Abstract copyright UK Data Service and data collection copyright owner.
The 1999 Advertising and Industry survey project sought to establish a new dataset that provides information on the advertising practices of a large sample of UK firms. Data of this kind would facilitate research into a wide range of topics dealing with the advertising decision, advertising intensity, motivation for advertising and the relationship between advertising and entry. The survey also sought to address the growth of Internet advertising and the conjectured actions of rival companies. Although advertising has long been seen as an important topic of analysis in industrial organisation, the limited availability of good quality data on advertising particularly at the level of the firm continues to pose a considerable barrier to researchers. There is no comprehensive, primary source of firm level advertising data in the UK and this is a serious problem for firm and industry level models in which advertising is a key variable.
Main Topics:
This dataset provides information on the advertising practices of a large sample (844) of UK firms. Questionnaire data are recorded in the dataset under 91 variables (quantitative response categories) and all qualitative responses have been given numerical values according to the coding frames included in the user guide. The questionnaires used for the survey were sent to the Advertising Managers of 5234 firms. Each questionnaire was divided into three sections plus a supplementary question. The first question (q.1) asks simply whether the firm advertises or not. Responses to the rest of the first section (q.2 to q.5) deal with non-advertisers whose managers were asked about the reasons for not advertising and about any future plans to advertise. The second section is for advertisers (entitled 'About Your Advertising') and comprises the bulk of the questionnaire (q.6 to q.12). Managers who stated in question 1 that their firm does advertise were asked in this section about the level, motivation and content of their firm's advertising. In the light of the rapid growth in importance of the Internet, several questions ask specifically about the current and future levels of internet advertising. The final question in this section asks for the manager's conjectured advertising response to a series of hypothetical questions concerning trading conditions and rival companies. All respondents were asked to complete section three (q.13 to q.17) entitled 'About Your Company'. Here managers were asked to categorise their main product line or service within a particular sector of the economy and to list the geographical market at which their main product line is aimed. They are also asked to rank the most important modes of competition for their main product line and to identify the number of competitors for this product. Following this section managers are asked (q.18) to provide data on total advertising expenditure for up to ten financial years.
Purposive selection/case studies
Postal survey
