Relative Constancy Hypothesis, Structural Pluralism, and National Advertising Expenditures

I studied the development of advertising within the national economy. Contrary to the relative constancy hypothesis, time-series analysis of aggregate-level data generally support my hypotheses that expenditures on advertising as a proportion of the national income increased from the 19th to the 20th century and that structural pluralism, not just national income, predicts absolute changes in advertising expenditures. I argue that the need for information and advertising grows as a social system becomes more structurally pluralistic and that general economic conditions (i.e., national income) alone are insufficient to explain changes in relative and absolute spending.