Advertising Strategies to Increase Usage Frequency

AbstractThe tremendous potential of advertising to increase the usage frequency of consumer packaged goods has been largely unexplored by researchers and has been haphazardly explored by practitioners. For dominant brands (e.g., Campbell's Soup, Ocean Spray Cranberry Sauce), increasing usage frequency among current users may well be more cost-effective than encouraging nonusers to either switch brands or initiate trial. Expanding usage can also be a key strategy for small brands that have a loyal niche following (e.g., Grey Poupon), and for industry associations that want to increase the usage of the category they represent (e.g., American Dairy Council).This research directly addresses the question, what advertising strategy will be most successful in encouraging users of a mature brand to use it in a new situation? A schema congruity framework is developed that interestingly suggests that situation comparison ads favorably affect usage attitudes, but that product comparison ads enhance one's ability to recall the particular product in that situation. An empirical study supports this across a number of brands and usage situations. Furthermore, these results show that situation comparison ads increased household brand usage in the new situation by 1.0 to 2.8 units per month.Originally published in the Journal of Marketing, Volume 60, Issue 1 (January 1996)About the AuthorBrian Wansink (Ph.D. Stanford University) is a Professor of Business of Nutritional Science, of Advertising, and of Agricultural & Consumer Economics at the University of Illinois-Urbana-Champaign. After working with an ad agency and the Small Business Administration, he earned his Ph.D. in marketing at Stanford (1990) and was a marketing professor at the Amos Tuck School at Dartmouth College (1990-1994), the Vrije Universiteit in Amsterdam (1994-1995), and the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania (1995-1997) before moving to Illinois to establish a research program that uniquely focuses on mature packaged goods. Dr. Wansink's expertise is directed toward revitalizing mature brands. Specifically, he focuses on determining the types of ads, promotions, and packages that will increase the usage frequency and usage volume of mature packaged goods. The Food and Brand Lab was founded in 1992 by Professor Wansink. It consists of 15 interdisciplinary researchers at the University of Illinois along with 3 test kitchens, 5 cooperating supermarkets, and a panel of 3,000 consumers. Research is independently funded by grants, consumer groups, and companies. It all focuses on better understanding consumers and how they relate to foods and packaged foods.

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