Sponsor (Sept-Dec 1958)

lEW GROCERY SHOPPING STUDY consider a brand that has been advertised that day. As the survey shows, radio can do this advertising job because the majority of housewives listen to it prior to going shopping." The 17 counties which made up the area of the Pulse study, while referred to as the "metropolitan area," include many suburban regions along with the urban. The counties were: (in New York) Bronx, Kings, Queens, Richmond, Nassau, Rockland, Suffolk, and Westchester; (in New Jersey) Bergen, Essex, Hudson, Middlesex, Morris, Passaic, Somerset and Union. This Pulse study, now packaged as a presentation for advertisers, is the newest link in a lengthening chain of evidence in the radio vs. newspaper case. This may not have been a prime purpose behind its undertaking since it has probed, in addition to shopping habits, such subjects as regular vs. occasional listening by housewives; casual vs. attentive; and the question of whether the housewife selects her own programs or lets another member of the household do it. But out of the media and shopping research came the data on when housewives go to the stores, and whether it's radio or newspapers that dovetail in best with her shopping excursion. The potency of "the last word" has been proved through a series of studies conducted for Radio Advertising Bureau over the past three years. These studies were made at actual points-ofpurchase in groups of markets; the questions were asked of housewives buying specific product categories (such as cake mixes or cold cereals). The RAB reports on these surveys, published as a continuing series titled "Last Word" showed that not only had more purchasers been exposed to radio than to newspapers before shopping, but that the time spent with each of the two media gave radio a five-to-one edge. (The most recent RAB "Last Word" study was done this fall, and for a change it was the American male who was the predominant subject. The research was conducted in gas stations in four markets: Baltimore, San Francisco, Dallas and Detroit. Key finding was that radio claimed 60/^ of total time spent with all media on day of purchase by these actual buyers of gas station products — nearly three times the amount of time spent with newspapers and magazines combined. So it is not only the American housewife who is exposed chiefly to radio before purchasing, but the American husband as well.) Nor is the New York area housewife apparently much different than her sisters in other markets across the country. For the findings of the new study for WOR are very similar to the RAB "Last Word" research turned up else portionate lead over papers the closer it gets to shopping time. Within three hours of shopping, nearly half of all housewives listen to radio, according to the survey. Why should more than twice as many housewives listen to radio as read newspapers before setting out for the stores? One reason: The majority of them read the newspaper in the evening after they shop. Newspapers being the older medium have long capitalized on traditional concepts and their own historical position. Since long before the wireless telegraph was invented, newspapers EXPOSURE TO RADIO AND NEWSPAPERS PRIOR TO SHOPPING ON THE AVERAGE DAY Want the last word? Radio, like a woman, usually has it. From the Pulse study for WOR on New York area housewives, it was found that more than twice as many women shoppers listen to radio as read newspapers before going shopping. Figures show percent of housewives where in the U.S. As for New York itself, note this breakdown of exposure comparison on the basis of immediacy : Within a quarter-hour of going to the grocery or supermarket, more than 16% of the New York women have been listening to radio, less than 5% have read newspapers. An hour before shopping, over 24% have heard radio, slightly over 9% read newspapers. A look at the chart on exposure to the two media prior to shopping demonstrates radio's ability to deliver the final word, and that it increases its pro wielded considerable power at the local level. When competitive media finally moved in, they still retained the cat-bird seat. (In many cases, they bought and controlled the new medium of radio.) Meantime local retailers and distributors clung to the newspaper's concept of superiority, often fortified by a dash of vanity. A good advertiser could pretty much count on getting his picture — or the picture of him and his family — into the society or local news columns with a fair degree of regularity, and he came to like it. SPONSOR • 20 DECEMBER 1958