GfK Starch® Cover Testing

GfK Starch Communications Research division has built the world's largest database on print ad effectiveness, which has established a basis for providing clients with in-depth consultative services that have helped them not only to understand the strengths and weaknesses of their ads, but also to devise creative solutions for improving cover designs.

Our systematic cover testing program explores an array of critical creative elements, including:

  • What are the effects of background color and size and type of portrait?
  • Which specific colors attract buyers and which discourage them?
  • What is the optimum number of editorial items to include on the cover?
  • What role do celebrities play in issue sales and which celebrities are most likely to drive sales?
  • Which cover themes perform better than others?
  • How do cover styles (e.g. portrait, cartoon, and multiple images) influence sales
  • Are there particular camera angles that attract or repel potential purchases?

Executions can be tested in person or online.

For more information on GfK Starch Communications products and services, contact us.

Advertisements and Their Effect on Purchase Behavior

Click the link below to read about the eStarch Ad Readership service and the new techniques and metrics being used to determine how advertisements in magazines and newspapers affect the purchase behavior of consumers. - Some New and Better Information on How to Make an Ad Work - Stuart Elliot, New York Times.