Readership of Advertisements with All-display Typography

Abstract

Experts differ in their opinions regarding the effect on readership of composing an entire advertisement in all-display typography. A sampling in Life and Ladies Home Journal magazines from 1954 through 1965 has revealed an upward trend in the use of such ads. To measure the effect, correlative studies were made relating the numbers of words to Daniel Starch readership records. Negative correlations were found for “Read Most” and “Seen Associated” ratings. With inherent reader interest in the advertised product held constant, correlations for both ratings were low. It was concluded that all-display typography may not be restrictive in dampening readership. However, rank correlations of all-display product categories with category rankings from Starch findings were so high as to lead to the conclusion that the effect on readership beyond the reader-interest level was not likely.