Changes in Concentration of Advertising Expenditures Among the Leading National Advertisers in the United States 1970-1988: A Note

This paper investigates the change of advertising concentration between 1970 and 1988. Using six measures of concentration and based on the advertising expenditures of the one hundred leading advertisers in the US reported by Advertising Age, this paper finds that the level of advertising concentration varies in the 1970s and has been steadily increasing since the early 1980s. However, the change of advertising concentration between all of the two-year periods examined is not significant. The findings also suggest that the nature of industry and the country of origin of advertisers do not exhibit significant impact on the level of advertising concentration.