> I actively avoid products/brands I've seen in ads because I assume that if they need to market so hard they're probably not very good. Interesting that you s

> I actively avoid products/brands I've seen in ads because I assume that if they need to market so hard they're probably not very good. Interesting that you say this. I find that I tend to have a similar belief. According to what I know about economics, advertising is supposed to be an effective way of signaling product quality, because the return on investment is greater when new customers will be satisfied and thus purchase the good multiple times. I'd attribute this difference to the inaccuracies and simplifications of economics, but I find it fascinating that a group of scholars believe something opposite to my (and your) experience.