Using Online Message Testing to Evaluate TV Ads, Select Effective Messaging, and Improve Public Health Campaigns

Background:This article describes two examples of online ad testing used to assess effectiveness of tobacco control ads in Minnesota (United States). The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends mass-media campaigns to change tobacco-related attitudes and encourage quitting. ClearWay MinnesotaSM uses online surveys to test ads with target audiences, select the most effective ads, and complement traditional evaluations of its campaigns. Two examples in this article demonstrate the method and how results have been used.Methods:Example 1 used an online survey to test two ad campaigns with 600 tobacco users. Participants were randomly assigned to evaluate two CDC Tips From Former Smokers ads and two ClearWay Minnesota QUITPLAN® Services ads for motivational effectiveness. In Example 2, 805 adult Minnesotans evaluated three of ClearWay Minnesota’s Still a Problem educational ads to determine whether the campaign was having the intended effect on its target audience.Results:Results for E...