单选题 Advertisement can be thought of "as the means of making known in order to buy or sell goods or services". Advertisement aims to increase people's awareness and arouse interest. It tries to inform and to persuade. The media are all used to spread the message. The press offers a fairly cheap method, and magazines are used to reach special sections of the market. The cinema and commercial radio are useful for local market. Television, although more expensive, can be very effective. Public notices are fairly cheap and more permanent in their power of attraction. Other ways of increasing consumers' interest are through exhibitions and trade fairs as well as direct mail advertisement.
There can be no doubt that the growth in advertisement is one of the most striking features of the Western World in this century. Many businesses such as those handling frozen foods, liquor, tobacco and medicines have been built up largely by advertisement.
We might ask whether the cost of advertisement is paid for by the producers or by the customers. Since every advertisement forms part of the cost of production, which has to be covered by the selling price, it is the customers who pay for advertisement. However, if large scale advertisement leads to increased demand, production costs are reduced, and the customers pay less.
It is difficult to measure exactly the influence of advertisement on increasing demand. When the market is shrinking, advertisement may prevent a bigger fall in sales than would occur without its support. What is clear is that businessmen would not pay large sums for advertisement if they were not convinced of its value to them.