Sponsor (Oct-Dec 1964)

Herbert E. Krii^num is a vice president and research director of Marplan, the research company of The Interpublic Group of Companies, Inc. He has been a research vice president for Ted Bates & Co., and prior to that for Raymond Loewy Associates. During the periods 1946-49, 1953-59 he was nianai^er of the survey division at Richardson. Bellows, Henry & Co. From 1950 to 1952 he was on the faculty of the Princeton Center of International Studies. He has been a consultant to the Office of Intelligence Research of the U.S. State Department and to the Institute of Human Resources of the U.S. Air Force. In World War //, he served with the Psycholoi^ical Branch. Office of the Air Suri^eon. He obtaiiu'd his BSS from CCNY in 1942, and his Fh.D from Columbia University in 1952. From 1956 to 1962 he was an evening' lecturer in the psychology department of the School of General Studies at Columbia University. He is a Fellow of A.S.A. and A.P.A., and has published some 30 articles in professional journals and periodicals. He is a certified psychologist in the state of New York. Dr. Krugman is president of the American Association for Public Opinion Research for 1964-1965. By now, most practitioners — and students — of advertising have at least heard rumors about the "eye camera," a comparatively new device which — while subjects view commercials, print advertisements, packages, and other results of the creative section's work — measures changes in the diameter of the pupil of the eye. If relying on people to articulate their likes, dislikes, behavior or activity cannot be trusted fully, then ideal research ought to avoid this pitfall. Pupil measurement, therefore, may be the way since it circumvents language as well as translation problems in cross-cultural opinion and attitude surveys. Under the guidance of Dr. Herbert E. Krugman, vice president and research director of Marplan, the research company of The Interpublic Group of Companies, Inc., the development of equipment and a series of studies have progressed to a point where "encouraging evidence of reliability and validity" has been found. Available data indicates that the device could well become a powerful tool in analyzing the stuff that arouses the interest of consumers. It follows that material prepared to stimulate the consumer could then be studied for its interest-arousing qualities before huge sums are spent in disseminating it via any medium. One fact must rate high in the in terest of researchers: it is possible to obtain definitive results with a relatively small number of viewers. To date, pupil response has been found to stabilize at about 50 subjects (viewers). In a recent marketing research paper, Dr. Krugman detailed the "applications of pupil measurement to the prediction of sales of such items as greeting cards, sterling silver, wristwatches, etc. . . ." and the apparent confirmation that the interest of the consumer might be measured via pupil dilation. The key factor in the technique that will be of special interest to admen and researchers is that the person involved in being "measured" — the consumer— is unaware of the measurement process and whatever material is being used to stimulate his interest can therefore get as much of his attention as is realistically possible. Early research in this field was confined to inanimate material. But recently, the pupil measurement equipment was further developed and adapted to record responses to moving stimuli such as film — and especially television commercials. The older and established methods of testing and then measuring the verbal report of a respondent after viewing was completed is eliminated by the new method. Rather than wait, the instant measurement of response in the pupil of the eye, says Dr. Krugman. "provides a precise second by second record of interest." This record is called the "interest track." "It has the further advantage," adds Dr. Krugman, "of representing a response not subject to error of recall or of verbalized bias in reporting. It is assumed that some individuals would report in a biased fashion when asked about the entertainment and sell portions of a typical commercial. "There may be no such thing as a 'typical' commercial, and many commercials do provide complete integration of entertainment and sell portions. Nevertheless, it should be noted that a second-by-second record of response permits more detailed research questions to be raised about the 'mix' of elements in sixty seconds of air time. "It has been rare in the behavioral sciences," Dr. Krugman emphasizes, "to obtain data where stimulus and response could be so closely related." And since, in the current tests, this is being done without the interference of some aspect of the response measurement process itself, the reason for the rarity is obvious. Participants in the pupil measurement studies naturally assume that when they have viewed the material shown them they will be asked questions. Marplan's Perception Laboratory fullfills this expectation by conducting an interview and is thus 26 SPONSOR