Frequency is a bigger driver of purchase likelihood for heavy buyers (35 times per year or more) of a CPG food product, while light buyers are more likely to buy based on recency of media exposure – at least with regard to ‘Brand X.’ This is the highlight of findings released this week by Project Apollo – the joint project of Nielsen and Arbitron that includes a pilot panel of 11,000 people and 5,000 households.

Project Apollo studied purchase behaviour for ‘Brand X.’ The study found that with more TV exposures, the probability that heavy category purchasers will buy Brand X rises, although the purchase probability rises at a diminishing rate after two ad exposures. For recency, probability of purchase was highest one day after the last TV exposure, with likelihood to purchase showing a distinct drop-off after three to five days.

Brand X was a food item with a frequent purchase cycle. But the Brand X data may not be relevant to all brands in the food category.

Arbitron EVP new product development Linda Dupree says the study ‘underscores how Project Apollo data can be used to frame media plans to optimize purchases through effective media weights and targeting of purchasing audiences. Advertisers need to be aware that Project Apollo delivers singular data for each brand. There is no reason to use generic learnings when specific, targeted data can be generated for each brand.’

See MiC‘s previous coverage of Project Apollo here.