experimental method

Determining advertising effectiveness by manipulating the level or type of advertising in statistically similar markets and attributing any difference in demand to the difference in advertising. The experimental method relies upon the somewhat precarious assumption that two such similar markets can be identified and that the absence of other influences on demand can be controlled or assumed. The experimental method might also be used to measure the effect of different sales techniques or brand characteristics.

The noun has one meaning:

Meaning #1: the use of controlled observations and measurements to test hypotheses