What are the Negative issues affecting advertising?

Answer 1

Advertising by nature is "asymmetric information", meaning the seller knows more about a product than the buyer. A danger arises when a market becomes over-saturated with advertising, as it makes it more difficult for buyers to distinguish between quality products and bad products. When a sufficient level of buyer doubt exists, it can result in driving quality products off the market or potentially to a "no-trade equilibrium" where markets may fail to exist altogether. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asymmetric_information Advertising may also call into question the integrity the of the form of media that carries it. Magazine editors and publishers are currently debating their long held voluntary policy of a "church and state " separation of editorial from advertising: http://www.magazine.org/asme/statement-on-cover.aspx Editors believe when readers perceive their opinion, or "voice" has been influenced and or censored by advertisers, they will lose that reader's trust and they in turn, their own credibility. Again, if a sufficient level of buyer doubt exist, it can adversely affect the overall market.