An Experimental Approach to Testing IMC Effects on Consumer Attitudes, Behavioral Intentions and Recall

The objective of this study is twofold: to build upon the thin body of academic experimental research in the field of Integrated Marketing Communications (IMC), and to provide practitioners with methods they can use to test the effectiveness of marketing communication campaigns. On the first account, significant results were observed for attitude toward the ad (Aad), but only for a subset of the sample. Despite this, the experiment provides a framework for future academic studies of IMC effects and suggests specific ways that methods can be refined in future experiments. On the second account, the study’s design suggests opportunities for practitioners. Smaller brands could employ some of the methods described here to inexpensively measure the relative effectiveness of alternative marketing communications campaigns. Larger brands could also benefit if the study spurs efforts among managers and their vendors to work more closely to better coordinate their marketing communications efforts.