The authors analyze the concept of permissible puffery in advertising, salestalk, and other promotions by examining the communication content of sellers’ claims and the circumstances underlying buyer-seller transactions. Their study broadens the FTC-related focus on puffery in the literature to include warranty cases and goes beyond the traditional qualitative analysis of puffery. It thereby affords insights to researchers about the perceptions of truthfulness in advertised communications; to policy makers, judges, or attorneys about the application of the puffery defense; and to marketing practitioners about potentially serious liabilities arising from product and service communications.
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