levels of advertising, normally during the initial period of the planning horizon Continuity: a pattern of relatively constant levels throughout a given time period or campaign (i.e. a relatively expensive spending pattern) Flighting: an intermittent pattern of bursts of advertising followed by no advertising (i.e. a moderate spending pattern) Pulsing: a combination of both continuity and pulsing; low levels of continuous advertising followed by bursts of more intense levels of advertising; (i.e. alternates between a high spending pattern and a low spending pattern) Empirical support for the effectiveness of pulsing is relatively weak. However, research suggests that continuous schedules and flighted schedules generally result in strong levels of consumer recall. With flighted schedules, the second and subsequent flights tend to build on the first flight, resulting in awareness levels similar to a continuous schedule, but often with reduced costs. A major consideration in constructing media schedules is timing. The advertiser's main is to place the advertisement as close as practical to the point where consumers make their purchase decision. For example, an advertiser who knows that a grocery buyer does a main shop on Saturday afternoons and a top-up shop on Wednesday nights, may consider TV to achieve general brand awareness, supplemented with radio spots to reach the shopper while he or she is driving to the supermarket or regular place of purchase on the days when the majority of consumers carry out their shopping. Measuring advertising effectiveness Advertising is a major expense for most firms. Improved advertising effectiveness can deliver strategic and tactical advantages as well as helping to manage costs. Advertising managers are expected to be accountable for advertising budgets. Hence, most campaigns invest in a number of measures to evaluate whether advertising budgets are being well-spent and to assess whether the campaign requires improvement and, if necessary, to fine-tune campaigns in order to achieve the desired advertising effects. The main aim of effectiveness testing is to improve consumer response rates. Broadly, there are two classes of effectiveness testing:Morrison, M.A., Haley, E.E., Sheehan, K.B. and Taylor, R.E., Using Qualitative Research in Advertising: Strategies, Techniques, and Applications, 2nd ed., Thousand Oaks, CA, Sage, 2011 Tracking refers to a combination of both pre-testing and post-testing in order to provide continuous monitoring of advertising effects. Pre-testing: qualitative and quantitative measures taken prior to running an advertisement with a view to gauging audience response and eliminating potential weaknesses Post-testing: qualitative and quantitative