Action as a result of seeing magazine advertisements

Previous sections have included several examples of readers taking action as a result of being exposed to advertising in specific kinds of magazines.

Research by the Henley Centre supports this with evidence concerning magazines in general. In the Centre’s “Media Futures” survey [66] they found that “consumers are more likely to act as a result of seeing advertisements in a magazine than as a result of seeing advertising in other media.”

Adults were about 38% more likely to say they had bought a product or service as a result of advertising seen in magazines compared with advertising seen on television, and over 50% more likely compared with advertising seen in newspapers. And they were twice as likely to say they had bought a product or service after seeing an article or programme, if they had seen it in a magazine compared with a newspaper or television.

Similarly, making enquiries about an advertised product or service was about 50% more likely if the advertising had been seen in a magazine rather than in a newspaper or on television. The figures for radio were far inferior to those of the other three media.

The survey “Perspectives of a Woman’s Monthly Magazine” [29] provided information about readers’ expectations about their reactions to what they read in their magazines. It interviewed average issue readers of 15 women’s monthly magazines. They were asked “Would you expect to do ...(named activity)... as a result of reading ...(named magazine)..?” The active way in which readers expect to use their magazines is well illustrated by this selection of results:

Between 90% and 99% of readers expected to do at least one of the 14 actions on the list shown to them.

All of the actions on this list mean buying, or imply a likelihood of buying, products, whether it is ingredients for cooking, wool for knitting, or fashion clothes - and regardless of whether the original stimulus was an advertisement or an article.

Note that the three categories of magazine produce rather different results, consistent with their different editorial functions.

 As the “Perspectives” report says, “readers expect to react to all areas of their magazines as a result of reading. Very few expect to do nothing. Expectation to react reflects to a strong degree levels of interest. This interest converts very powerfully to reaction. Magazines are an enormously responsive medium from which advertisers can benefit. The interactive communication means that magazines inspire women to react in a variety of ways... Perception of advertising equates to the perception of editorial in a magazine. Readers apply the same brand values to the entire contents of the magazine. Advertisers can clearly identify the benefits of advertising in each magazine and gain from association with that brand.”

The “Youth Facts 4” survey [17] contributed some information about action taken by 11-19 year olds as a result of seeing advertising in magazines. 43% said they had gone out and bought something. 32% had used money-off coupons or discount cards. 21% had sent off coupons for more information about products. 9% had a used a Freephone number and 9% had used a premium rate number. 70% of the sample had done at least one of these things as a result of being exposed to advertising in magazines. 72% said they find the advertising in their magazines useful.

Hello! magazine has established a reader panel which is occasionally sent a questionnaire, mainly to assess the editorial impact of a recent issue [67]. One questionnaire asked "As a result of reading advertising in Hello!, have you ever purchased or ordered a product advertised?" 45% of readers had bought something - specifically as a result of seeing advertisements in the magazine. In addition 13% had called for further information. Allowing for some overlap, 53% of readers had either bought something or sought further information, or both.

IPC’s “Media Values” survey [9] provided more evidence of magazines’ role in stimulating purchasing ideas. Readers were asked whether they agreed or disagreed with the statement “This magazine gives me ideas of what to buy”. The level of agreement was high, rising to 89% agreeing in respect of young women’s weeklies/fortnightlies, 89% for gardening magazines, 83% for fashion beauty and hair monthlies, 81% for home and family monthlies, and so on. The average for all types of magazine was 66%. In other words two-thirds of readers of a typical magazine thought that the magazine gave them purchasing ideas.

Incidentally, this score of 66% was much better than the equivalent figure for other types of media. Only 49% of viewers thought commercial television gave them ideas of what to buy. Only 23% of newspaper readers thought newspapers gave them ideas of what to buy. Commercial radio had a similar figure. For newspaper colour supplements the figure was 39% - lower than every category of paid-for magazine except nature magazines and puzzle magazines.

IPC’s “Specialist Magazine Values” survey [68] added to the evidence that magazine ads prompt action. Action arises from the magazines’ role as a vital source of information. 85% of the readers of specialist magazines said they regularly use their magazine for information about their area of interest. Indeed in seven of the nine specialist markets the magazines were considered the very best source of information – better than television, radio, national newspapers, local newspapers or other sources. Only for football and (narrowly) rugby did another medium score better than magazines.

The information-providing role of specialist magazines is closely associated with trust in the publication, as exemplified by the statement “I can trust  this magazine to write reliable reviews”:  82% of readers agreed with this and only 1% disagreed. It is only a small step to the proposition that “If this magazine recommends a product I am more likely to buy it”, with which half of the readers explicitly agreed, and only 14% disagreed. 60% stated that the ads are an important part of the magazine and only 11% disagreed. 90% of readers said they read the ads in their magazine, and 83% agreed that the advertising keeps them informed of what’s available. 62% declared that the advertising is useful in deciding what to buy or where to go. These are impressive scores, especially given many people’s aversion to admitting that they are influenced by advertising.

PPA’s 2002 survey “Absorbing Media” [27, 28] added new evidence about action prompted by magazines, and showed that magazines are more action-oriented than any other medium, with the internet ranking second. Details on this and other information about action taken are given in section 30.