TY - CHAP AB - Purpose – Marketers are under increasing pressure to demonstrate the financial return associated with marketing expenditures. Concurrently, more attempts at measuring return on investment from marketing as well as achieving other long-term goals such as building brand equity and increasing shareholder value have been made. As a result of this emphasis, the degree to which advertising budgets are spent efficiently and the impact of these expenditures on the bottom line are an important topic to study.Methodology/approach – This study applies data envelopment analysis (DEA) to a group of large firms to assess the degree to which companies spend advertising dollars efficiently and to examine the impact of advertising efficiency on investor behavior and, ultimately, stock prices.Findings – The analysis reveals that firms that advertise more efficiently are rewarded by investors by positive stock returns.Research limitations/implications (if applicable) – The study is limited to large enterprises with strong brands within a time frame of only four years.Practical implications (if applicable) – The results imply that it is advisable for marketing managers not to limit their focus to increasing market-based assets at any cost. The efficiency of their efforts can send a positive signal to investors and contribute to shareholder value enhancement.Originality/value of the chapter – The chapter finds investors to pay attention not only to the effectiveness of advertising activities but also to their efficiency. The study also demonstrates how DEA and stock return response modeling can be combined to investigate the link between advertising efficiency and investor behavior. VL - 22 SN - 978-1-78052-095-7, 978-1-78052-094-0/1474-7979 DO - 10.1108/S1474-7979(2011)0000022009 UR - https://doi.org/10.1108/S1474-7979(2011)0000022009 AU - Raithel Sascha AU - Scharf Sebastian AU - Taylor Charles R. AU - Schwaiger Manfred AU - Zimmermann Lorenz ED - Marko Sarstedt ED - Manfred Schwaiger ED - Charles R. Taylor PY - 2011 Y1 - 2011/01/01 TI - Marketing Accountability: Applying Data Envelopment Analysis to Assess the Impact of Advertising Efficiency on Shareholder Value T2 - Measurement and Research Methods in International Marketing T3 - Advances in International Marketing PB - Emerald Group Publishing Limited SP - 115 EP - 139 Y2 - 2024/09/22 ER -