The Development And Trends Of Advertising Research Of The World During Above 30 Years

This study used content analysis to reach the purpose. It chose'Journal of Advertising Research', which is one of the three leading Advertising Journals in American, as the research object. The purpose is to entirely investigate the development and trends of advertising research of the world during 30 years, to provide new guidance for the establishment of advertising theory and advertising activity, and to supply experience for the development and improvement of advertising research of china.The study got some findings as follows:①The researchers'passion and productivity about advertising research increased unceasingly in the past 33 years. At the same time,'Journal of Advertising Research'offered more space for the publication and share of the research results.②In the ten fields of advertising research, the attention on every area was different. Media and Consumer behavior were the two fields which gained the most research attention. Their proportion was about 50% and they were always in the leading position in every decade. Furthermore, the research attention focused on Media, Consumer behavior, Management of advertising, Message, Research, Advertising and marketing. On the contrary, Targeting and segmentation, International advertising, Education and research status in advertising, societal and legal issues were not the emphases.③The ten research fields showed six typical trends in 1970s,1980s and 1990s. The proportion of Media dropped in 1980s, then climbed in 1990s. The area of Management of advertising, Message and International advertising developed steadily from 1970s to 1980s, then increased in the next decade. The field of Research and Education and research status in advertising arrived at a climax in 1980s. But the proportion declined sharp in 1990s. The share of Advertising and marketing almost kept in the same level. After steady growth in 1970s and 1980s, the proportion of Targeting and segmentation fell in 1990s.④Every research field took on different features in the research topics. The topics of Media were multiplex. Compared with TV and web, Radio,newspaper andoutdoor gained little attention. Consumer behavior was affluent in the research topics. Advertising effect and consumer types were the two most pop subjects. Advertising agency and advertiser, brand strategy were emphases in the area of management of advertising. The content of brand strategy was abundant and the research about brand equity came out top. The topics of Message covered abroad, but the research force distributed differently. Some hotspots existed, but there were also some subjects which couldn't attract enough attention. Researchers paid more attention to the topics such as Industry advertising, sponsorship advertising, model factor and sex factor. Methodology dominated in the field of research. Moreover, the research with regard to quantitive research, especially on inquiry, ranked first in the theme of methodology. In the area of advertising and marketing, the main variables of marketing combination (product, price, promotion, place) were important. And the integrated marketing communication was significant.⑤America is the super country of advertising research, while there is still a long distance between china and other countries of high level in the world. In addition, the investigators have already realized the significance of research cooperation. Single author and mixed author each accounts for 49%.The study also analyzed why the advertising research presented such characteristic. On the basis of the outcome and analysis, the paper put forward some suggestions for the future study and the advertising research in china.