Journal of Marketing Communications

A field experiment involving 95 variety discount chain stores was conducted in which in-store radio ads were run in different formats and schedules, across different blocks of stores, over a 4-week period. The test products were advertised on in-store radio either (a) at their regular price, (b) at a discounted price or (c) at a discounted price that was also advertised in mail circulars. The resulting weekly sales data indicated that in-store radio advertising had little or no effect on sales of regularly priced products and discounted products also featured in the mail circulars, and increased sales of only one discounted product not featured in mail circulars. By contrast, the mail circular advertising resulted in consistent increases in sales of the test products.