Chapter 12 – Evaluation of Print Media
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CHAPTER 12
EVALUATION OF PRINT MEDIA
Chapter Overview
This chapter continues the analysis of the major media of advertising by examining the two primary types
of print media—magazines and newspapers. The characteristics of each medium are examined including
the different types of magazines and newspapers and their advantages and limitations as advertising
Learning Objectives
2. To examine the advantages and limitations of magazines and newspapers as advertising media.
4. To consider future developments in magazines and newspapers and how these trends will influence
their use as advertising media.
Chapter and Lecture Outline
I. INTRODUCTION AND THE ROLE OF MAGAZINES AND NEWSPAPERS
Magazines and newspapers have been in existence as advertising media for more than two centuries and
until the 1920s were the only major media available to advertisers. Despite the growth and competition of
the broadcast media, newspapers and magazines have remained important to both their readers and
advertisers. Magazines have become a highly specialized medium that reaches specific target audiences in
Chapter 12 – Evaluation of Print Media
Professor Notes
II. MAGAZINES
Magazines serve the educational, informational, and entertainment needs and interests of a wide range of
readers in both the consumer and business markets. Magazines rank second only to television as a
medium for national advertisers. There has also been a tremendous growth in business publications as
their number has grown to more than 7,000. While some magazines are general mass-appeal publications,
most are targeted to very specific types of audiences in both the consumer and business markets.
A. Classifications of Magazines—a useful way of classifying magazines is provided by SRDS, the
primary reference source on magazines for media planners, which divides the publications into
three broad categories based on the audience to which they are directed.
1. Consumer magazines—those that are bought by the general public for information and/or
2. Farm publications—the second major SRDS category consists of magazines direct to
3. Business publications—these are magazines or trade journals that are published for specific
businesses, industries, or occupations. Major categories of business publications include those
B. Advantages of Magazines
1. Selectivity—Magazines are the most selective of all media except direct mail. Most
2. Reproduction quality—magazines are generally printed on high-quality paper stock and sue
printing processes that provide excellent reproduction in black and white or color.
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3. Creative flexibility—some magazines offer a variety of special options that can enhance the
4. Permanence—Magazines are often kept for reference and/or read over several days. One
5. Prestige—Companies whose products rely heavily on perceived quality, reputation, and/or
6. Consumer receptivity and engagement—Magazines are generally purchased because the
information they contain interests the reader, and ads provide additional information that may
7. Services—some magazines have merchandising staff that call on trade intermediaries like
retailers to let them know a product is being advertised. Magazines also offer such as split
C. Disadvantages of Magazines
1. Costs— the absolute cost of advertising in large mass-circulation magazines like Reader’s
Digest, Time or People can be very expensive, particularly for popular positions such as back
2. Limited reach and frequency—the percentage of adults reading any individual publication
3. Long lead time—most major publications have a 30- to a 60-day lead time, which means
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4. Clutter and competition for readers’ attention—Clutter is a problem for magazines as the
average consumer magazine contains ads on 47 percent of its pages while some publications
contain as much as 70 percent. The clutter problem for magazines is something of a paradox:
D. Magazine Circulation and Readership—two of the most important considerations in deciding
whether to utilize a magazine in the media plan are the size and characteristics of the audience
reached by the publication. Important considerations include the circulation of the publication as
well as its total readership.
1. Circulation—circulation figures represent the number of individuals who receive a
publication, either through subscription or store purchase. The number of copies distributed
to original subscribers or purchasers is known as primary circulation and is used as the basis
for the magazine’s rate structure. Many publications base their rates on guaranteed
circulation and provide rebates if the number of delivered magazines fall below the
guarantee.
a. Circulation verification—these services are provided by several companies to ensure
2. Readership and total audience—in addition to primary circulation figures, advertisers may be
Chapter 12 – Evaluation of Print Media
E. Audience Research for Magazines—Media planners are interested in the match between a
magazine’s readers and the advertiser’s target audience. Information on readers’ demographic,
lifestyle and product usage characteristics are available from studies conducted by the magazines
themselves as well as from syndicated research studies. The primary sources of information
concerning magazine audiences are:
• SRDS
F. Purchasing Magazine Advertising Space—While magazine rates are primarily a function of the
circulation and readership of the publication, rates will vary in response to a number of other
variables including size of the ad, position, particular editions chosen (geographic, demographic),
any special mechanical or production requirements and the number and frequency of insertion.
G. The Future of Magazines—the magazine industry continues to grow in terms of the number of
both consumer and business publications. A continuation of the trend toward greater market
segmentation and micro target marketing should mean greater use of magazines by advertisers
because of their high selectivity. There are several problems facing the magazine industry
including declines in readership and advertising pages and increasing postal rates and paper costs.
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1. Stronger editorial platforms—Magazines with strong editorial platforms that appeal to the
interests, lifestyles, and demographics of consumers and market trends will have the best
2. Circulation management—Circulation is becoming the major source of revenue for many
3. Cross-magazines and media deals—Multimagazine deals involve two or more publishers
4. Online delivery methods—many magazines are providing online versions of their
publications that offer the advantages of the Internet to publishers and subscribers. They can
integrate animation, video, audio, graphics, and text to provide an interactive medium. As
Professor Notes
III. NEWSPAPERS
Newspapers are the second major form of print media and represent the largest of all advertising media in
terms of total advertising volume. In 2009 an estimated $25 billion was spent on newspapers advertising
which represents about 18 percent of the total advertising expenditures in the United States. Newspapers
are an especially important advertising medium to local advertisers such as retailers. However newspapers
can also be a valuable medium to national advertisers as well.
A. Types of Newspapers—the vast majority of newspapers are daily publications serving a local
community. However, there are other types of newspapers that have special characteristics that
make them valuable to advertisers. Classifications of newspapers include:
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1. Daily newspapers—published each weekday and found in larger cities and towns across the
2. Weekly newspapers—most weekly newspapers originate in small towns or suburbs where the
3. National newspapers—Newspapers in this with national circulation including The Wall Street
Journal, The New York Times, and USA TODAY. National newspapers appeal primarily to
4. Special-audience newspapers—there are a variety of papers that offer specialized editorial
5. Newspaper supplements—although not a category of newspapers per se, many papers include
magazine type supplements, primarily in their Sunday editions. These include syndicated
B. Types of Newspaper Advertising—Advertising in newspapers can be divided into different
categories which include:
1. Display advertising—display ads are found throughout the paper and generally use
2. Classified advertising—classified ads are those arranged under subheads according to the
3. Special ads and inserts—special ads in newspapers include a variety of governmental and
financial reports and notices and public notices. Preprinted inserts do not appear in the paper
Chapter 12 – Evaluation of Print Media
Professor Notes
C. Advantages of Newspapers
1. Extensive penetration—In most areas, 50 percent or more of households read a daily
2. Flexibility—Newspapers are flexible in terms of requirement for producing and running the
ads and from the creative options they make available to advertisers.
3. Geographic selectivity—Advertisers can vary their coverage by choosing a paper that reaches
4. Reader involvement and acceptance—An important feature of newspapers is consumers’
5. Services offered—Many newspapers offer merchandising services and programs to
manufacturers that make the trade aware of ads being run for the company’s product and help
convince local retailers they should stock, display and promote the item.
D. Limitations of Newspapers
1. Poor reproduction quality—The coarse paper used for newspapers, the absence of color, and
2. Short life span/hasty reading—Because a newspaper is generally kept for less than a day, an
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3. Lack of selectivity—While newspapers can offer advertisers geographic selectivity, they are
4. Clutter—Because 64 percent of the average daily newspaper in the United States is devoted
to advertising, the advertiser’s message must compete with numerous other ads for
consumers’ attention and interest. Many newspapers are now offering advertisers the
opportunity to use innovative shape-based ads that use unconventional sizes and formats as
those shown in Exhibit 12-22 which are offered by the Los Angeles Times.
E. The Newspaper Audience—As with any medium, the media planner must understand the size and
characteristics of the audience reached by a newspaper. Basic sources of information concerning
1. Audience Information—circulation figures provide basic data for assessing newspaper
audience size and their ability to cover various market areas. Information on the circulation
F. Purchasing Newspaper Space—The cost of advertising space in newspapers depends not only on
the paper’s circulation but also on factors such as premium charges for color or special sections as
well as discounts available. Rates paid for newspaper space also differ for national versus local
advertisers.
1. General versus local rates— General advertising rates apply to display advertisers outside the
newspapers designated market area or to any classification deemed by the publisher to be
“general’ in nature. The rates paid by general advertisers are, on average, 75 percent higher
than those paid by local advertisers. Newspapers offer several reasons for the rate differential
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2. Newspaper rates—Traditionally, newspaper space has been sold by the agate line system.
However, newspapers use page formats of varying width, which has created problems and
complicated the buying process for national advertisers. To address this problem and make
3. Rate Structures—While the column inch and SAUs are used for determining basic newspaper
advertising rates, there are other options and factors which must be considered. Mention
should be made of flat rates versus open-rate structures, run-of-paper (ROP) versus
preferred position rates, and combination rates for using several newspapers as a group.
G. The Future of Newspapers—As noted in the chapter opener, advertising revenue for traditional
print newspapers has declined dramatically over the past several years from $42 billion in 2007 to
$25 billion in 2009. This decline is due in part to reductions in ad spending that have occurred
during the recession as well as declines in circulation and readership for most newspapers. It is
unlikely that newspapers’ importance as a local advertising medium will change in the near
1. Competition from other media such as direct mail, local radio and television, and the Internet.
2. Declining Circulation
4. Attracting and retaining readers, particularly younger people
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Teaching Suggestions
This chapter is designed to provide the student with a general understanding of the two major types of
print media, magazines and newspapers. As with television and radio, it is important for students to
understand the general characteristics of magazines and newspapers including the different types or
classifications of each medium, their specific advantages and limitations as advertising media, how
readership is measured, and how rates are determined and advertising space is purchased. The instructor
should call students attention to the wide variety of magazines available and their ability to reach nearly
With regard to newspapers, it is important to cover the challenges facing the industry which has seen its
total advertising revenue decline by nearly 40 percent over the past three years. Circulation and
readership of traditional newspapers continues to decline in most major markets and publishers are now
making their papers available online to retain readers and ad revenue. Newspapers are likely to continue
to be an important advertising medium for local advertisers and attention might be given to how national
advertisers can be encouraged to allocate more of their budgets to newspapers. Attention should also be
Answers To Discussion Questions
1. Discuss some of the developments that are impacting the traditional print media of magazines and
newspapers. What are some of the ways magazine and newspaper publishers can respond to these
changes and retain advertisers? (L01)