Recognition of Military Advertising Slogans Among American Youth

The military Services rely on two primary recruiting tools to reach American youth and attract them into the U.S. Armed Forces. One is the military recruiters themselves, who are usually the cream of the crop in their respective Services the other is military advertising. The objective of military advertising is to create awareness and to present a professional image of each Service. The Youth Attitude Tracking Study YATS survey contains several questions about military advertising which may inform the Services about the impact of their advertising campaigns. As part of their advertising campaigns, the Services have one or more slogans that appear as primary elements in their advertising campaigns. Recognition of those slogans can provide a measure of the impact of an advertising campaign. This report presents trends in slogan recognition among young men and women between the ages of 16 and 21 from the 1987-1995 YATS. These respondents have no more than two years of postsecondary education and live in the contiguous United States. Because of these demographics, these youth are considered a prime target of military advertisers. This report examines trends in slogan recognition among males and females who were interviewed. Additionally, patterns among incorrect responses are also presented because results provide additional information.