ALMOST ONE-FOURTH of all television commercials use a toll-free number as a response mechanism, according to a new study by Response Marketing Group, Burlington, VT. Of those, 91% use the 800 prefix and 57% employ vanity numbers.
The study also found that 19% of TV commercials contain a World Wide Web address, and overall, 37% of commercials feature either a toll-free number, an Internet address or both.
Response Marketing Group monitored the major networks for five weeks, analyzing 4,654 commercials aired during 170 hours of evening news, prime-time, sports and morning programming.
Regarding the paucity of the new 888 and 877 toll-free prefixes, the study noted that, “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).”
The study found that national advertisers are using vanity numbers more than numeric ones, and that local advertisers use them about half the time. Real estate, telecommunications and lodging were the most frequent users of toll-free numbers by industry.
All of the 120-second commercials and 82% of 60-second spots featured toll-free numbers. The study further found that 79% of 15- second commercials with toll-free numbers use vanity numbers, as do 75% of 30-second commercials.
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