Newspaper advertisements of four general hospitals: Content analysis and assessment of effectiveness

A content analysis was conducted on the ads that appeared in the Knoxville News Sentinel from July 1985 to June 1986 for four Knoxville hospitals: Fort Sanders, Park West, St. Mary's and Baptist. Appropriate key personnel in advertising and/or public relations for each hospital were also interviewed for the purpose of assessing the effectiveness of the ads for each hospital.

The content analysis revealed that the most frequently used appeal in the ads was the factual appeal and the most frequently used target market was a general audience. Most of the ads studied used a copy-heavy or all-copy format.

All of the ads studied "focused" on ancillary services and/or technology the hospital had to offer. According to the interviews with key advertising and/or public relations personnel, each hospital except Baptist had a definite policy about "image" advertising and these policies were found to be evident in the content analysis.

No firm conclusions could be found concerning the effectiveness of newspaper advertising since each representative had a different opinion about the effectiveness of the ads for his hospital.

The hospitals involved devoted from 13 percent to 90 percent of their advertising budget for newspaper advertising, so no estimated budget allocations can be recommended.