Accountants' attitudes toward advertising: a longitudinal study

Purpose – The purpose of this study is to examine the attitude of accountants towards advertising and to investigate changes in attitude that may have occurred between 1993 and 2004. Design/methodology/approach – Data were collected from accountants using a mail survey approach in 1993 and using an e‐mail survey approach in 2004. Questions on the two surveys were identical and a random sample of accountants was selected for each study. Statistical tests were used to compare responses from 1993 with responses in 2004. Findings – Analysis of the results revealed significant positive shifts in the attitudes accountants have toward advertising of accounting services. Negative attitudes toward various aspects of advertising shifted to either a neutral or a positive position. This dramatic, positive shift in advertising attitudes by accountants occurred while skepticism towards advertising remained relatively high, overall, among the general public. Between the two time periods, changes in the use of various marketing tools (such as web sites to attract new clients) were also found to have occurred. In addition, the use of marketing professionals by accounting service providers increased substantially over the 11‐year time period of the longitudinal study. Research limitations/implications – Sample selection and size create some concern about generalizability of the study. With any random sample selection process, the view of the non‐respondents is not known nor whether those who responded tended to have a higher level of acceptance of advertising. Originality/value – For marketing professionals, this shift to a more positive attitude by accountants provides opportunities to offer greater marketing and advertising services. This shift also signals an increasing awareness on the part of accountants to market their services.