Increasing quality in measuring advertising effectiveness: a meta-analysis of question framing in conversion studies

We describe a meta-analysis of advertising conversion research findings that includes examining the influence of question framing on key output measures of advertising effectiveness. The article summarizes findings for 32 tourism-advertising studies. Two hypotheses are tested: (H 1 ) the response rate to questionnaires mailed to sampled advertisement inquirers is lower when the brand sponsoring the study is identified versus not identified; and (H 2 ) the estimated buyer/inquirer conversion rate is higher when the brand sponsoring the study is identified versus not identified. The findings support H 1 and strongly support H 2 . Conclusion: framing a study and questions to persons sampled by referencing these persons' prior known requests for information about a given brand is likely to reduce interest in responding among nonbuyers of the stated brand and bloat estimates of inquiry-to-purchase conversions for the brand. To confirm and estimate the size of such distortions, we recommend designing-in context manipulations in planning surveys to measure the effectiveness of inquiry-generating advertisements.