Schudson, M. (1986). Advertising—the uneasy persuasion—its dubious impact on American society. USA: Basic Books (Highlighted Chapter 2).

OVERVIEW

This text explains several aspects of advertising: the advertiser’s perspective, what "advertiser’s agencies need to know," the consumer information environment, and the history and future of new consumer patterns. This book review focuses on a common, tried-and-true research method used by advertisers to learn about the consumer market.

The most common method used by advertisers is a three-branch approach. The goal of this method is "to know the consumer (or target)" so that he or she will be persuaded to purchase any specific product or service. The first branch is quantitative: it normally consists of research studies, surveys, and statistical analysis. The second branch is qualitative: the most common form of the type is a "focus group." The final branch is test-marketing: the product is marketed and regulated in several geographic areas. The goal is to track small-scale results and then estimate total market potential. (In recent years, many advertising agencies have eliminated test-marketing to lower costs.) At the end of the process, corrections and modifications are implemented to maximize the campaign’s effectiveness. Through this three-branch approach, advertisers gather enough information to form large-scale campaigns.

IMPLICATIONS

Abundant information is available to youth workers through market research. By using this information, we can better educate ourselves about youth culture. Teen Research Unlimited offers vast amounts of adolescent trends and statistics. Free information (research studies, trends, etc.) is also available on the Internet. Current data are essential components in helping us become more effective with youth.

Michele D’Agostino cCYS