The Advertising Coalition, comprised of leading trade associations, media and marketing companies, commissioned a comprehensive study to assess advertising’s economic impact across 52 industries and state and national governments.
The study found that US businesses spend $279 billion in advertising annually and that each dollar spent on advertising generates nearly $20 of economic output. When you use that multiplier to calculate advertising’s total impact, the numbers become dizzying to consider. For instance, in the U.S. advertising expenditures overall account for $5.8 trillion of the $29.6 trillion in total US economic output, nearly 20 percent of the country’s economic activity.
The study also examined which U.S. cities’ advertising expenditures have the greatest impact on jobs and the economy:
