A panel data analysis of the determinants of advertising intensity in the Turkish manufacturing sector

This study investigates the determinants of advertising intensity using panel data on 66 four-digit Turkish manufacturing industries from 1993–1999. The results from pooled OLS and fixed-effects regressions support a quadratic relationship between advertising intensity and concentration: Advertising intensity first increases with the concentration ratio, and when the concentration ratio rises above a certain threshold, increases in the concentration ratio decrease the advertising intensity. The results also indicate that more profitable and faster-growing industries advertise more intensively. Product durability, exporting intensity, and the sale of consumer goods appear to be additional factors influencing advertising intensity. However, the evidence regarding these factors is not very strong.