Goods and Services Differences in Television Advertising: An Australian Replication

Abstract

Services possess a number of well-known characteristics that differentiate them from goods. Previous research indicates that goods and services marketers may adopt different advertising strategies, presumably in order to overcome or exploit these differences in the nature of service products. 352 Australian television commercials for goods and services were content analysed to determine whether the advertising strategies for goods and services were, in fact, different. Each commercial was categorised according to two classification schemes. The study found that goods and services marketers did appear to adopt different advertising strategies. However, mixed results emerged in terms of predictions based on previous overseas research. Several possible explanations for these findings are offered.