Comparative Advertising of Services

A review of the research devoted to services advertising and comparative advertising revealed few studies on the comparative advertising of services. The research findings reported here confirm that services advertisers in the U.S. frequently employ comparative television advertising and that there has likely been an increase in its use since the 1970s. Other findings such as the difference in frequency of use by services versus product advertisers, the extent to which services advertisers include substantiation in their commercials, and the extent to which comparative advertising is used by the advertisers of different types of services—are also reported. Theoretical and managerial implications are discussed, as are recommendations for future research.