BEYOND ADVERTISING AND PUBLICITY - HYBRID MESSAGES AND PUBLIC-POLICY ISSUES

This research explores a growing genre of marketing communication, lab eled hybrid messages, which creatively combine key advantages (and avo id key disadvantages) inherent in advertising and publicity messages. Several types of hybrid messages are discussed, including those with l ong established histories (product placements, program-length commerci als, program tie-ins), and those with a relatively recent origin (mask ed-art, masked-news, and masked-spokesperson messages). To obtain inte grative insights on hybrid messages, this study: (a) reviews their his torical/current regulatory status, (b) discusses their pros and cons, theoretical rationales and practical implications, and (c) delineates an extensive agenda for future research. Several important public poli cy questions raised by hybrid messages are addressed.