Abstract
Recent innovations in biotechnology have made a number of products available to the consumer, and may provide more products in the future. Yet innovation is not enough to guarantee a product’s success. A successful product requires appropriate marketing for commercial success. A crucial part of that marketing involves advertising. Yet advertising is one of the most controversial aspects in microeconomics. This paper addresses some of the relevant issues for biotechnology by looking at the debate over pharmaceutical advertising in the United States. The experience there teaches that for biotechnology advertising to serve consumers, there needs to be appropriate laws and government regulation in place. This legal framework should include proper regulatory and litigation structures in order to seek both to discourage deception and to foster advertisements that convey valuable information.
Andrew N. Kleit is Associate Professor in the Department of Energy, Environmental, and Mineral Economics, The Pennsylvania State University, State College, PA 16802-5030, USA. E-mail: ankl@psu.edu. The views expressed herein are solely those of the author and not necessarily those of Industry Canada.
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Kleit, A.N. (1998). Using Advertising to Generate Information and Signals for Product Quality: Lessons for Biotechnology Markets in Canada from Pharmaceutical Markets in the United States. In: Knoppers, B.M., Mathios, A.D. (eds) Biotechnology and the Consumer. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4615-5311-3_9
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4615-5311-3_9
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