Advertising research

Advertising research is the systematic study of advertising audiences, messages, media, effects, and performance. It uses evidence to guide advertising decisions and assess results.

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Market research: The systematic collection and analysis of information about markets, customers, and competitors. Advertising research is a specialized part of the broader practice of studying markets and customers.
Advertising: Paid or sponsored communication intended to promote a product, service, idea, or organization. Advertising research studies the communication itself and its audiences, channels, and outcomes.
Copy testing: The evaluation of advertising copy or creative executions for likely or observed audience response. It focuses research on the words, images, and other elements of an advertisement.
Qualitative research: Research that examines meanings, experiences, and processes using nonnumerical evidence. It explains audience interpretations in depth rather than estimating their prevalence.
Advertising measurement: The methods and metrics used to quantify advertising exposure, response, and outcomes. Disagreement over measurement standards affects comparisons across campaigns and platforms.
Advertising effectiveness: The extent to which advertising achieves its intended communication or business objectives. Effectiveness measures turn campaign goals into outcomes that research can assess.
Audience measurement: The estimation of the size and characteristics of an audience exposed to media or content. Audience estimates show who could encounter an advertising message and how many.
Media planning: The selection of media channels, placements, timing, and budgets to reach an intended audience. Audience and performance findings inform where and when advertising is placed.
Quantitative research: Research that analyzes numerical data to describe patterns or test relationships. It estimates the scale and distribution of advertising responses across measured samples.
Causal inference: The process of estimating whether an exposure or intervention caused an outcome. Establishing that advertising caused a change is harder than observing that they occurred together.