The effectiveness of direct response radio commercials : Results of a field experiment in The Netherlands

Radio is becoming increasingly popular as an advertising medium. At the same time, more and more companies are integrating direct marketing in their communication strategies. Considers the influence of the day of the week, the time of the day, the position of an ad in the commercial break, the length of the commercial break and the type of the preceding program on two effectiveness measures: responses per rating point and responses per cost using a field experiment. A total of 111 commercial spots, covering two campaigns, were broadcast on two radio stations in The Netherlands. Tobit analysis is used to test the influence of the different variables. The most effective direct response radio commercials are those broadcast on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday and those broadcast between 2.00 p.m. and 4.00 p.m.