Toll-free Numbers in Magazine Advertising
Conclusions
Millions of consumers are exposed to toll-free numbers on a daily basis,
leading to their acceptance as a common advertising element. Their use
in magazine advertising will continue to grow.
Of the numbers used, 800 numbers will continue to predominate. The findings
of this study confirm traditional wisdom regarding toll-free numbers —
consumers are most familiar with the 800 prefix. While consumers have
had 30 years to familiarize themselves with 800, they have only been exposed
to 888 for the last few years, and 877 for the last few months. The 888
and 877 prefixes, understandably, will never catch up.
With such big budgets at stake, advertisers are hesitant to take a gamble
on consumers misdialing their phone numbers. And with fewer consumers
aware of the additional prefixes, the vast majority of advertisers continue
using the original toll-free exchange. By doing so, they also eliminate
user confusion and misdialing (i.e., dialing 800 instead of 888 or 877).
Toll-free numbers are embraced by a wide range of industries. Since the
most frequent consumer uses of toll-free numbers are for requesting information,
ordering products, and making reservations14, the industry
results aren’t surprising. Clearly, the top four industries using
toll-free numbers are perfect for this type of response mechanism: lodging
for making reservations; home improvement and attorneys for requesting
more information; and sports for ordering products.
The sizes of advertisements favored suggest that consumers are very comfortable
responding to advertisements with toll-free numbers. Consumers no longer
need to be "sold" on the idea of using the free numbers, just
on whether or not the offer in the advertisement warrants their response.
Conversely, Internet addresses are clearly a secondary response mechanism.
Published March 16, 1999
Copyright © 1999, 800 Response. All rights reserved.
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