SoM Working and Occasional Papers

Permanent URI for this collection

https://dspace.lib.cranfield.ac.uk/handle/1826/27

Browse

Now showing 1 - 20 of 613

Open Access
A study of male fashion: A preliminary assessment of industry practice
(Cranfield School of Management, 1972-02) Midgley, David F.
A From 20+ interviews with retailers, manufacturers, and other members of the menswear industry, the following major points have been extracted. 1 Selection of garments and demand forecasting is carried out by a single function - a merchandise function. 2 Style and colour are selected on the basis of experienced judgement. 3 Influence on colours is perceived as predominantly from the Continent, whilst design influence is mainly from the London high fashion and boutique industry. 4 Demand estimation is achieved by extrapolation of past sales trends, sometimes coupled with trials of new styles in selected outlets. 5 Forecasting demand is seen as a problem, the more fashionable the market the greater the problem. 6 Most retailers sell both to a fashionable and a conventional. mass market 7 Within these markets the consumers are seen as: (i) becoming more fashion conscious, particularly the young; and (ii) wearing more casual and informal garments. 8 B The evidence gathered on these points supports the contention that the fashion process is similar. to the theory of the diffusion of ililovation. The supporting evidence falls in two main categories. 1 Styles originate and filter into the mass market in a manner consistent with the tenets of diffusion theory. The characteristics of consumers in the various market segments match those of the various categories embodied in the theory. C In short, this small study encourages us to continue along the line of research described in Report No 1.
Open Access
The research plan for 1973 and appraisal by the committee of sponsors
(Cranfield School of Management, 1973) Corkindale, David; Kennedy, Sherril
This report presents the Research plan for 1973 proposed to the committee of sponsors prior to its meeting in January 1973. The second part of the report summaries the discussions held during the sponsors' meeting. Theses discussions covered consideration of report numbers 1 and 2 as well as the research plan. The conclusion of the sponsors' meeting was that the research plan was fully endorsed and consderation was requested for the inclusion of one further topic.
Open Access
A review of literature on the measurement of advertising effectiveness: Part i: The Pre-display assessment of advertising
(Cranfield School of Management, 1973-01) Corkindale, David; Kennedy, Sherril
The report will cover what are considered to be the main issues in evaluating methods of measuring advertising effectiveness, for this was the guise under which the project was originally set up.
Open Access
A review of literature on the measurement of advertising effectiveness: Part ii: The post-display analysis of promotional effectiveness
(Cranfield School of Management, 1973-01) Corkindale, David; Kennedy, Sherril
The initial review of the MCRU - Report Number 2 - covers two main areas of concern:- Part i "The pre-display assessment of advertising" Part ii "Post display analysis of promotional effectiveness" The report will cover what are considered to be main issues in evaluating methods of measuring advertising efffectiveness, for this was the guise under which the project was orginally set up. At a later date it is intended that a further review should be published on the material concerned with the process of how advertising works. This obviously has a strong overlap with any discussion on evaluation of effectiveness, but the area is large enough to warrant its own paper. It should be noted that as other areas become more evident as being of particular interest to the sponsor companies, an attempt will be made to review any relevant information which is available.
Open Access
The identification of current company advertising practice: Findings of an initial reconnaissance within sponsor companies
(Cranfield School of Management, 1973-03) Corkindale, David; Kennedy, Sherril
This first report from the Marketing Communications Research Unit at Cranfield describes the findings of our initial series of visits to sponsor companies. It indicates the nature of the advertising process in these participating companies and the extent to which research to measure the effectiveness of advertising has been, or is being conducted. In no way does the report attempt to reflect the whole of British Industry. On the basis of this better understanding of the position within participating companies, a series of research topics worthy of further study are identified. When this report has been digested, and the literature review (Report no. 2) completed, the MCRU will submit to sponspr companies, its detailed plan of work for 1973 and 1974.
Open Access
An introduction to media scheduling - approaches and problems
(1973-03) Newall, John
This paper aims to provide an introduction to the various approaches which have been used in handling the problem of scheduling communication messages in competing media forms. The references included in the discussion are by no means exhaustive of the number of examples of applications of the different approaches. Instead, attention has been restricted to those studies which, either illustrate the basic principles of the individual appraoch, or suggest ways of overcoming the accompanying limitations. A number of major conceptual or methodological difficulties associated with the media problem are felt to be suffucuently important to warrant individual consideration. accordingly, seperate sections are devoted to the problems of speifying the objective function, weighting factors and the time element within media scheduling.
Open Access
A review of literature on the processes of advertising 'How advertising works'
(Cranfield School of Management, 1973-06) Corkindale, David; Kennedy, Sherril
The question of 'how advertising works' is a vast one, and is one in which it is difficult to draw any firm conclusions. In addition, the area could almost be described as hybrid - this is in the sense that it draws on many different sources of knowledge, particularly on different branches of psychology, as well as from the practitioner. on the one hand there is a body of commercially derived research findings relvant to understanding 'how advertising works'; on the other, there is a great wealth of material which has been developed in the behavioural sciences, but which is not directly related to advertising. This report attempts to integrate these two sources of knowledge. One of the problems encountered in doing this, is that many of the experiments carried out in the behavioural sciences make use of American college student populations, rather than samples of housewives, or other relevant groups. in addition, the pupose of the experiments is not always connected with the area of commerical advertising. This means that the results are not immediately transferable to commerical situations, but mustbe validated in an appropriate environment. Thisis not ot say, however, that such results should be ignored. Often they cover ground which can sid understanding of the advertising process, and to that extent they must be considered. Where experiments have been conducted using a population of consumers, housewives, or some relevent group, this has been stated.
Open Access
A study of male fashion: Progress to date
(Cranfield school of Management, 1973-06-06) Midgley, David F.
This document represents a progress report on the first two years of the male fashion study, detailing both practical aspects and the research team’s present thinking on the subject. It outlines the evolution of the original fashion diffusion hypothesis into the hypothesis of “parallel diffusion”, a conceptualization thought to more adequately describe consumer and market behaviour in this field. Section 2 contains a discussion of the relevant literature, Section 3 describes the results of some small scale consumer research and Section 4 advances the new research hypothesis. Section 5 sketches out the projected development of the research in the future.
Open Access
Fashion Dynamics Research Unit: A study of male fashion
(Cranfield School of Management, 1973-07) Midgley, David F.
Report No. 6 outlines the methodology to be used in the manipulation of the large amounts of sales and style data available to the research team. Details are included of both the coding scheme used to convert verbal information into quantitative data, and of the principal computer programs to be used in analysing this data. Throughout attention is directed to the prime practical aim of the research - the improvement of sales forecasting - and to that end various proposals are made. The most important of these is contained in Section 10, where some tentative suggestions for a "model" management information system are put forward.
Open Access
An appraisal of media weight tests
(Cranfield school of Management, 1973-10) Corkindale, David; Kennedy, Sherril
This report considers the topic of media weight testing: that is,the examination of the effect of different levels of media advertising spending on behaviour in the market. In a simple test, for example, the level of expenditure is increased above normal in one area and the sales, brand shares or attitudes in that area are compared to those in other, comparable areas where normal weights of advertising are maintained. Although media weight tests are a much practised marketing exercise they would seem rarely to produce conclusive, or useful results. The MCRU has found that within the body of experiences of Sponsor companies only about one in twenty media weight tests have produced conclusive results. Similarly, discussion with other market researchers has suggested the same order of magnitude for the success ration. Also a study reported by Clancy (1972,1638) suggests the situation is not much better in the U.S.A. In order to formulate guidelines for successfully conducting media weight tests, it is necessary to establish, illustrate and understand the reasons giving rise to the usual failures. These reasons can be categorised in two ways: A - statistical, quantifiable reasons B - conceptual and managerial reasons, which tend to be less easily quantifiable After the problem has been defined, this report is set out in three parts:¬ Part A considers and establishes why the circumstances of the market place may render it unlikely that many media weight tests will produce any detectable changes in the market place; Part B considers the market and organisational context in which this sort of exercise is usually conducted and against which it has to be assessed; and Part C discuss the implications of these findings and presents guidelines for successful media weight tests.
Open Access
The setting of advertising budgets
(Cranfield School of Management, 1974) Corkindale, David; Kennedy, Sherril
This report summaries the contributions made by economists, management scientists and practitioners to the understanding of how advertising budgets should be set. Each approach offers insights and guidance for certain circumstances and these are brought out in the report.
Open Access
Review of progress to date and outline of plans for developements up to 1977
(Cranfield School of Management, 1974-02) Henry, Harry; Wills, Gordon
This report seeks to summarize the ground covered so far by the MCRU since it began work in 1968. In particular, the Report reviews progress in the major investigation sponsored by 22 Companies into the "Methods of Measuring Advertising Effectiveness". Its second purpose is to pose questions and formulate an outline plan of the future development currently envisaged by Cranfield for its MCRU. Sponsor companies on the MCRU's main project, and other associates, are invited to submit their comments and reactions on February 28, 1974. Following discussion then, our formal plan for the next three years will be delineated.
Open Access
Setting advertising objectives
(Cranfield School of Management, 1974-03) Corkindale, David; Kennedy, Sherril
The present report on the setting of advertising objectives is an integral part of the MCRU research activities. Although the broad aims of the research are to consider the methods of measuring advertising effectiveness, it was felt necessary to establish the benchmarks against which measurement is taking place - namely the advertising objectives. In consequence the report forms an intermediary stage of the overall research design, and is not an end in itself.
Open Access
The evaulation of advertising objectives: Draft for discussion
(Cranfield School of Management, 1974-11) Corkindale, David; Kennedy, Sherril
This report is a sequel to that prepared earier by the MCRC on 'Setting Advertising Objectives' (Report no. 6). In this earlier work the need for setting clear advertising objectives was recommended as a necessary precursor for any measurement of advertising achievement. the different types of advertising objectives that can be set, and the circumstances in which they are set, was examined by the MCRC through in-depth analyses of some 27 product case histories. A clear distinction was drawn between marketing objectives.
Open Access
A review of factors affecting direct response campaigns' success and an analysis of a campaign
(Cranfield School of Management, 1975) Winship, Stephen; Corkindale, David
Design response advertising is a particularly interesting subject to study in the marketing field because, by its very definition, the value of the response to each advetisement is known. This fact makes it much easier to evaluate the results of direct response advetising than to determine the effectiveness of ordinary advertising where no direct value of the response to an advetisement isusally known. Although there are some differences between direct response advertising and ordinary newspaper and magazine advertising, it is possible to apply knowledge of one type od advertising to the other. Therefore, conclusions reached an ordinary newspaper and magazine advertising campaign. This report begins with a brief definition of what is meant by direct response advertising and what constitutes the main managemnet decisions for its effective use. In the next section some published studies of a direct response nature are reviewed to see hat general principles or results can be ascertained. Finally, in order to further examine some of the earlier conslusions, the results of an actual direct response campaign are analysed in detail.
Open Access
How we believe sponsor companies can usefully improve their advertising effectiveness as a result of the study we have conducted
(Cranfield School of Management, 1975-01) Corkindale, David; Kennedy, Sherril
In this report we set out a compendium of topics upon which we believe management can take action to improve their advertising efficiency. Eact topic is dealt with on one page of the report: it has been reduced to a set of Issues, Examples and Recommendations. The main points on each topic are shown on the right hand page, while the page opposite either summarises the key points or further illustrates the main conclusions where appropriate. The topics presented here are those that have emerged from the NMC's three year empiric study of advertising and the management of its effectiveness. Many of the topics are condensations of reports that have been previously issued by the MCRC during the course of the study. In the text the use of the words 'product' or 'brand' are all-embracing and refer to any item being advertised, be it a generic product category, indi¬vidual brand, service or public propaganda. We believe the topics raised in this report have a relevance to the management of advertising for all purposes. No summary of this report is given: we commend that each topic-page be read and evaluated in its own right.
Open Access
A review of advertising and forgetting
(Cranfield School of Management, 1975-04) Barnard, Neil
This report attempts to review the psychological and marketing literature relevent to consideration of the remembering and forgetting of advertising. Theoretical and empirical studies are described and implications for advertising research and practice are drawn. Of the two theories of forgetting, one is dominent in the psychological literature. This fact is not reflected in current advertising research and practice, which appears to be based more on the less satisfactory of the two theories. A change in the foundations of both literature reviewed provides a staring point for such a change. The empirical studies reviewed demonstrate the importance of motivation and selective perception in determining the subsequent degree of forget¬ting. A shift in emphasis from forgetting per se to conditions affecting these variables seems desirable. The effects of competitive advertising emerge as possible major considerations in the forgetting of advertising. The implications for advertising style and content, media scheduling, re¬petition and frequency are discussed. The dual nature (desirable/undesi¬rable) of repetition and frequency is stressed and the importance of the particular situation revealed. General rules applicable to all situations do not exist. An imaginative approach to the particular situation is required.
Open Access
The growth and decline of response to advertisements - A look at the importance of thresholds and wearout
(Cranfield School of Management, 1975-11) Newall, John; Corkindale, David
This paper attempts to introduce and define the concepts of threshold and wearout and to review the existing state of knowledge surrounding these topics. The problem is first introduced in Section II, not explicitly in terms of threshold and wearout, but in terms of how these phenomena affect the decision of how many times a campaign or advertising theme should be run In Section III formal definitions of these terms, such as they exist, are provided and discussed within the context of the stimulus-response approach. It is suggested that the conception of how advertising works significantly determines the way in which thresholds and wearout are defined and assumed to operate. As such, problems of definition are discussed in Section IV together with the need to specify advertising in a time dimension and the need to specify the measure of response. The value of the stimulus-response ideology is brought into question in Section V and an alternative conception, illustrated for the case of direct response advertising, is proposed. This alternative is based on the need to consider the role of interest or involvement in the advertising when seeking to interpret different forms of response within the context of thresholds and wearout. This viewpoint is further developed in Section VI with reference to the available work on the effects of advertising repetition. Characteristics of the advertising appeal and format, the product or brand, the media and the schedule are discussed in terms of how they influence the level of response. A number of valuable insights are gained from extending these findings to derive implications for thresholds and wearout. Finally, Section VII provides an interim summary and conclusions. This report represents the first.in a three part study. A questionnaire is being circulated to many advertising decision makers from which further information and observations on thresholds and wearout can be established. The results of this exercise will be published in part two of this report. A final report will summarise the study's overall findings and.spell out what precautions can be taken to avoid high thresholds and low wearout in advertising and how these can be detected.
Open Access
Motivational research - passing phase or permanent feature?
(Cranfield School of Management, 1976-01) Mostyn, Barbara
In the first draft version of the paper on the Attitude-Behaviour Relationship (30th September, 1975) it was pointed out to readers that despite researchers' emphasis on understanding the "why" of consumer behaviour in order to complete the attitude-behaviour equation, the first paper would not deal with the subject of motivational research. This was because the history and theoretical bases for understanding the place of motivational research in modern psychological amd marketing thinking were significantly different from attitude theories and research techniques to warrant a separate and thorough treatment. Such diverse writers on the attitude-behaviour relationship as the market researchers Bird and Ehrenberg and the philosopher Audi were reported to have concluded their studies by stressing the motivational component as "largely responsible for the behaviour to which an attitude leads and which psychologists are concerned to predict.".
Open Access
Thresholds and wearout: An overview
(Cranfield School of Management, 1977) Corkindale, David
This report is the third in a series of three on Thresholds and Wearout in Advertising. The first report summarised the literature and pract¬itioners' initial views on the topics: it attempted to clarify the main issues and problems. The second report presented the results of a survey of current practice and opinions carried out by questionnaire on the advertising management of 23 products or services. The survey attempted to further clarify and quantify sane issues and explore some hypotheses on the.causes of different levels of thresholds and wearout. This third report attempts to summarise what we have found out so far. Further, it attempts to: i) describe what should be considered when thinking of threshold and/or wearout in advertising ii) ennumerate the factors that may influence the occurence of threshold or wearout in advertising iii) suggest what advertising situations are most at risk as far as encountering threshold or wearout situations iv) suggest what should be examined/measured/monitored if it is felt that either, or both, are a potential risk v) give guidelines, for different situations, on the levels of threshold and wearout in advertising. The following sections aim to deal with the above tasks.