Student Attitudes toward Advertising: Institution vs. Instrument

One of the central ideas which Professor Sandage has attempted to communicate over the years has been that of the distinction between advertising viewed as a social institution and advertising as observed in advertisements. This paper reports on an informal, empirical examination of this distinction stemming from data collected from advertising students over the past decade and a half. This examination revealed a systematic evaluation of advertising by students, regardless of the particular year or university in which the student responses were assessed. Advertising students distinguished between the institutional and instrumental aspects of advertising.