Since its inception, Grove Insight has incorporated dial testing into our repertoire, with remarkable results. Dial tests involve the use of portable data-collection devices that allow a group of pre-selected participants to anonymously report their reactions to a variety of media concepts or speeches. As respondents record their responses, the research team instantly sees the results for the group as a whole and for pre-defined subgroups. Any interesting responses to the content are explored with the participants in real time during the session.
We typically suggest that dial tests occur after we have completed focus groups and polling, and media has been produced. This allows us to test the effectiveness of our messaging in its near-final form (mail pieces, TV ads, radio ads, etc.).
In our experience, dial tests can literally save the day, and save a campaign thousands of dollars that might otherwise be wasted on ineffective (or, worse yet, damaging) paid communications. During the 2006 No on 43 campaign to defeat mandatory parental notification in Oregon, we conducted a dial test to compare the persuasiveness of several possible television ads. Going in, there was some concern that the most potent ad might simply be “over the top.” But our dial tests revealed that this ad was far and away the most persuasive, and post-viewing focus group discussions confirmed it to be believable. It is widely acknowledged that the selection of this ad made the winning difference in this challenging campaign. Without the dial test evidence, the campaign might have made a different, and far less effective, choice.
