OBSERVATIONS: The Infomercial Shopper

Infomercial advertisements are becoming popular and increasingly more prevalent. The authors provide one of the first formal examinations of the infomercial shopper.

OBSERVATIONS: The Infomercial Shopper

Naveen Donthu and David Gilliland

Long relegated to the domain of the insomniac and the night owl, the infomercial has now been thrust upon the rest of the television viewing public. Ross Perot popularized infomercials in the presidential campaign of 1992, and they have recently become a widely used advertising vehicle. On the tenth anniversary of the FCC's relaxation on an advertisement's time limit, we examine the infomercial and the consumers who purchase products from this form of advertisement.

The infomercial, or long-form informational commercial, is a paid form of advertisement that lasts from...

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