• by Erik Sass  @eriksass1, October 10, 2007

GfK Starch Communications is set to introduce a new metric for print ad impact, which attempts to correlate print ad exposure with consumer purchase behavior, the company announced Tuesday. The new "rapid response" service, called eStarch, draws on online survey responses to determine how well the ad is remembered, reader "involvement" with the ad, and degree of influence on actual purchase decisions.

The new metric also attempts to describe how an ad shapes consumer sentiment, delving into their specific attitudes and opinions, and its word-of-mouth impact--i.e., whether it leads the reader to recommend the product or service to other consumers. The specific categories of measurement include things like "Reader Actions Taken," "Brand Disposition" (e.g., favorable or unfavorable), "Advertising Effect on Brand Disposition," "Advertising Influence on Purchases" or purchase interest.

Data from these responses are combined with information from GfK's existing research services, including in-person print ad readership surveys. Among other things, these surveys document the percentage of readers who remember having previously seen the advertisement in a particular magazine issue, who remember the brand, and who read some or most of the ad copy.