infomercial advertising, direct response marketing companiesI used to really dislike infomercial advertising, but now that I've found places on the Internet where I can check to see if the product that is being advertised lives up to its reputation, I actually look forward to sitting through infomercial advertising programs that are presenting products that interest me, like gadgets for the kitchen or car. I'm sure that the direct response marketing companies do focus groups on what the elements are of an infomercial that will sell more products, so they are putting effective infomercials on the air, but I have to say that some of them are just plain hard to watch. There are times when the overly enthusiastic presenters are a little off-putting and drag down the credibility of the product that they are selling. That's why reading reviews from people is important to me online, so I can sift through the hyperbole, and get to the bottom line. It's hard to know which of the product reviews are promoted by the company associated with the infomercial, but by reading the positive and the negative ones, I get a pretty fair idea of how the product will perform.