Infomercials Revisited: Perspectives of Advertising Professionals

After reviewing the history of 'infomercials' and published case studies in the USA, the author reports on a postal survey to assess attitudes of current advertising professionals to infomercials and compare the results with Beltramini's benchmark study (1983).

Infomercials Revisited: Perspectives of Advertising Professionals 

Patricia S. Chapman andRichard F. Beltramini

INTRODUCTION

An infomercial can basically be described as a program-length paid advertisement that promotes an organization's product or image through information and persuasion (Balasubramanian, 1994). Usually a direct response element is associated with infomercials (for example, an 800 toll-free telephone number) that interested viewers can call to order the item being advertised or to seek additional information (Weinstock, 1993). There has been a relatively steady rise in infomercial popularity since the mid 1980s. Until that time, ...

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