Method for measuring the effectiveness of stimuli on decisions of shoppers

A method for determining the purchase behavior of individual members of a household, comprising the steps of

• assigning a personal identification reference element to each member of a household,
• presenting to members of said household identifiable stimuli intended to promote the sale of identified products,
• a household member selecting a promoted product for intended purchase,
• providing at household locations means identified with a household and activatable by a member of said household for generating and dispensing monetary coupons traceable to said means,
• following activating of said means by a member of said household, generating and dispensing at said household location a coupon carrying a monetary incentive to purchase a selected product, said incentive being available upon the purchase of said product, said activating including an identification of the stimulus which prompted said selection by said individual member of said household, said activating including an entering of said household member's personal identification,
• in conjunction with the purchase of a selected product a household member surrendering said coupon to receive said incentive,
• collecting surrendered coupons, and
• determining the purchase behavior of individual members of a household by tabulating said surrendered coupons carrying incentives to purchase products selected by individual members of said household identified on said coupons.

A method for determining the purchase behavior of individual members of a household, comprising the steps of

• assigning a personal identification reference element to each member of a household,
• presenting to members of said household identifiable stimuli intended to promote the sale of identified products,
• a household member selecting a promoted product for intended purchase,
• providing at household locations means identified with a household and activatable by a member of said household for generating and dispensing monetary coupons and for compiling a cumulative record of said coupons, said coupons and said record being traceable to said means,
• following activating of said means by a member of said household, generating and dispensing at said household location a coupon carrying a monetary incentive to purchase a selected product, said incentive being available upon the purchase of said product, said activating including an identification of the stimulus which prompted said selection by said individual member of said household, said activating including an entering of said household member's personal identification, said identification appearing on said coupons and on said record,
• in conjunction with the purchase of a selected product a household member surrendering said coupon to receive said incentive,
• collecting surrendered coupons, and
• determining the purchase behavior of individual members of a household by tabulating said surrendered coupons carrying incentives to purchase products selected by individual members of said household identified on said coupons and by analyzing said tabulation in the context of said cumulative record.

A method for evaluating the inducement effect of a stimulus on individuals comprising the steps of:

• an organizer exposing individuals to a stimulus intended to induce the performance of a desired act by said individuals,
• providing said individuals with electronically programmable token dispersers capable,
• upon the request of individual ones of said individuals, of dispensing a token having value to said requesting individual, said value being available upon the performance of said act and upon surrender of said token,
• programming said dispersers by means of electronic instructional signals transmitted from a central location, said programming including value information to be borne by said token, said step of programming occurring subsequent to exposure of individuals to said stimulus and, prior to an individual requesting the dispensing of a token through entry of a command in said dispenser,
• dispensing to each of said requesting individuals a token bearing said value information,
• performing the desired act by at least some of said individuals having tokens,
• said token surrendering individuals surrendering said tokens to said organizer,
• said token surrendering individuals receiving said value, and
• said organizer measuring the inducement effect of said stimulus on individuals by evaluating the performance of the desired act by said individuals as evidenced by surrendered tokens.

A method for measuring the effectiveness of broadcast and print advertisements, said method comprising the steps of:

• presenting advertisements to shoppers, said advertisements advertising specific products, each advertisement being identifiable by timing of its presentation and/or by a reference element,
• providing shoppers with dispensers, each dispenser having means operable by an individual shopper for printing and dispensing a hard copy record carrying an incentive to purchase at least one of said specific products, the benefit of said incentive being receivable in a retail store within a stipulated period of time, each of said dispensers being identifiably associated with an individual one of said shoppers, said record being of the type which is honored upon the purchase of an advertised product by a shopper in said retail store, said record identifying the dispenser having printed said record and indicating the advertisement corresponding to said advertised product,
• a shopper selecting for intended purchase at least one of said advertised products,
• a shopper operating said shopper's dispenser to direct the printing of one of said records,
• a shopper's dispenser printing and dispensing said at least one record to said shopper, said record identifying said shopper's dispenser, one of said advertised products, and the advertisement corresponding to said advertised product that wa presented when the shopper selected the advertised product for intended purchase,
• a shopper purchasing said selected product in said retail store,
• in conjunction with said purchase, a shopper presenting said record in said retail store within said stipulated period of time to receive the benefit of said incentive,
• collecting presented records from said retail store, and
• tabulating a presentation rate of said presented records relative to their associated advertisement.

A method for evaluating the effectiveness of stimuli on the purchasing behavior of individuals comprising the steps of

• a seller exposing individuals to an identifiable stimulus intended to promote the purchase of a product,
• providing said individuals at their locations electronically programmable token dispensers operable by said individuals and capable upon the request of individual ones of said individuals of dispensing a token carrying a purchase incentive value, said value being available to a shopper upon purchase of a product promoted in said stimulus and upon surrender of said token,
• programming said dispensers by means of electronic instructional signals transmitted from a central location, said programming including information relative to the purchase incentive value carried by said token,
• subsequent to exposure to said stimulus, an individual operating said dispenser to request a token, said request identifying the stimulus to which said individual has been exposed,
• dispensing said token to said individual,
• said individual purchasing said promoted product from a seller,
• said individual surrendering said token to a seller,
• said individual receiving said incentive value, and
• said seller analyzing the effectiveness of said stimulus as evidenced by surrendered tokens.

A method for measuring the purchase inducing effect of stimuli under a variety of circumstances on a plurality of individuals, the method comprising the steps of

• a seller exposing a plurality of individuals to stimuli intended to induce the purchase of products by said individuals,
• providing said individuals at their individual locations electronically programmable token dispensers capable upon the request of an individual of dispensing to said individual a token having purchase inducement value, said value being available to an individual upon the purchase of a product and the surrendering of said token,
• programming said token dispenser through electronic signals transmitted from a central location, said programming including a varying of purchase inducement values,
• subsequent to the exposure of individuals to said stimuli, an individual requesting the dispensing of a token through entry of a command in said dispenser,
• dispensing a requested token at said individual's location,
• said individual purchasing said product,
• said individual surrendering a token to the seller,
• said individual receiving said value, and
• said seller measuring the inducement effect of said stimuli on said individuals by analyzing the purchase of said products by said individuals,
• said measuring method being implemented under a variety of circumstances, singly or in combination, said circumstances being determined by said seller and varying with respect to and selected from the group consisting of the nature, frequency and combination of stimuli;
• the nature and value of inducements;
• the nature and price range of promoted products;
• shoppers' demographic and psychographic characteristics;
• shoppers' distance from point of purchase;
• the time of day;
• the day of the week;
• and the season.

A method for quantifying the diminishing effect of a broadcast or print advertisement comprising the steps of

• exposing shoppers to an identifiable advertisement which promotes the sale of a first product in a retail store,
• providing individual shoppers an opportunity to operate a dispenser for generating a permanent record carrying an incentive to purchase said first product intended to be purchased by said individual shopper, said record identifying said advertisement,
• a shopper operating said dispenser,
• a dispenser generating a first product record carrying said incentive,
• dispensing said first product record to said shopper,
• compiling in individual dispensers at shoppers' locations listings of first product records dispensed to individual shoppers,
• a shopper delivering a first product record to a retail store,
• prior to the purchase of said first product in said retail store, a shopper being exposed to the advertising of a second product competing with said first product,
• a shopper deciding whether to purchase said first product,
• a shopper, having decided to purchase said first product, purchasing said first product and surrendering to a retail store said first product record to receive the benefit of said incentive,
• tabulating the first product records surrendered by a shopper to a retail store, and
• deducting the surrendered first product records of a shopper from the first product listing of said shopper,
• so as to quantify the loss of sales of the first product advertised in said identified advertisement and intended by a shopper to be purchased, between the time of said shopper's exposure to said advertisement and the time of said shopper's purchase of said first product in a retail store.

In a method for evaluating the effectiveness of stimuli on individuals, the method being of the type including the steps of:

• a) exposing individuals to at least one stimulus intended to induce the performance by said individuals of an act desired by an organizer,
• b) distributing permanent records to individual recipients at their locations, said records having value that has been determined by said organizer and is available to a record recipient upon the performance of said desired act induced by said stimulus,
• c) receiving said value by said individuals upon performance of said act and surrender of said record to said organizer
• d) said organizer evaluating the effectiveness of said stimulus as evidenced by surrendered records,
• the improvement which comprises the steps of:
• e) carrying out said method under a variety of circumstances, said circumstances varying with respect to and selected from a group of variables consisting of the nature, frequency and combination of stimuli;
• the nature and value of inducements;
• the nature of the desired act;
• individuals' demographic and psychographic characteristics;
• individuals' distance from the location of the performance of the desired act;
• the time of day of the stimilus;
• the day of the week of the stimulus;
• and the season of the stimulus;
• and
• f) evaluating the effectiveness of stimuli under said varying circumstances applied discretely or in combination.

A method for evaluating under varying sets of circumstances the effectiveness of stimuli experienced by individuals, the method comprising the steps of:

• a) exposing individuals to a stimulus under a set of circumstances, said circumstances having been selected from a group comprising nature, frequency, combination and timing of stimuli;
• and redemption value of records,
• b) individuals acting upon said stimulus,
• c) distributing permanent records having redemption value, said value being available to said individuals who have acted upon said stimulus and who redeem said records,
• d) evaluating the effectiveness of said stimulus as evidenced by records redeemed,
• e) repeating steps a)-d) under at least one additional varied set of circumstances, and
• f) evaluating the change in the effectiveness of stimuli under said varied sets of circumstances as evidenced by said records redeemed.

A method for measuring the effect of purchasing stimuli on purchasing decisions comprising steps of:

• exposing an individual to a variety of purchasing stimuli;
• presenting said individual with an opportunity to select a plurality of available product-specific coupons;
• selecting, by said individual, at least one of said coupons for redemption, said at least one coupon at least partially identifying said individual and at least one stimulus from said stimuli;
• redeeming said selected coupons with the purchase of a product;
• and
• reviewing redeemed selected coupons to determine effect of at least one of said stimulus upon comparison of redemption rates of said coupons for said variety of stimuli.

A method for measuring the effect of purchasing stimuli on purchasing decisions comprising steps of:

• exposing individuals to a variety of purchasing stimuli;
• providing means for said individuals to request and be given a variety of product-specific coupons related to said purchasing stimuli;
• dispensing requested coupons to requesting individuals, said step of dispensing comprising providing said dispensed coupons with information regarding the purchasing stimuli that said requesting individual was exposed to;
• and
• determining effect of individual stimulus of said variety of stimuli by reviewing a comparison of said requests by said individuals, said purchasing stimuli that said individuals were exposed to, and said coupons that are redeemed.

A method for quantifying effect of discrete purchase stimuli variables on purchasing behavior of shoppers comprising steps of:

• exposing individuals to purchase stimuli relating to products;
• presenting said individuals with an opportunity to select product coupons relating to said products;
• selecting, by at least some of said individuals, at least some of said product coupons;
• recording information regarding discrete variables of said purchase stimuli that said selecting individuals were exposed to in relation to said selecting individuals' actual selections;
• varying said discrete variables of said purchase stimuli over a period of time;
• and
• reviewing selection rates of said selected product coupons relative to different types of said discrete variables of purchase stimuli used over said period of time.