Skip to Main Content
HBS Home
  • About
  • Academic Programs
  • Alumni
  • Faculty & Research
  • Baker Library
  • Giving
  • Harvard Business Review
  • Initiatives
  • News
  • Recruit
  • Map / Directions
Faculty & Research
  • Faculty
  • Research
  • Featured Topics
  • Academic Units
  • …→
  • Harvard Business School→
  • Faculty & Research→
Publications
Publications
  • Article
  • RAND Journal of Economics

Advertising, the Matchmaker

By: Bharat N. Anand and Ron Shachar
  • Format:Print
  • | Pages:41
ShareBar

Abstract

We empirically study the informational role of advertising in matching consumers with products when consumers are uncertain about both observable and unobserved program attributes. Our focus is on the network television industry, in which the products are television shows. We estimate a model that allows us to distinguish between the direct effect of advertising on utility and its effect through the information set. A notable behavioral implication is that exposure to informational advertising can decrease the consumer's tendency to purchase the promoted product. The structural estimates imply that an exposure to a single advertisement decreases the consumer's probability of not choosing her best alternative by approximately 10%. Our results are relevant for industries characterized by product proliferation and horizontal differentiation.

Keywords

Advertising; Information; Consumer Behavior; Television Entertainment; Risk and Uncertainty; Product; Decision Choices and Conditions; Advertising Industry

Citation

Anand, Bharat N., and Ron Shachar. "Advertising, the Matchmaker." RAND Journal of Economics 42, no. 2 (Summer 2011): 205–245. (Lead Article.)
  • Find it at Harvard
  • Read Now

About The Author

Bharat N. Anand

Strategy
→More Publications

More from the Authors

    • August 2021 (Revised January 2022)
    • Faculty Research

    Danaher Corporation (Abridged)

    By: Bharat Anand, David J. Collis and Sophie Hood
    • 2021
    • Strategic Management Review

    The Virtues and Limitations of Dynamic Capabilities

    By: Bharat Anand and David J. Collis
    • 2018
    • Faculty Research

    The Limitations of Dynamic Capabilities

    By: David J. Collis and Bharat Anand
More from the Authors
  • Danaher Corporation (Abridged) By: Bharat Anand, David J. Collis and Sophie Hood
  • The Virtues and Limitations of Dynamic Capabilities By: Bharat Anand and David J. Collis
  • The Limitations of Dynamic Capabilities By: David J. Collis and Bharat Anand
ǁ
Campus Map
Harvard Business School
Soldiers Field
Boston, MA 02163
→Map & Directions
→More Contact Information
  • Make a Gift
  • Site Map
  • Jobs
  • Harvard University
  • Trademarks
  • Policies
  • Digital Accessibility
Copyright © President & Fellows of Harvard College