Diversity in advertising: A summary and research agenda

Abstract:

Advertising is a major tool of the capitalist system in the United States and has contributed to one of the highest standards of living in the world. In 2003, the US advertising industry was reported to generate $245 billion dollars in annual spending (McCarthy & Howard, 2003). Quite frequently, advertising expenditures account for approximately 3% of a developed country’s gross national product and the US often leads this rate with $534.8 spent per capita in 2002 (Frith & Mueller, 2003). Numbers like these are evidence that advertising is a powerful economic force and an important institution in the United States (Carey, 1989). Similarly, advertising is also a powerful social and cultural force in American society (Jhally, 1995; Pollay, 1986). Advertising has been attributed as being both a mirror ofsocietal values and a molder of our beliefs and norms (Holbrook, 1987; Lantos, 1987; Pollay, 1986). In fact, many would argue that, with the current level of media and technology available, advertising and the mass media have become more powerful than other institutions such as education, religion, and even the family (Pollay, 1986). With advertising’s ability to yield both economic and cultural power, it is important for advertisers and consumer researchers to understand how it is both influenced by and influences individuals in society. This point is particularly true in light of the major demographic shifts occurring in the United States. For example, people over 50 years of age will soon make up the largest age group in

Año de publicación:

2004

Keywords:

Fuente:

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