Business Analysis of Magazines Advertising and Readability

1. Abstract
The manager of advertising Company is interested to know about the popularity of
magazines types and the average number of words in advertisement. In a market there
were nine different types of magazines where advertisements are given. Six magazine
advertisements were randomly selected from each of three magazines selected from
magazines grouped into three classes according to educational level of their readers. For
each advertisement selected the number of words of advertising copy, the number of
sentences in the advertising copy, and the number of three plus syllable words in the
advertising copy were observed.
2. Problem Statement
Questions arise as to whether significant differences exist in the characteristics of
advertising copy among the magazines or the groups of magazines. Also relevant to
readability are the number of words per sentence and the proportion of three syllable
words in the copy.
We can formulate following hypothesis to meet the objective of the study
Hypothesis 1: The nine groups of magazines have equal number of advertisement.
Hypothesis 2: The thirty selected magazines have equal average number of
advertisements for three ranked educational level.
Hypothesis 3: The average number of sentences in advertising copy in three educational
levels is same.
Hypothesis 4: the average number of sentences in nine magazines is same.

3. Description
Thirty magazines were ranked by educational level of their readers. Three magazines
were randomly selected from the first, second, and third, ten magazines from each group.
Six advertisements were randomly selected from each of the nine selected magazines.
The magazines were Group 1 Highest educational level: 1. Scientific American 2.
Fortune 3. The New Yorker Group 2 Medium educational level: 4. Sports Illustrated 5.
Newsweek 6. People Group 3 Lowest educational level: 7. National Enquirer 8. Grit 9
True Confessions For each advertisement, the data below were observed.
Number of cases: 54
Variable Names:

1. WDS = number of words in advertisement copy

2. SEN = number of sentences in advertising copy
3. MAG = magazine (1 through 9 as above)
4. GRP = educational level (as above)

The data(1) is shown in appendix

4. Analysis
4.1 Graphical Presentation
20

10

Std. Dev = 5.02

Mean = 12.4
0 N = 54.00
5.0 7.5 10.0 12.5 15.0 17.5 20.0 22.5 25.0

Number of sentences in advertising copy

The above figure is histogram for the distribution of number of sentences in

advertisement copy. It shows mostly advertisements have ten sentences. There is very
advertisement which contains 25 sentences. The shape of the distribution is positively
skewed and low peaked.

2
 14

12

10

2 Std. Dev = 65.88

Mean = 122.6

0 N = 54.00
40.0 80.0 120.0 160.0 200.0 240.0
60.0 100.0 140.0 180.0 220.0

Number of words in advertisement copy

In the above histograms shows the number of words shown in different advertisement
copies. The most of the advertisement have 200 words. The shape of the distribution is
positively skewed and low peaked. The distribution of number of words in advertisement
copy is less skewed and low peaked then the distribution of number of sentences in
advertisement copy.

14

12

10

2
Percent

0
1.00 2.00 3.00 4.00 5.00 6.00 7.00 8.00 9.00

magazine (1 through 9 as above)

3
It can be observed from the above bar chart that almost all magazines have equal number
readers. The magazines one has more number of reader.

40

30

20

10
Percent

0
1.00 2.00 3.00

educational level

In the above bar chart it can be concluded that the educational level three have more
readers as compared to other levels of education.
4.2 Descriptive Statistics
De scriptiv e Statistics

N Minimum Maximum Mean Std. Skewness Kurtosis

Statistic Statistic Statistic Statistic Deviation
Statistic Statistic Std. Error Statistic Std. Error
number of sentences
54 4.00 25.00 12.4259 5.0155 .423 .325 -.401 .639
in advertising copy
number of words in
54 31.00 230.00 122.6296 65.8770 .295 .325 -1.483 .639
advertisement copy
Valid N (listwise) 54

In the above output the descriptive statistics are calculated by running SPSS. This output
shows that these fifty four observations of number of sentences in advertisement copy
and number of words in advertisement copy are selected.
The minimum number of sentences in advertisement copy is four and maximum number
of sentences is twenty five in an advertisement copy. The averages number of
advertisement copy is 12.42 and the average change in number of sentences in
advertising copy is 5.0155. The coefficient of skewness is 0.423 which shows that the
distribution of number of sentences in advertisement copy is positively skewed. The
coefficient of kurtosis is – 0.401 for the distribution of number of sentences in
advertisement copy. This coefficient of kurtosis indicates that the distribution is low
peaked.

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There are minimum thirty one and maximum two hundred thirty numbers of words in
advertisement copy. The average number of words in advertisement copy is 122.63 and
average change in number of words in advertisement copy is 65.877 which is very high,
it indicates that there much variation in number of word in advertisements. The skewness
coefficient is 0.295 which show that distribution of number of words in advertisements is
positively skewed but is less skewed than the distribution of number of sentences in
advertisements. In the distribution of number of sentences in advertisements kurtosis is –
1.483, this value indicate that the distribution of number of sentences in advertisements is
low peaked.
Comparison between the distributions of number of sentences in advertisements and
number of words in advertisements
The distribution of number of sentences has less variation than the distribution of number
of words in advertisements. The distribution of distribution of number of sentences is
more positively skewed than the distribution of number of words in advertisements. The
distribution of distribution of number of sentences is high peaked than the distribution of
number of words in advertisements.
4.3 Hypothesis
Assumptions
For testing the suggested hypothesis following assumptions are made. Analysis of
Variance methods have in common a set of two assumptions:
1. The standard deviations (SD) of the populations for all groups are equal - this is
sometimes referred to as an assumption of the homogeneity of variance. Again, we can
represent this assumption for groups 1 through n as

2. The samples are randomly selected from the population.

Testing of Hypothesis 1:
H0: The average numbers of words in advertisement copy for all the magazines are equal.
H1: at least one magazine has different average numbers of words in advertisement copy.
Level of Significance = 0.05

5
By using WDS as response variable and magazines as grouping variable ANOVA is run
by using SPSS and following output is yielded.

ANOVA

number of words in advertisement copy

Sum of
Squares df Mean Square F Sig.
Between Groups 99217.259 8 12402.157 4.267 .001
Within Groups 130791.3 45 2906.474
Total 230008.6 53

Conclusion:
From the above out put the p-value is 0.001, which is less than pre-assigned level of
significance. Thus it can be concluded that the average number of advertisements for nine
magazines levels are significantly different.
Further it is necessary to observe which magazine has significant different average
number of advertisements. The following output will help to discuss this issue.

6
 M ultip le Co mparison s

Dependent Variable: number of words in advertisement copy

LSD

Mean
(I) magazine (J) magazine Difference 95% Confidence Interval
(1 through 9 ) (1 through 9 ) (I-J) Std. Error Sig. Lower Bound Upper Bound
1.00 2.00 45.1667 31.1259 .154 -17.5242 107.8575
3.00 145.3333* 31.1259 .000 82.6425 208.0242
4.00 55.8333 31.1259 .080 -6.8575 118.5242
5.00 85.8333* 31.1259 .008 23.1425 148.5242
6.00 104.6667* 31.1259 .002 41.9758 167.3575
7.00 114.0000* 31.1259 .001 51.3091 176.6909
8.00 121.1667* 31.1259 .000 58.4758 183.8575
9.00 55.8333 31.1259 .080 -6.8575 118.5242
2.00 1.00 -45.1667 31.1259 .154 -107.8575 17.5242
3.00 100.1667* 31.1259 .002 37.4758 162.8575
4.00 10.6667 31.1259 .733 -52.0242 73.3575
5.00 40.6667 31.1259 .198 -22.0242 103.3575
6.00 59.5000 31.1259 .062 -3.1909 122.1909
7.00 68.8333* 31.1259 .032 6.1425 131.5242
8.00 76.0000* 31.1259 .019 13.3091 138.6909
9.00 10.6667 31.1259 .733 -52.0242 73.3575
3.00 1.00 -145.3333* 31.1259 .000 -208.0242 -82.6425
2.00 -100.1667* 31.1259 .002 -162.8575 -37.4758
4.00 -89.5000* 31.1259 .006 -152.1909 -26.8091
5.00 -59.5000 31.1259 .062 -122.1909 3.1909
6.00 -40.6667 31.1259 .198 -103.3575 22.0242
7.00 -31.3333 31.1259 .319 -94.0242 31.3575
8.00 -24.1667 31.1259 .442 -86.8575 38.5242
9.00 -89.5000* 31.1259 .006 -152.1909 -26.8091
4.00 1.00 -55.8333 31.1259 .080 -118.5242 6.8575
2.00 -10.6667 31.1259 .733 -73.3575 52.0242
3.00 89.5000* 31.1259 .006 26.8091 152.1909
5.00 30.0000 31.1259 .340 -32.6909 92.6909
6.00 48.8333 31.1259 .124 -13.8575 111.5242
7.00 58.1667 31.1259 .068 -4.5242 120.8575
8.00 65.3333* 31.1259 .041 2.6425 128.0242
9.00 .0000 31.1259 1.000 -62.6909 62.6909
5.00 1.00 -85.8333* 31.1259 .008 -148.5242 -23.1425
2.00 -40.6667 31.1259 .198 -103.3575 22.0242
3.00 59.5000 31.1259 .062 -3.1909 122.1909
4.00 -30.0000 31.1259 .340 -92.6909 32.6909
6.00 18.8333 31.1259 .548 -43.8575 81.5242
7.00 28.1667 31.1259 .370 -34.5242 90.8575
8.00 35.3333 31.1259 .262 -27.3575 98.0242
9.00 -30.0000 31.1259 .340 -92.6909 32.6909
6.00 1.00 -104.6667* 31.1259 .002 -167.3575 -41.9758
2.00 -59.5000 31.1259 .062 -122.1909 3.1909
3.00 40.6667 31.1259 .198 -22.0242 103.3575
4.00 -48.8333 31.1259 .124 -111.5242 13.8575
5.00 -18.8333 31.1259 .548 -81.5242 43.8575
7.00 9.3333 31.1259 .766 -53.3575 72.0242
8.00 16.5000 31.1259 .599 -46.1909 79.1909
9.00 -48.8333 31.1259 .124 -111.5242 13.8575
7.00 1.00 -114.0000* 31.1259 .001 -176.6909 -51.3091
2.00 -68.8333* 31.1259 .032 -131.5242 -6.1425
3.00 31.3333 31.1259 .319 -31.3575 94.0242
4.00 -58.1667 31.1259 .068 -120.8575 4.5242
5.00 -28.1667 31.1259 .370 -90.8575 34.5242
6.00 -9.3333 31.1259 .766 -72.0242 53.3575
8.00 7.1667 31.1259 .819 -55.5242 69.8575
9.00 -58.1667 31.1259 .068 -120.8575 4.5242
8.00 1.00 -121.1667* 31.1259 .000 -183.8575 -58.4758
2.00 -76.0000* 31.1259 .019 -138.6909 -13.3091
3.00 24.1667 31.1259 .442 -38.5242 86.8575
4.00 -65.3333* 31.1259 .041 -128.0242 -2.6425
5.00 -35.3333 31.1259 .262 -98.0242 27.3575
6.00 -16.5000 31.1259 .599 -79.1909 46.1909
7.00 -7.1667 31.1259 .819 -69.8575 55.5242
9.00 -65.3333* 31.1259 .041 -128.0242 -2.6425
9.00 1.00 -55.8333 31.1259 .080 -118.5242 6.8575
2.00 -10.6667 31.1259 .733 -73.3575 52.0242
3.00 89.5000* 31.1259 .006 26.8091 152.1909
4.00 .0000 31.1259 1.000 -62.6909 62.6909
5.00 30.0000 31.1259 .340 -32.6909 92.6909
6.00 48.8333 31.1259 .124 -13.8575 111.5242
7.00 58.1667 31.1259 .068 -4.5242 120.8575
8.00 65.3333* 31.1259 .041 2.6425 128.0242
*. T he mean difference is significant at the .05 level.

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 LSD test
In above output LSD test is applied to test the significance of magazines. This test
makes pair wise comparison between different magazines. The magazine one and three
have significant different average number of advertisement because the p-value against
this pair is less than the level of significance. Similarly the average number of
advertisement of magazine one is significantly different from the average number of
advertisements magazines five, six, seven and eight. The magazine two is significantly
different average number of advertisement from magazines three, seven and eight. The
magazine four is significantly different from magazines three and eight’s average number
of advertisements. The magazine three has significantly different average number of
advertisement from one, two, four and nine magazines. The magazine four is significantly
different average number of advertisement from magazines three and eight. The average
number of advertisement of magazine five differs only with group one. The magazine six
is only significantly different average number of advertisement from the magazine one.
The magazine seven is significantly different from magazines one and two. The magazine
eight is significant different from average number of advertisement of one, two four and
nine magazines. The magazine nine differs from group three and eight magazines’
average number of advertisements.
From the above discussion it can be inferred that magazines one and eight are
significant different average number of advertisement than other magazines. Thus due to
Magazine 1 (High educational level) the average number of advertisement differ from
other magazines. The number of average advertisement can be highly affected by the
Magazine 8 (Grit) magazines are almost different from other magazines.
Testing of Hypothesis 2
H0: The thirty selected magazines have equal average number of advertisements for three-
ranked educational level.
H1: at least one educational level has significant different number of advertisement from
three ranked educational groups.
Level of Significance = 0.05
By using WDS as response variable and ranked educational level as grouping variable
ANOVA is run by using SPSS and following output is yielded.

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 ANOVA

number of words in advertisement copy

Sum of
Squares df Mean Square F Sig.
Between Groups 10141.815 2 5070.907 1.176 .317
Within Groups 219866.8 51 4311.113
Total 230008.6 53

Conclusion:
In the above out put the p-value is 0.317, which is greater than pre-assigned level of
significance. Thus it can be concluded that the average number of advertisements for
three ranked educational levels are equal. It can be inferred from ANOVA output that
educational level does not affect on the number of advertisement in magazines.

Testing of Hypothesis 3
H0: The average number of sentences in advertising copy in three educational levels is
same.
H1: At least one educational level has significant different number of sentences in
advertising.
Level of significance = 0.05
By using SEN as response variable and ranked educational level as grouping variable
ANOVA is run by using SPSS and following output is yielded.
ANOVA

number of sentences in advertising copy

Sum of
Squares df Mean Square F Sig.
Between Groups 6.370 2 3.185 .122 .885
Within Groups 1326.833 51 26.016
Total 1333.204 53

Conclusion: the p-value in above table is 0.885, which is greater than the assigned level
of significance. It can be concluded that the average number of sentences for the three
educational levels are same.

9
Testing of Hypothesis 4
H0: The average number of sentences in advertising copy of nine magazines is same.
H1: At least one magazine has significant different number of sentences in advertising.
Level of significance = 0.05
By using SEN as response variable and GRP (ranked educational level) as grouping
variable ANOVA is run by using SPSS and following output is yielded
ANOVA

number of sentences in advertising copy

Sum of
Squares df Mean Square F Sig.
Between Groups 301.370 8 37.671 1.643 .140
Within Groups 1031.833 45 22.930
Total 1333.204 53

Conclusion:
In the above out put the p-value is 0.140, which is greater than pre-assigned level of
significance. Thus it can be concluded that the average number sentences in
advertisements for nine magazines are equal. It can be inferred from ANOVA output that
educational level does not affect on the number of advertisement in magazines.

Recommendations
Following are recommendations are suggested from conducted study
 The average number of words for three educational levels is same.
 The average number of sentences for the ranked three educational levels is equal.
 The average number of sentences for the nine magazines is same.
 The average number of words for the nine magazines is significantly different.
The magazine one and eight have significant numbers of words in advertisement
than other magazines.

Reference:

1. http://lib.stat.cmu.edu/DASL/Stories/magads.html

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Appendix

Data:

WDS SEN MAG GRP

205.00 9.00 1.00 1.00

203.00 20.00 1.00 1.00

229.00 18.00 1.00 1.00

208.00 16.00 1.00 1.00

146.00 9.00 1.00 1.00

230.00 16.00 1.00 1.00

215.00 16.00 2.00 1.00

153.00 9.00 2.00 1.00

205.00 11.00 2.00 1.00

80.00 13.00 2.00 1.00

208.00 22.00 2.00 1.00

89.00 16.00 2.00 1.00

49.00 5.00 3.00 1.00

93.00 18.00 3.00 1.00

46.00 6.00 3.00 1.00

34.00 6.00 3.00 1.00

11
39.00 5.00 3.00 1.00

88.00 12.00 3.00 1.00

191.00 25.00 4.00 2.00

219.00 17.00 4.00 2.00

205.00 23.00 4.00 2.00

57.00 7.00 4.00 2.00

105.00 10.00 4.00 2.00

109.00 9.00 4.00 2.00

82.00 10.00 5.00 2.00

88.00 10.00 5.00 2.00

39.00 5.00 5.00 2.00

94.00 11.00 5.00 2.00

206.00 18.00 5.00 2.00

197.00 18.00 5.00 2.00

68.00 9.00 6.00 2.00

44.00 9.00 6.00 2.00

203.00 17.00 6.00 2.00

139.00 13.00 6.00 2.00

72.00 11.00 6.00 2.00

12
67.00 7.00 6.00 2.00

162.00 14.00 7.00 3.00

31.00 6.00 7.00 3.00

85.00 11.00 7.00 3.00

111.00 12.00 7.00 3.00

88.00 11.00 7.00 3.00

60.00 15.00 7.00 3.00

97.00 6.00 8.00 3.00

169.00 12.00 8.00 3.00

78.00 14.00 8.00 3.00

68.00 11.00 8.00 3.00

32.00 4.00 8.00 3.00

50.00 9.00 8.00 3.00

208.00 18.00 9.00 3.00

81.00 12.00 9.00 3.00

83.00 12.00 9.00 3.00

195.00 17.00 9.00 3.00

111.00 11.00 9.00 3.00

208.00 20.00 9.00 3.00

13