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Beer Advertising and Marketing Update: Structure, Conduct, and Social Costs

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Abstract

Beer advertising is a topic that has frequently attracted the attention of industrial organization economists. This update reviews major events, data trends, and research for each of three issues: (1) the importance of advertising and product differentiation for structural change in the brewing industry; (2) the manner and extent to which brewers can strategically alter market shares using advertising; and (3) the social costs of beer advertising and marketing, including advertising bans, targeting of underage youth, and recent changes in the three-tier system of alcohol distribution. Major legal decisions pertaining to commercial speech and other regulations also are discussed.

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  1. Department of Economics, Pennsylvania State University, 603 Kern Building, University Park, PA, 16802, U.S.A

    Jon P. Nelson

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JEL Classifications: L66, L13, M37

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Nelson, J.P. Beer Advertising and Marketing Update: Structure, Conduct, and Social Costs. Rev Ind Organ 26, 269–306 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11151-004-8113-x

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