Magazine Impact Research Service (MIRS)

The Real-World Standard Built on over 150,000 Magazine Ad Tests

MIRS is the original copy testing system. It was first developed by Dr. Gallup and has been continuously sharpened throughout the years since its inception. The strength of the system then and now is that it tests advertising in the actual context in which it will appear. Because context significantly influences how people respond to advertising, MIRS offers the most comprehensive assessment of print performance, more so than online forced exposure, even when the test ad appears in clutter.

In MIRS, respondents are recruited to participate in a study of magazine readership habits. Respondents are additionally screened for target sample characteristics and regular magazine readership. The test magazine is sent to the respondent or delivered to them personally, who are asked to read the magazine as they normally would. The issue they receive contains the test ad that either appears there naturally or is tipped-in so as to seem that it is naturally appearing. The following day they are recontacted and taken through our core measures (intrusiveness, message communication, persuasion, brand rating, ad liking and engagement) via an online, self-administered questionnaire. Next, the sample is asked to look at the test ad before they are administered additional evaluative and diagnostic questions, which can be customized to the client’s needs.

MIRS reports include key findings and recommendations, and, if desired, tabulations of all data relative to norms and verbatim respondent playback based on G&R’s proprietary database of success factors. Data findings can be enhanced with a variety of proprietary analytic procedures.

Key Benefits and Features:

• Most realistic system to simulate normal viewing environment
• Best measure of magazine “attentioning” and retained communication
• Independent evaluation of ad effectiveness against a validated battery of performance measures
• Full-sample and recaller-based diagnostics for more actionable learning
• Equally applicable for pre-testing or post-testing rough or finished ads
• Test in any magazine – consumer or B2B
• Rock solid product/service category norms based on 150,000 magazine ad tests
• Fact-based insights for improving performance