Measuring memory for marketing stimuli is often difficult. Discuss the differences between recognition and recall. Give examples of methods for testing each form. Which one is thought to be the more reliable measure of memory?

What will be an ideal response?

Two basic measures of impact are recognition and recall. In the typical recognition test, subjects are shown ads one at a time and asked if they have seen them before. In contrast, free recall tests ask consumers to independently think of what they have seen without being prompted for this information first. Obviously, this task requires greater effort on the part of respondents. Under some conditions, these two memory measures tend to yield the same results, especially when the researchers try to keep the viewer' interest. Generally, though, recognition scores tend to be more reliable and do not decay over time the way recall scores do. Recognition scores are almost always better than recall scores because recognition is a simpler process and more retrieval cues are available to the consumer.