Agency Practitioners, Pseudo-Professionalization Tactics, and Advertising Professionalism

Abstract

This study investigates, in the context of professionalization theory, advertising agency practitioners' attempts to cope with what they perceive as legitimation problems of advertising work. While practitioners may not think of the sociological concept of professionalization frequently, the in-depth interviews reported in this article uncover agency practitioners' acknowledgment of the existence of professionalization tensions in their everyday work culture. These tensions arise in practitioners' dismissal of academic theoretical knowledge in advertising and clients' need for certainty and the problem of theoretical knowledge in advertising. Their reactions to these tensions, what we call “pseudo-professionalization tactics,” are discussed in detail. Pseudo-professionalization tactics vary in their underlying mechanisms and can be classified as rhetorical, relationship management, and knowledge autonomy tools. Implications for the professionalization of the advertising occupation and the academician–practitioner gap are offered.

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