The Mind of the Buyer

48 TH E M I N D O F T HE B UY E R

I t i s no t inc onc eivabl e th a t thi s c onditi on

h ol d s good fo r th e m em ory o f thin gs seen in

a dve rtisem ent s. I f so l e t us sp ec ula te up on

th e p rofit abl e ways o f di stri buting re pea ted

a dve rtisement s. Th e a uth or h a s vent ured to

l ay o ut a reasonabl e dist ributi on up on th e

c urve i n Figu re 6. Since forge t ting ta kes

Jla. If“. M IL A pr. ay Jlu. JI. A n. S e. 0. N. D.

F ig. (^6). Showing a theoretically possible distribution of
e ight adve rtisements among twelve issues of a monthly
magazine.
plac e rapidly a t fi rs t, l e t th e early ann ounce
m en t s c om e a t frequen t in terval s. Sinc e th e
ra te o f forget ting i s sl owe r towa rd th e end
o f th e p eri od l et th e l a te r announcements
c om e a t l e ss frequen t bu t regul a r i nt erval s.
Th e ge ne ral p ri ncipl e i s to a dap t th e number
an d regula ri ty of rep eti tions to th e a moun t
and c on sta ncy o f th e m ate ri al re taine d. The
obj ec t, i n graphic t e rm s, i s to raise th e lin e