Efficient Marketing Communication: Helping the Customer Learn

The author proposes that firms should treat customers as partners when they make decisions about marketing communication. The proposal is defended by a claim that for many firms this would help maximize long-term profits. This is supported on two grounds: First, with competition or repeated trade, it may be roughly consistent with literal profit maximization; and second, compared with profit maximization, it is more operational and less conducive to “short-termism.”