What matters most in advertising campaigns? The relative effect of media expenditure and message content strategy

Three main factors determine the effect of advertising campaigns: message content strategy, advertising expenditure and previous consumer behaviour. This study investigates
the relative strength of each of these influences. Four possible campaign targets are taken
into account: campaign recall, campaign likeability, brand recall and intention to purchase
the advertised brand. A study of 40 advertising campaigns, evaluated on average by 1200
consumers, shows that, after controlling for the effect of previous purchase behaviour, the effect of message content strategy is generally larger than the effect of advertising expenditure. Nevertheless, more media expenditure positively influences campaign recall and influences brand recall and purchase intention of small brands. The most effective
message content strategy differs per campaign target, but overall awareness and likeability
strategies are most effective. For purchase intention only, the emotions strategy can be advised. The information strategy is best avoided.