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It is often conceded that heavily advertised products cost more than those that are not advertised extensively. But there is considerable disagreement concerning what this difference means. Advertising's critics often claim it is evidence of monopolistic control over supply and prices, while advertising's defenders generally contend it reflects the higher quality of advertised brands. Surprisingly, there has been almost no research into whether or not heavily advertised goods are of better quality. As a preliminary inquiry into this interesting question, this paper attempts to examine the relationship between advertising expenditures and product quality.

Agency personnel frequently follow standard of immediate consequences when deciding how to act.A group of faculty from the University of Illinois is involved in an ongoing study of the perceived ethical decision making of practitioners in mass media-related occupations. We have selected a n inductive approach to the inquiry. That is, rather than attempting to operate-implicitly or explicitly-from some ethical paradigm. we have deliberately undertaken our research to allow the practitioners maximum freedom to relate their own perceptions of ethical decisions in their day-today work.' The research instrument asked the following: I ) Do you feel that you encounter ethical decisions in the practice of your job? 2) If nor, please explain why you feel these types of decisions do not arise in your work. (a) Please indicate how jrequenr/v these decisions arise. (b) Please describe, in a paragraph or two, the rypes ojsiruorions in which you typically encounter the most important of these decisions.The questionnaire was pre-tested in one of the country's largest advertising agencies under anticipated study conditions. It proved to provide both a general consensus on certain issues apparently fraught with ethical dimensions, as well as gratifying detail and candor (One practitioner 3) If you do ... 'The rcrurch was thus d c s i g d to avoid what C. Wrkht Mills a l l s 'abstracted cmpiricism.' Thc lack of definitional chnty over ethical terms and cornpkxity of moral dccisionnuking prompted us toward the tradition of Max Wcbcr's "vcrstchen' and away Irom r i d and confining mcthodologin. For more details. wnte the authm.related pressure to attempt to bribe a government official.)This article concerns one segment of that study -the advertising agency. Responses were first analyzed to determine the types of situations (or the lack of them)reported. Then various ethical paradigms were applied to find the best "fit" with the ethical dimensions the practitioners reported. This article follows that path: First, a reporting of the general findings; second, a discussion of the ethical system that appeared to offer the greatest explanatory power; and third. a conclusion concerning the major theoretical moral question that emerges. ProcedureFor each subject area (e.g., advertising, magazine journalism, etc.) a list of representative employment units was developed. This article reports on responses of 123 employees of advertising agencies. Three of the agencies are quite large, one quite small.Inquiries were then made of firms of these types and "hands-off" cooperation secured. Questionnaires were sent for all personnel from the secretarial level up. The firm's management then distributed the forms with a covering memo urging cooperation while noting the voluntary nature of the project. Completed forms were mailed directly to the researchers by the employees with anonymity assured.

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