An Assessment of Theoretical and Methodological Development in Advertising Research on Mainland China: A Twenty-Year Review

Abstract Notwithstanding the increase research interest in advertising in China in the past two decades, there has been no comprehensive review of this literature that assesses contributions and guides future research endeavors. This paper attempts to examine the state of research in the area over the 1979–98 period. Our findings suggest that the research/publication on advertising in China is in the early stage of development as evidenced by a wide range of topics remained under-researched, a deficiency of theoretical- or conceptual-based research and the utilization of relatively less advanced research methods and analytical techniques.