A comparison of advertising practices within the accounting profession

This article reports the findings of a survey among UK chartered accountancy firms on their promotional practices following the 1984 removal of advertising prohibitions in the profession. Specifically, it compares advertising practices between firms, using a typology of firms based on size of advertising budgets and use of advertising agencies. The financial resources devoted to advertising certainly influenced promotional activities. However, they were found to be no substitute for advertising agency expertise. Firms using advertising agencies had a more systematic approach to promotion; they were more likely to undertake preadvertising research, segment their markets, make more varied and intensive use of media, and to evaluate their advertising. Firms with relatively large budgets which did not use advertising agencies tended to be less rigorous in their approach, showing little interest in crucial matters such as pre-advertising research and post-advertising evaluation.