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HOMETOWN U.S. A.
commercial clinic
Words Commonly Used in Copy May Have Low Emotional Impact
Aspiring copywriters t;ike note: A good many of the "standard" advertising words, hallowed by years of advertising agency tradition and use, turn out to have relatively low emotional impact on housewife radio listeners, according to a recent survey by a Seattle radio station.
Some of the restdts are surprising. Among the low fun-content words are "saving.'' "economical," "rich," "generous," "sophisticated" and that old stand-by, "magic." The word "instant" is a real clinker, the sur
vey revealed. It evokes feelings of enjoyment in only 7.3 percent of the housewives.
Radio station KOI. Seattle conducted the survey to help improve station written commercials. A printed cjuestionnaire was sent to a random sample of women listeners who had been in contact with the station for some purpose. Of the 250 listeners polled, 138 filled out and returned the questionnaires. Answering housewives ranged in age from
19 to 09, with the average age 37.4 years.
Topping the list are "rhythm," "excitement," "relax," "lovable," "alive." The word "color" rated relatively high. Specific color words meant "fun" to the housewives in this order: "Red," "green," "blue" and "yellow."
As a result of the survey, K.OL has eliminated some words from general usage, and adopted others not used previously — dutifully following the di< tates of housewives' fancies. • • •
Following is a partial list of the words in order of their preference:
Word
% Check
Word
rhythm
excitement
relax
lovable
alive
variety
informal
company
tuneful
take part in
easy-going
tempo
fragrant
comfort
warm
fresh
after dinner planning smooth on-the-go
color
bright
shopping
athletic
freedom
% Check
69.6 65.2 60.8 60.1 59.4
58.6 56.5 55.0 54.3 50.7 47.1 47.1 45.7 44.2 43.5 42.7
42.0 40.5 40.5 39.9
39.9 39.9 39.1 38.4 36.3
energetic
36.3
masculine
35.5
new
34.8
quiet
34.8
easy
34.8
stimulate
34.8
get things done
34.8
take it easy
34.0
emotion
34.0
bounce
34.0
cooling
31.9
impulse
31.2
satisfy
31.2
modern
29.0
feminine
28.3
exotic
27.6
familiar
26.8
sip
26.1
informative
25.4
curiosity
25.4
downtown
24.6
generous
23.9
smart
23.9
light
23.2
alert
23.2
but worth it
23.2
magic
22.4
70 v-necK
rich
21.8
feeling
21.8
safety first
21.8
afternoon
21.0
hit
21.0
bargain
21.0
spending
20.3
helpful
20.3
fast
19.6
saucy
19.6
red
19.6
agile
18.8
dynamic
18.8
green
18.8
morning
18.1
blue
17.4
grownup
17.4
frivolous
16.7
hot
15.9
liberal
15.2
economical
14.5
sophisticated
13.8
important
13.0
first
13.0
swift
13.0
saving
13.0
purpose
12.3
strange
12.3
1 1
U. S. RADIO
January 1961