addition to the direct

marketer's portfolio of response generating media. There are questions

about the buying of time for such advertising but, with the growth of digital

television, the opportunities for advertiser produced material being

scheduled are likely to increase considerably. Moreover, the purchase of

broadcast time for direct marketing requires different techniques from the

purchase for brand advertising. Direct marketers are concerned about

response levels set against cost rather than the size of the audience. Directresponse advertising can prove very effective at times that traditional TV

advertising buyers would avoid (the early hours of the morning for example).

Those selling airtime will need to consider their pricing in the light of this

development.

(A precis of the article ``Infomercials and advertising effectiveness:

an empirical study''. Supplied by Marketing Consultants for Emerald.)


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