Print advertising/marketing resources Thick vs. average issues: Is ad readership affected? Readers judge a publication on its ability to meet their informational, educational, entertainment, etc. needs. If a publication grabs an individual's attention, they do not necessarily stop reading because the issue has too many pages. Likewise, an individual may not get halfway through a publication that fails to meet their needs. Ads placed in a "thick" issue (an issue with more pages than the publication normally has) are seen and found interesting by readers just as much as ads placed in an average sized issue. A comparison of ad averages was conducted to test the hypothesis that ads in a thick issue will be seen and found interesting. Two issues of the same publication were selected: an average issue (204 pages) and a thick (334 pages) issue. In the average issue (204 pages), 35% of readers remember seeing the advertisement and 13% found the ad interesting. In the thick issue (334 pages), 33% remember seeing the ad and 14% found it interesting. The results show no statistical significance between the averages. Ads were seen and found interesting in both the thick and thin issue. Stressing the size of an issue as an influence on ad readership neglects the importance of the elements placed on the page. Source: Ad Effectiveness: "Thick vs. Average Issues" The Readex Review, Copyright 2001