Can Advertising Survive the Information Technology Revolution? : An Exploratory Essay on the Future of Advertising

Can Advertising Survive the Information Technology Revolution? : An Exploratory Essay on the Future of Advertising

Advertising flourished during the previous century so much that Advertising Age called the twentieth century “the advertising century” when they published a special issue looking back at 100 years of advertising. However, can advertising continue to flourish in this twenty-first century? If we concern the long-term future of advertising as a social institution rather than a short-term advertising industry, the prediction might not be so simple. To answer this ontological question, this essay tries to investigate specifically the long-term influences of information technology on the future of advertising. For the purpose, this essay explains the theoretical perspectives, such as institutional approach to advertising, political economy of communication, and knowledge economy. And then, after critically reviewing the previous controversy about the future of advertising, this essay proposes the prediction regarding the fate of advertising in the twenty-first century, the direction of future advertising, and its consequences.