Study title

Abstract copyright UK Data Service and data collection copyright owner.The 1999 Advertising and Industry survey project sought to establish a new dataset that provides information on the advertising practices of a large sample of UK firms. Data of this kind would facilitate research into a wide range of topics dealing with the advertising decision, advertising intensity, motivation for advertising and the relationship between advertising and entry. The survey also sought to address the growth of Internet advertising and the conjectured actions of rival companies. Although advertising has long been seen as an important topic of analysis in industrial organisation, the limited availability of good quality data on advertising particularly at the level of the firm continues to pose a considerable barrier to researchers. There is no comprehensive, primary source of firm level advertising data in the UK and this is a serious problem for firm and industry level models in which advertising is a key variable.Main Topics:This dataset provides information on the advertising practices of a large sample (844) of UK firms. Questionnaire data are recorded in the dataset under 91 variables (quantitative response categories) and all qualitative responses have been given numerical values according to the coding frames included in the user guide. The questionnaires used for the survey were sent to the Advertising Managers of 5234 firms. Each questionnaire was divided into three sections plus a supplementary question. The first question (q.1) asks simply whether the firm advertises or not. Responses to the rest of the first section (q.2 to q.5) deal with non-advertisers whose managers were asked about the reasons for not advertising and about any future plans to advertise. The second section is for advertisers (entitled 'About Your Advertising') and comprises the bulk of the questionnaire (q.6 to q.12). Managers who stated in question 1 that their firm does advertise were asked in...