• by May 23, 2001

As logic would have it, technology ads placed in technology publications are far more likely to be read than technology ads placed in general business magazines, according to a recent study conducted by Roper Starch Worldwide, Inc.

"With technology marketers taking a more cautious approach to ad spending this year, it is critical that a greater percentage of their budgets be directed toward targeted, highly effective advertising mediums," explained Kelly Conlin, president and CEO of International Data Group (IDG), which commissioned the study to have an unbiased comparison of recognition and readership measurements of technology ads placed in general business versus those placed in technology publications.

Roper Starch analyzed the results of 1-page and 2-page, 2-color technology ads within four main product categories, including communications, hardware, software and corporate advertising. The 1-page, 2-color hardware and software ads received higher "read most" scores in technology publications versus general business publications.

According to Roper Starch, "read most" is seen as an important measure of reader involvement and is used as an indication of potential future sales.

Specifically, software ads in technology publications drew 25% higher "read most" scores than comparable software ads placed in business publications.

Communications and hardware ads appearing in technology publications received "read most" responses that were 23% and 14% higher respectively than those in business publications. Interestingly, corporate ads also scored higher in the technology publications, with 33% higher "read most" scores.

Roper Starch also examined the difference in readership scores for advertisements from 33 of the leading technology advertisers, including companies such as 3Com, Cisco, Compaq, Dell, IBM, Microsoft and Oracle. Interestingly, the difference in many of the scores between technology and business publications was found to be even greater for ads from these leading technology companies. Aggregated "read most" scores of 1-page, 2-color technology ads from these advertisers is 20% higher for ads placed in technology publications.

The difference was even higher for 2-page, 2-color spreads where "read most" StarchTM scores were 38% higher for ads placed in the technology publications. Of all of the categories of ads examined by Roper Starch, 2-page, 4-color corporate advertising faired the best in technology publications, receiving 57% more "most read" responses.