DTIC ADA495555: The Cost-Effectiveness of Military Advertising: Evidence from 2002-2004

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The Cost-Effectiveness of Military Advertising: Evidence from 2002?2004
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The Cost-Effectiveness of
Military Advertising
Evidence from 2002–2004
James N. Dertouzos
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Preface
This annotated briefing documents research findings from a RAND project titled “Evaluat-
ing the Effectiveness of Military Advertising.” The project was sponsored by the Director for
Accession Policy (Military Personnel Policy).
This briefing examines the Services’ advertising expenditures for the 2002–2004 time
period and quantifies their impact on active-duty enlistments. Consistent with past research,
the study concludes that advertising was very cost-effective at generating enlistments during
the 2002–2004 period. While improvements could have been made (such as increasing the
budget or adjusting the timing or allocation of dollars across programs), advertising compares
favorably with other methods of generating enlistments, such as adding recruiters or increasing
bonuses.
Unfortunately, data deficiencies were a significant obstacle that limited the scope of the
analysis. Most importantly, gaps in the data made it impossible to assess two categories of
marketing efforts that have been increasing in importance: Internet advertising and sponsored
events. Further, although the results indicate that competition between the Services is impor-
tant, it was not possible to evaluate the separate effects for individual programs other than the
Army.
This research was sponsored by the Office of the Secretary of Defense (OSD) and con-
ducted within the Forces and Resources Policy Center of the RAND National Defense Research
Institute, a federally funded research and development center sponsored by the Office of the
Secretary of Defense, the Joint Staff, the Unified Combatant Commands, the Department of
the Navy, the Marine Corps, the defense agencies, and the defense Intelligence Community.
For more information on RAND’s Forces and Resources Policy Center, contact the
Director, James Hosek. He can be reached by email at [email protected]; by phone
at 310-393-0411, extension 7183; or by mail at the RAND Corporation, 1776 Main Street,
Santa Monica, California 90407-2138. More information about RAND is available at
www.rand.org.
iii

Contents
Preface ........................................................................................................... iii
Tables ............................................................................................................vii
Summary ........................................................................................................ ix
Introduction ..................................................................................................... 1
Overview of Military Recruiting Programs ............................................................... 3
Review of Past Research ......................................................................................11
The Changing Policy and Media Landscape .............................................................17
Research Challenges ..........................................................................................21
New Research Findings ...................................................................................... 27
Implications for Policy and Future Research .............................................................35
v

Tables
1. Regression Results: Army Contracts Per Recruiter .......................................... 30
2. Regression Results: Log of Total DoD Contracts ............................................ 34
vii