Advertising in Nonaffluent Societies: Galbraith Revisited
Author(s)
Stephen Lister
Abstract
Advertising has been debated by economists almost exclusively in the context of developed countries (DCs). We argue here the case for studying advertising in the specifically less-developed country (LDC) context. Our view is that both sides in the DC debate have tended to presume that there is no ‘problem’ of advertising in LDCs. On the one hand, for those who hold that advertising is not a problem in DCs it is natural to assume by extension no such problem in LDCs either.1 On the other hand, J.K. Galbraith, who is the leading proponent of the view that advertising is crucial to an explanation of the dynamics of advanced capitalist societies, has also implied that the problem is exclusively one for DCs. We show in part II of the paper that this aspect of the Galbraithian view is not supported by the facts. We go on in part III to consider the ways in which the practical effects and welfare implications of advertising may differ in degree or kind in the LDCs. It should be stressed that our aim is not to assess whether advertising is on balance desirable or not for LDCs — in any case an absurdly broad question — but to show with what data are available, that there is a strong case for further research on its specific effects.
