Advertising and Public Policy: The Macroeconomic Effects of Advertising

Four research traditions on the effects of advertising are identified, and one of them—the tradition of macroeconomic studies—is carefully differentiated from the other three. A review of this macro tradition is undertaken to retrace the kinds of questions raised about the macro effects of advertising, evaluate the statistical procedures used to ascertain the causal nature of macro advertising relationships, and specify the ideal research design for studying advertising macro effects. Moving toward the implementation of this design, the authors present and interpret the findings from the first stage of their work. Emphasis is on the relevance of macro studies for public policy makers (legislators, regulators, and courts), whose decisions affect the life of the advertising institution, and for those advertisers, agencies, and media that can understand and apply the implications of the information provided by macro studies.