In the course of responding to consultations, policy reviews and calls for evidence, we publish research papers on topics of the greatest relevance for the advertising industry.
Our goal is to replace the myths and political soundbites that often surround debates about advertising, with facts. The establishment of the independently-governed industry thinktank - Credos - is a key step in this process. In our papers, we demonstrate the benefits advertising brings to society and the unfounded nature of much of the criticism the industry receives. You can visit the Credos website for more in depth research into all aspects of advertising.
09 May 2011
Parents, Children and the Commercial World: Facts, issues and solutions
In response to the Bailey Review of the "commercialisation and sexualisation" of children, the Advertising Association have issued a report - 'Parents, children and the commercial world: facts, issues and solutions'. The report includes contributions from the industry think-tank Credos, a review of the marketplace and primary research into children's and parents' attitudes to advertising techniques and practices.
The report finds that while children's values have not fundamentally changed, parental concern about them 'gowing up' is very real. While advertising is not singled out as a significant driver of that concern, there is an unhelpful lack of knowledge of both the commercial content their children engage with and the level of recourse available to them.
Read the press release...
Read the report...
January 2009
Children's Wellbeing in a Commercial World
The Advertising Association Report was produced as the industry contribution for the panel of academics appointed by the Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF) to examine evidence on the impact of the commercial world on children’s wellbeing. We argue that children are not - as is often perceived or alleged - negatively affected by the commercial world, and that the self-regulatory systems in place are robust. The final report of the Buckingham Review broadly shared in these conclusions, noting the complexity of the subject and the absence of any simple causal relationships between children and the commercial world.
Read our report...
Read the Buckingham report...
June 2008
Advertising and the misuse of alcohol
by FDS International and Volterra Consulting
Commissioned by The Advertising Association
- A comprehensive review of the literature on the impact of advertising on alcohol use, including material on the effectiveness of full and partial advertising bans.
- An update of the work carried out in 1980 by Mary Tuck for the Home Office and later updated in 1989 by John Duffy on the relationship between alcohol abuse and consumption patterns.
- Ground breaking research into social networking effects of the misuse of alcohol.
A key motivation for the pilot study in this report was an important article on the spread of obesity in America, published in 2007 in the New England Journal of Medicine, one of the world's leading medical journals. This analysis was conducted using data on 12,000 people who were monitored over a very long period (from 1971-2003) – thus the research findings are very significant.
The pilot study shows that there are decisive differences in the drinking behaviour of friends of binge drinkers compared to the drinking behaviour of friends of non-binge drinkers. It establishes that social influence operating through personal friendship networks is a very important determinant and even sufficient by itself to explain a large rise in binge drinking among young people.
Read the full report here...
September 2007
Interim Review of the Media Landscape: Food Advertising Changes in Context
In this industry submission from our Food Advertising Unit to the Government's 2007 interim review of food and soft drink advertising and promotions, we examine the relationship between the media environment - including advertising - and obesity. Obesity is a hugely important and multi-faceted social issue, and we argue that the increase in obesity can be attributed to a complex range of inter-relating causal factors. We note that both Ofcom and the Food Standards Agency have acknowledged this, with advertising comprising only three of the 91 recommendations in the Government's 2004 Choosing Health White Paper. Advertising is an easy target, but advertising bans have unintended consequences and will have a negligible impact on obesity levels.
Read the report...
June 2007
Our House is in Order: Analysis of the effect of the rule changes on the content of TV alcohol advertisements
Published by the Advertising Association in cooperation with ISBA and the IPA
Our report demonstrates the significant effect the rule changes have had on the style and content of TV alcohol advertisements and provides input to the Government's three-year review of its 2004 Alcohol Harm Reduction Strategy. The report also contains an independently-commissioned analysis of a broad selection of alcohol advertisements broadcast on television in 2004, before the Code changes, and in 2006, after they had come into effect. Our research demonstrates unequivocally that levels of advertising and levels of drinking are entirely uncorrelated.
Read the report...