ABSTRACT
This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book offers a unique and enlightening perspective on the history of advertising research, and provides a review of advertising effectiveness in contemporary markets. Psychology and advertising developed as independent disciplines at almost the same point in time, the late 19th century. The book examines the provocative conclusion that advertising is a far weaker influence on market behavior than it is usually thought to be. It discusses the important role that psychology and psychological constructs have played and continue to play in advertising research. The book explores similar finding on selective attention in the context of comparative advertising. It suggests a number of other processing and encoding objectives that may be more appropriate for guiding the creation of advertising.
