Book Description

Advertising, going by the standard definition, is an activity or profession of producing information for promoting the sale of a product or services. It is a form of communication intended to persuade people to purchase products and services. In this process, it includes the name of a product or service and how that product or service could benefit the consumer. Further, it aims to persuade a target market to purchase or to consume that particular brand or product. These messages are usually paid for by sponsors and viewed via various media. Advertising can also serve to communicate an idea to a large number of people in an attempt to convince them to take or to refrain from taking a certain action. An advertisement may also be defined as a public notice "designed to spread information with a view to promoting the sales of marketable goods and services" (Harris and Heldon, 1962:40), or defined as a vital marketing tool as well as a powerful communication force. American Marketing Association (1992:1) defines advertising as "the non-personal communication of information usually paid for and usually persuasive in nature about products, services or ideas by identified sponsors through the various media.”