Advertising

Advertising in circulars is the way to get the biggest bang for an advertising buck, a recent study on consumer shopping behavior disclosed.

Over 80Vo of 1,000 consumers asked about shopping behavior and attitudes about advertising recalled reading an advertising circular, compared to 75Vo r*alhng a tv ad, 52Vo a newspaper ad, and 45Vo a radio commercial. All other forms of advertising received less than 45Vo rccall in a Gallup Organization poll done for the International Mass Retail Institute.

Price captured the attention of 73Vo of the respondents; a photograph of the product or item, 68Vo, and use of color,65Vo. In line with these figures, 867o snid price was the most important

Loans to Spur Remodeling

A new Fannie Mae pilot progmm will make $500 million available for home improvement loans through about two dozen lenders across the country.

Called HomeStyle, the program will let homeowners borrow against

Circulars Rate High With Shoppers

attribute of an ad circular; 69Vo, a photograph of the item or product and 69Vo, a description of the product. Including the store's phone number, discount percentage, rebate information or a photo of the store were considered less important, receiving less than a 507o mention. Mail and door hanging advertisements received the lowest ratings for effectiveness.

Ad circulars were kept by 78Vo of the respondents to make shopping lists or plan store trips. Almost half of these ad savers (47Vo) took the circulars with them to the store. About 62Vo of consumers surveyed used circulars once a month or more to make buying decisions with lSVo of that group always basing buying decisions on ad circulars. the anticipated value of their home after improvements rather than the current equity in the house. With loan interest rates expected to be about l0vo, the program will work best for borrowers who don't have enough equity to get lines of credit at a lower rate.

Over half (59Vo) kept ad circulars for funrre reference with 74Vo of that group holding on to them for a week or more. Only 8Vo threw ad circulars away without looking at them, while 2lVo rcad them carefully and, 38Vo glanced through them.

Consumers were identified as ad shoppers or ad readers. The lSVo judged to be ad shoppers consistently use advertising circulars to make buying decisions . T\e 2lVo considered ad readers read all ad circulars carefully and kept the ones they intended to use for future reference. According to the study, ad shoppers are likely to shop more often but spend less than ad readers.

A homeowner will be able to borrow up to 90Vo of the house's remodeled value as determined by an appraiser from the lender. To allow for unexpected costs, an additional l07o of the renovation's cost is built into the loan. Lenders will sell the loans to Fannie Mae to cut their risk.

Gypsum Co. Clears Chap. 11

After almost three years, National Gypsum Co., Dallas, Tx., emerged from Chapter tt bankruptcy law proceedings with a $75 million, threeyear revolving credit line from General Electric Capital Corp., a unit of General Electric Co.

Wallboard operations have been transferred to a new company with the same name. Creditors of the old company will receive common stock in the new company, along with cash, senior notes or warrants. The firm expects to issue 20 million common shares at $12.50 each, warrants for an additional 2.2 million shares with an exercise price of $14.50 a share, and $100 million of l0-year, l07o senior notes. The old National Gypsum had $1.1 billion of debt outstanding.

More Hardwood Supply Woes

Demand is increasing and prices are soaring, but when wood products supply becomes grossly inadequate to meet demands, prosperity could turn to disaster, economist Daniel Goldy warned the Hardwood Plvwood & Ve- neer Association (fomrerly Hardwood Plywood Manufacturers Association).

The long range impact of the current log shortage on hardwood plywood prices was examined by a group of 25 manufacturers and distributors with the conclusion low supply is driving up prices and many log supplies will be exhausted by fall with mill closings anticipated. Grass-roots lobbying was considered.

Various committees fomted agendas and tackled "How to Explain the New Hardwood Plywood Srandard to Your Customers," at the May 5-8 convention at Hilton Head, S.C

Hoover Treated Wood Products announc€s that a NATIONAL EVALUATION REPORT (NER-457) has been issued by the National Evaluation Service of the Council of American Building Officials to confirm that PYRO-GUARD Fire Retardant Treated Lumber and Plywood meets requirements of the BOCA, UBC, and SBCCI model building codes.

PYRO-GUARD has a degradation-free track record, a So-year projected useful life, and is the FIFSI Fire Retardant Treated Wood with: a fhrrd Porty KIIn Monltoring in additlon to U.L. follow-up servlce a FRf labor and maleriols replacement cost warranty

I Code Compllance Report with evalualion of elevated temperalure strenglh tesllng for roof applications

I HIgh |emperalure strength test results

I Alew York State Smoke loxiclty ]est results

* NER repons are subject to re-examination, revisions and possible closing of file.

For fechnlcol Informotlon Coll r-800-TEc-wooD

The tool is hot forged from high quality steel and heat treated for ma:rimum durability.

Uses include tweaking lumber (the "jaw" fits snugly around any 2" dimensional lumber, allowing twisted framing to be pulled into nailing position), wedging (ideal for door hanging, stripping or salvaging), pulling nails and adjusting stud, joist or rafter positions during construction.