Define advertising. What are its main features? Explain.
Definition: In the words of C.L. Boiling, 'Advertising can be described as the art of creating a demand for article or a service.”
Features: Main features of advertising are as under:
(i) Paid Form: Only that attempt of the seller on which he has spent some money to communicate information to the consumer is called advertising. If without incurring any expenditure some information relating to some product or service is published, it will not be called advertising. It may be called propaganda or publicity.
(ii) Impersonal Presentation: Advertising is non-personal presentation of information. In other words, advertiser and consumer do not come into personal contact. Advertising is a monologue and not a dialogue.
(iii) Speedy and Mass Communication: Advertising is a speedy medium of communication. Besides being speedy, its operational area is very vast. In other words, it reaches millions of people simultaneously.
(iv) Identified Sponsor: Another feature of advertising is that its sponsor can be identified. If due to some reason it is difficult to identify the sponsor, then that information cannot be called advertising. It will be called propaganda or publicity.
