1. What part of advertising effectiveness do these research approaches measure? Advertising effectiveness measurement is a topic that confounds promotional planners, market researchers, agency personnel, and brand managers alike. Successful advertising seen in awards presentations like Cannes and CASSIES tends to document the resulting communication effects, behavioural influence, and subsequent impact on marketing objectives like sales or market share in addition to providing evidence of the unique creative approach of the message. However, ad effectiveness measurement is also concerned with research at all stages of the creative process so that advertisers can put together the right message prior to releasing it; managers prefer to avoid wasted media costs or wasted time and effort in the case of messages shown in free social media by testing consumer response ahead of time. The problem of figuring out ad effectiveness has remained over many decades; however the research methods have evolved, uncovering new insights.

One research avenue examines why consumers view online video messages (e.g., ads) and why they share the links. About half of all viewers of an online ad visit the brand' s Internet site, with 11 percent forwarding the link, so the question of assessing ad effectiveness for digital messaging is similar to a research question that vexed TV advertisers for decades. The input for these messages ranges from digital communication agencies following established processes, to outsourcing to independent contractors (e.g., Tongal), to do-it-yourself activities (e.g., Blendtec). Right now, researchers are investigating how these different creative inputs are influencing ad effectiveness. Distributing the message follows similar outsourcing and do-it-yourself avenues, both of which 缸e concerned with how long viewers watch the message, since online messages often go beyond the TV norm of 30 seconds.