The Diffusion of Trade Association Advertising Self-Regulation

Guided by diffusion theory, the executive directors of over 2,000 major trade associations were surveyed to determine the extent of their adoption of advertising self-regulation and the objective and perceptual factors that might account for non-adoption. The study found that the majority of associations reporting public dissatisfaction with the industry's advertising are sponsoring self-regulation programs, but not all industry groups with advertising problems are engaged in self-regulation. Based on the perceptual profiles of executives representing adopting and nonadopting associations, a program to accelerate the adoption of advertising self-regulation is suggested.