Analysis of effective recall in radio advertising

PurposeThe purpose of this research is to determine the relationship between frequency and recall in radio advertising by studying the main features of reach and frequency.Design/methodology/approachThe authors consider the outcome of a frequency model specifically designed for radio campaigns that gives the probability distribution of recall as a function of weekly exposures and GRPs over a dataset of 1,117 radio campaigns broadcast in Spain.FindingsAn increase in factors such as advertising format and creativity are more significant to achieve effective recall than increasing the number of advertising exposures.Practical implicationsThis study has important managerial implications regarding radio campaigns' planning: (1) Effective frequency is a range between 4 and 17 impressions (being 7 the optimal average). (2) The way to optimize the campaign is by using the following factors: live read format (∆ 4.4%), good creativity (∆ 2.8%), endorsement format (∆ 2%), sponsorship format (∆ 1.8%), increase the length of the spot (∆ 1.5%), place the ad in first (∆ 0.8%) or last (∆ 0.7%) positions in the pod. From the results we conclude that the format is at least as important as the creativity itself.Originality/valueThis study contributes to the effective repetition literature in two ways: giving specific clues to the effective frequency in the radio medium and setting advertising factors that predict the effective frequency in radio.