Public Attitudes towards Advertising

Since advertising has long been a ubiquitous and pervasive part of American culture, public opinion researchers, advertising practitioners and academics have been interested in public attitudes towards advertising. The first public opinion surveys were undertaken during the Depression; this article begins with them and chronicles 38 public opinion surveys concerning advertising. Although differences in sampling and methodology do not permit rigorous correlations, the chronological order in which the studies are presented allows a broad and general view of the changing attitudes of the American public regarding advertising. These changing attitudes are summarized in a graph at the end of the article. Probable explanations for these changes are offered in the conclusions. This is followed by a suggestion for future research concerning a comparative study with the United Kingdom and the identification of possible world-wide causes of shifts in public attitudes.