Toll-free Numbers in Television Advertising

Introduction

The use of toll-free numbers as a response mechanism in advertising continues to grow. In the 30 years since the toll-free 800 number was first introduced, the telemarketing industry has grown from seven million calls in 1967 to over 34 billion in 1997.(5) In 1995, this amounted to $135 billion in goods and services being traded over toll-free lines.(6)

A properly managed toll-free number offers three principal benefits to a company: improved customer satisfaction, leading to brand loyalty and increased sales; reduced customer service costs; and increased customer information, leading to improved product/service design, production, and delivery.(7,8) All of these factors relate to building strong, long-term relationships with customers while keeping costs low.

Consumers have incorporated toll-free numbers into their daily activities and use them for everything from ordering products to making financial transactions. Toll-free numbers are free, easy to remember, convenient, and simple to access. Researchers have found that over 50% of consumers use toll-free numbers frequently, while only 3% never use them.(9) Overall, 89% of consumers use them.(10) Toll-free numbers have achieved a high level of acceptance with a broad range of consumers in many areas of the marketplace — consumers have even begun to expect organizations to have a toll-free number.(11) As companies continue to reduce their marketing and sales costs through the integration of technology into their relationships with customers, toll-free numbers will become an ever bigger part of satisfying both parties.

Objectives

This study documents the use of toll-free numbers in television commercials. Our objective was to see how prevalent their use has become in this medium. Also, we wanted to learn which toll-free prefixes were being used (800 or 888*), as well as which types — vanity, numbers that translate into words for easy recall (e.g., 1-800-NEW-CARS), or numeric (e.g., 1-800-534-2489).

We also wanted to determine:

• Percentages of national and local advertisers using toll-free numbers
• Types of programming during which toll-free numbers are used
• Times of day toll-free numbers are used most frequently
• Industries using toll-free numbers
• Preferred lengths of commercials using toll-free numbers
• Prevalence of Internet addresses in commercials

Methodology

Over a five week period, television networks were taped for later viewing. For the purposes of this study, the following were viewed (170 total viewing hours):

• 100 hours of evening news and prime-time:
  6:00 to 11:30 PM, Monday-Friday
• 40 hours of sports programming (NFL football):
  Noon to 5:00 PM, Sunday
• 30 hours of morning programs:
  7:00 AM to Noon, Monday-Friday

One east coast and one west coast city were chosen for each television network. This yielded a total of 4,654 television commercials.

An independent contractor reviewed the tapes, collecting the information required for the analysis. The data was then tabulated and compiled by an independent information systems contractor.

For each commercial, the following data were collected:

• Vanity or Numeric
• Method of display
• Prefix (800/888)
• Length
• Industry
• Time aired
• National or Local advertiser
• Internet address shown
• Program type

Published September 8, 1998
Copyright © 1999, 800 Response. All rights reserved.

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