Books in Brief: Advertising and Competition

Advertising and Competition, by Jules Backman (New York University Press, $5.00). NYU economist Backman under the sponsorship of the Association of National Advertisers makes no attempt to defend Madison Avenue’s aesthetic sensibilities—or, perhaps more accurately, insensibilities. But he does point out that, notwithstanding the White Knight and the Jolly Green Giant and a host of jeering Vance Packards and John Kenneth Galbraiths, advertising does fulfill a vital economic function. By providing the consumer with information about old and new products, advertising helps bring about mass markets. Mass markets mean mass production and mass distribution—which mean in turn greater economic efficiency and higher living standards. Backman’s statistical presentation is impressive; armed with data comparing advertising-sales ratios with market share and price measures, he refutes charges that advertising serves as a buffer between the corporation and competition. Backman shows that advertising cannot keep No. 1 at the top. The top, as the record shows, is a slippery place and market shares shift regardless of advertising outlays. Competition remains a vigorous force for efficiency, and the White Knight, whether or not a part of the culture gap, does contribute to that efficiency.

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M. Peterson

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Advertising and Competition, by Jules Backman (New York University Press, $5.00). NYU economist Backman under the sponsorship of the Association of National Advertisers makes no attempt to defend Madison Avenue’s aesthetic sensibilities—or, perhaps more accurately, insensibilities. But he does point out that, notwithstanding the White Knight and the Jolly Green Giant and a host of jeering Vance Packards and John Kenneth Galbraiths, advertising does fulfill a vital economic function. By providing the consumer with information about old and new products, advertising helps bring about mass markets. Mass markets mean mass production and mass distribution—which mean in turn greater economic efficiency and higher living standards. Backman’s statistical presentation is impressive; armed with data comparing advertising-sales ratios with market share and price measures, he refutes charges that advertising serves as a buffer between the corporation and competition. Backman shows that advertising cannot keep No. 1 at the top. The top, as the record shows, is a slippery place and market shares shift regardless of advertising outlays. Competition remains a vigorous force for efficiency, and the White Knight, whether or not a part of the culture gap, does contribute to that efficiency.