Ad testing template and interview questions
Understand how people notice, interpret, remember and respond to an advertisement.
The short version
- An ad test shows what people notice and remember in an advertisement, what message they take from it, whether they believe it, and whether they connect it to the brand.
- Show the ad without explaining it, ask for first reactions and recall (Q1 to Q3), then move to message, relevance, credibility, brand and action (Q4 to Q14).
- Read each interview as a chain from notice to response, and look for where the chain breaks.
- Run it as 15 to 20 minute voice interviews with the ad's intended audience, not the people who made the campaign.
About this research
An advertisement can be entertaining or visually impressive without necessarily communicating the intended message, strengthening the brand or influencing behavior.
Ad testing helps teams understand what people notice, what they remember, what they believe the advertisement is saying, how it affects their perception of the brand or offering, and whether it creates a reason to take action.
Rather than simply asking whether people "like the ad", this study examines how the advertisement works from exposure to response.
Study at a glance
| Study type | Qualitative ad testing |
|---|---|
| Method | Moderated or AI-moderated voice interview |
| Average interview time | 15 to 20 minutes |
| Core questions | 14 |
| Best suited for | Marketing, Brand, Advertising, Creative, Research and Growth teams |
When to run this study
Run this research when you're evaluating an advertisement before launch, refining an existing campaign, understanding audience response or comparing alternative advertising executions. It can be adapted for video, digital, social, print, audio, outdoor or other advertising formats.
Who to interview
Recruit people who genuinely represent the intended audience for the advertisement. Where relevant, include people with different levels of familiarity with the brand or category.
What you’ll learn
- Whether the advertisement captures attention
- What people remember
- What message they take away
- Whether the message is clear
- How the advertisement makes people feel
- Whether the claims feel believable
- Whether people connect the advertisement to the brand
- How the ad affects brand or product perception
- Whether it creates interest or action
- What could make the advertisement stronger
Ready-to-use interview guide
14 questions, in the order to ask them. The numbers are the ones the table below refers to.
Show the advertisement and capture the spontaneous response
What's your immediate reaction to the advertisement you just saw?
What stood out to you first?
Probe if needed: What about that caught your attention?
What do you remember most clearly from the advertisement?
Understand message takeaway
In your own words, what do you think this advertisement was trying to tell you?
Was anything unclear or difficult to understand?
Probe if needed: What did you think that part meant?
If you had to describe the advertisement to someone who hadn't seen it, what would you tell them?
Explore relevance and response
How, if at all, does what the advertisement is saying feel relevant to you?
How did the advertisement make you feel, if anything?
Probe if needed: What specifically created that reaction?
Explore credibility
How believable did what the advertisement was saying feel to you?
Probe if needed: Was there anything that made you believe or question it?
Explore brand connection
What brand or type of company would you expect this advertisement to come from?
Probe if brand is visible: What made the advertisement feel connected, or not connected, to [brand name]?
After seeing this advertisement, has anything about how you think about [brand, product or service] changed?
Probe if yes: What changed?
Explore behavioral response
After seeing this advertisement, what, if anything, would you want to know more about?
What, if anything, would you be likely to do after seeing this advertisement?
Probe if needed: Was it clear what the advertisement wanted you to do?
If you could change one thing about this advertisement to make it more effective for someone like you, what would you change and why?
Copy all 14 questions as plain text.
What this study can derive
| Research output | What it can tell you | Questions |
|---|---|---|
| Attention and recall map | Which elements naturally attract attention and remain memorable | Q1–Q3 |
| Message takeaway and clarity | What audiences believe the ad communicates, and whether the intended message is understood | Q4–Q6 |
| Relevance and emotional response | Whether the ad connects personally, and what emotional response it generates | Q7–Q8 |
| Message credibility | Whether audiences believe the claims or promises being communicated | Q9 |
| Brand connection and impact | Whether audiences connect the ad with the brand, and how it influences brand perception | Q10–Q11 |
| Response and action potential | Whether the advertisement creates curiosity, interest or a next action | Q12–Q13 |
| Ad refinement opportunities | Elements that may need clarification, strengthening, removal or adjustment | Q5, Q7–Q9, Q14 |
How to analyze the interviews
Analyze the advertisement as a sequence:
- Notice
- Remember
- Interpret
- Relate
- Feel
- Believe
- Connect to brand
- Respond
Pay particular attention to where the chain breaks. For example, an advertisement may attract attention and be memorable but fail to communicate the intended message. Another may communicate the message clearly but give the audience little reason to care.
Researcher’s notes
- Avoid: Don't begin by asking whether participants liked the ad. Capture spontaneous recall and interpretation first.
- Avoid: Don't explain the intended message when someone misunderstands it. That misunderstanding is valuable evidence.
- Do: Separate ad recall from brand recall. People remembering an entertaining advertisement doesn't necessarily mean they remember who it was for.
- Do: Treat stated likelihood to act as directional evidence. It is not a prediction of actual behavior.
Related
Questions people ask about ad testing
What is an ad test?
An ad test is a study that shows people an advertisement and asks what they noticed, what they remember and what they think it was saying. It also asks whether the message felt relevant and believable, who they think it came from, and what they'd do next. The answers show where the ad works and what needs changing.
What questions should an ad test ask?
This template uses 14 core questions in a 15 to 20 minute interview. They move from first reaction and recall to the message people take away, then relevance, feelings, credibility, brand connection and what people would do next. The last question asks what one change would make the ad more effective.
Should you ask people whether they liked the ad?
Not first. Start with spontaneous reactions, recall and what people think the ad was saying. An ad can be entertaining without communicating its message or strengthening the brand, so liking it doesn't show whether it works.
Does remembering an ad mean people remember the brand?
Not necessarily. People can remember an entertaining advertisement without remembering who it was for. Keep ad recall and brand recall apart, and use Q10 to see which brand people expect the ad to come from.