Advertising, as a medium of communication, has the following role:
(i) Mass Reach: Advertising is a medium through which a large number of people can be reached over a vast geographical area. For example, an advertisement message placed in a national daily reaches lakhs of its subscribers.
(ii) Enhancing Customer Satisfaction and Confidence: Advertising creates confidence amongst prospective buyers as they feel more comfortable and assured about the product quality and hence feel more satisfied.
(iii) Expressiveness: With the developments in art, computer designs, and graphics, advertising has developed into one of the most forceful medium of communication. With the special effects that can be created, even simple products and messages can look very attractive.
(iv) Economy: Advertising is a very economical mode of communication if large number of people are to be reached. Because of its wide reach, the overall cost of advertising gets spread over numerous communication links established. As a result the per-unit cost of reach comes low.