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Enduring consumer beliefs about advertising and mass media: implications for publicity and its impact

Abstract The purpose of this research is to document conventional wisdom regarding publicity and its purported superiority to advertising, determine whether consumer scepticism of advertising endures, and compare skepticism of media with that of advertising. Across six decades, the four long-running textbooks reviewed herein exhibit striking continuity in their treatment of publicity – within and across editions. They assert that content in media is perceived by consumers to be objective, truthful, and credible because it is interpreted as news or editorial content; consumers trust news and editorial content more than advertising; and publicity is many times more powerful than advertising. Evidence suggests that consumers remain sceptical of advertising, exhibit increasing scepticism with regard to media, and perceive advertising practitioners and journalists as essentially equivalent with respect to honesty. A careful assessment of the efficacy of publicity is warranted as is an ethical evaluation of publicity as a covert marketing activity. These results serve as a reminder that the conventional wisdom conveyed in textbooks is often wrong at worst and lacks refinement at best.