A、The customers. B、Increased sales. C、The producer. D、Reduced prices. A

Advertisement can be thought of as "the means of making known in order to buy or sell goods or services". Advertisement aims to increase people’s awareness and arouse interest. It tries to inform and to persuade. The media are all used to spread the message, such as, the press, the cinema and commercial radio, television and so on. Other ways of increasing consumer interest are through exhibitions and trade fairs as well as direct mail advertisement.
    There can be no doubt that the growth in advertisement is one of the most striking features of the western world in this century. Many businesses such as those handling frozen foods, liquor, tobacco and medicines have been built up largely by advertisement.
    We might ask who pay for the cost of advertisement, the producer or the customer? Since advertisement forms part of the cost of production, which has to be covered by the selling price, it is clear that it is the customer who pays for advertisement.
    It is difficult to measure exactly the influence of advertisement on sales. When the market is growing, advertisement helps to increase demand. When the market is shrinking, advertisement may prevent a bigger fall in sales than would occur without its support. What is clear is that business would not pay large sums for advertisement if they were not convinced of its value to them.