Académique Documents
Professionnel Documents
Culture Documents
ON
ETHICS IN ADVERTISEMENTS AND ITS
IMPACT ON INDIAN SOCIETY
Submitted to:
Mrs. Priya Jhamb
Faculty Guide
Submitted by:
Nitish Suri
A3104609063
B.Com (Hons)
2009-2012
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
I am highly obliged to my faculty guide Mrs. Priya Jhamb, who provided her
guidance and assistance in spite of his busy schedules. I acknowledge my cordial
gratitude to my faculty guide for her guidance and timely advice at every stage
towards completion of the project report. I would also like to express my thanks to
all the respondents for their cooperation as without them, the survey would not
have been possible. Finally, I wish to thank one and all who have contributed,
encouraged and inspired me to do this project.
Nitish Suri
Table of Contents
CONTENTS
Page No.
Chapter 1: Introduction
6-9
Classification of Advertisement
10-16
Impact of Advertisement
17-25
Economic Impact
26-28
Social Impact
29-30
Psychological Impact
31-33
34-36
37-38
39-45
46-47
48
49
Chapter 5: Methodology
Sample
50
Tools Used
51
52-58
Chapter 7: Findings
59
Chapter 8: Limitations
60
Chapter 9: Recommendations
61
62
Bibliography
Annexure
Executive Summary
Many women and men professionally engaged in advertising do have sensitive consciences, high
ethical standards and a strong sense of responsibility. But even for them external pressures
from the clients who commission their work as well as from the competitive internal dynamics of
their profession can create powerful inducements to unethical behavior.
That underlines the need for external structures and systems to support and encourage
responsible practice in advertising and to discourage the irresponsible. Voluntary ethical codes
are one such source of support. These already exist in a number of places. Welcome as they are,
though, they are only as effective as the willingness of advertisers to comply strictly with them.
Where unethical practices have become widespread and entrenched, conscientious advertisers
may be called upon to make significant personal sacrifices to correct them. But people who want
to do what is morally right must always be ready to suffer loss and personal injury rather than to
do what is wrong. We do not wish, and certainly we do not expect, to see advertising eliminated
from the contemporary world.
Advertising is an important element in today's society, especially in the functioning of a market
economy, which is becoming more and more widespread. Moreover, for the reasons and in the
ways sketched here, we believe advertising can, and often does, play a constructive role in
economic growth, in the exchange of information and ideas, and in the fostering of solidarity
among individuals and groups. Yet it also can do, and often does, grave harm to individuals and
to the common good.
Advertising ethics affects the practice of our lives, and also the practice of business, in subtle and
prominent ways. Indeed, advertising ethics concerns us all--academicians, ad agency personnel,
advertisers, attorneys, consumers, media personnel, and regulators--in one way or another.
INTRODUCTION
The term advertising is derived from the original Latin word advert ere which means to turn
the attention. Every piece of advertising turns the attention of the reader or the listeners or the
viewers or the onlookers towards a product or a service or an idea. According to the New
Encyclopedia Britannica, Advertising is a form of communication intended to promote the sale
of a product or service to influence the public opinion to gain political support or to advance a
particular cause.
More often than not, advertising generally involves an element of cost, although it is possible to
do it for free if you know how to go about it. Free advertising is easier to get with an online
business than a traditional offsite concern. Generally, however, advertisers will pay publishers or
media and broadcasting companies to provide the advertising platform of a newspaper, radio or
television.
Defining Advertising
There are different definitions given by different people in the different time period, one the
important given by American Marketing Association (AMA) in 1963, It defines Advertisement
as Advertisement is a non personal presentation of idea, product or services by an identified
sponsor. Where as another definition of advertising is: "Advertising is the non personal
communication of information usually paid for and usually persuasive in nature about products,
services or ideas by identified sponsors through the various media.".
Let us see the different aspect of definition,
NONPERSONAL
First of all what is "non personal"? There are two basic ways to sell anything: personally and non
personally. Personal selling requires the seller and the buyer to get together. There are advantages
and disadvantages to this. The first advantage is time: the seller has time to discuss in detail
everything about the product. The buyer has time to ask questions, get answers, and examine
evidence for or against purchase.
A second advantage of personal selling is that the seller can see the person he is selling to, he can
see your face, see how the sales message is getting across. If you (customer) yawn or your eyes
shift away, you're obviously bored, and the seller can change his approach. He can also see if
you're hooked, see what features or benefits have your attention, and emphasize them to close the
sale.
Finally, the seller can easily locate potential buyers. If you enter a store, you probably have an
interest in something that store sells. Street vendors and door-to-door sellers can simply shout at
possibilities. Knock at the door and start their spiel with an attention grabber. From there on they
fit their message to the individual customer, taking all the time a customer is willing to give
them.
Disadvantages do exist personal selling is, naturally enough, expensive, since it is labor-intensive
and deals with only one buyer at a time. Just imagine trying to sell chewing gum or guitar picks
one-on-one; it would cost a dollar a stick or pick. In addition, its advantage of time is also a
disadvantage. Personal selling is time-consuming. Selling a stereo or a car can take days, and
major computer and airplane sales can take years. Nonetheless, although personal selling results
in more rejections than sales, and can be nerve-racking, frustrating and ego destroying for the
salesperson, when the salesperson is good it is more directed and successful than advertising.
From the above, it appears that personal selling is much better than advertising, which is non
personal. This is true. Advertising has none of the advantages of personal selling: there is very
little time in which to present the sales message, there is no way to know just who the customer
is or how he is responding to the message, the message cannot be changed in mid-course to suit
the customer's reactions. Then why bother with advertising? Because its advantages exactly
replace the disadvantages of personal selling, and can emulate some of the advantages. First let's
look at the latter.
First, advertising has, comparatively speaking, all the time in the world. Unlike personal selling,
the sales message and its presentation does not have to be created on the spot with the customer
watching. It can be created in as many ways as the writer can conceive, be rewritten, tested,
modified, injected with every trick and appeal known to affect consumers.
Second, although advertisers may not see the individual customer, nor be able to modify the sales
message according to that individual's reactions at the time, it does have research about
customers. The research can identify potential customers, find what message elements might
influence them, and figure out how best to get that message to them. Although the research is
meaningless when applied to any particular individual, it is effective when applied to large
groups of customers.
Third, and perhaps of most importance, advertising can be far cheaper per potential customer
than personal selling. Personal selling is extremely labor-intensive, dealing with one customer at
a time. Advertising deals with hundreds, thousands, or millions of customers at a time, reducing
the cost per customer to mere pennies. In fact, advertising costs are determined in part using a
formula to determine, not cost per potential customer, but cost per thousand potential customers.
Thus, it appears that advertising is a good idea as a sales tool. For small ticket items, such as
chewing gum and guitar picks, advertising is cost effective to do the entire selling job. For large
ticket items, such as cars and computers, advertising can do a large part of the selling job, and
personal selling is used to complete and close the sale.
Advertising is non personal, but effective.
VARIOUS MEDIA
The various media are the non-personal channels of communication that people have invented
and used and continue to use. These include newspapers, magazines, radio, television, billboards,
transit cards, sandwich boards, skywriting, and posters, anything that aids communicating in non
personal way ideas from one person or group to another person or group. They do not include
people talking to each other: first, talking is personal and advertising is non-personal; and
second, there is no way to use people talking to each other for advertising--word-of-mouth is not
an advertising medium, since you can't control what is said.
Thus, to repeat "Advertising is the non personal communication of information usually paid for
and usually persuasive in nature about products, services or ideas by identified sponsors through
the various media."
Concept of Advertising
1. Advertising consists of written and oral messages that are directed to a target audience.
2. Advertising persuades the public to purchase a certain product or service.
3. Each advertisement is related to a certain advertiser who is selling the product or service
involved
4. Advertising requires the advertiser to pay the publisher in return for the advertisement.
Advertising is any paid form or message that presents goods or services of a certain advertiser or
sponsor, and should present the product in such a way as to persuade the reader or listener to
purchase the product.
CLASSIFICATION OF ADVERTISEMENT
1. National Advertising: Some manufacturers may think that their target is, the entire country.
They select media with a countryside base. Generally large, established firms belong to this
category. Among them are Hindustan Lever, Brooke Bond, Larsen & Toubro, Escorts, Associated
Cement Companies and the like.
2. Local Advertising: Small firms may like to restrict their business to State or regional level.
Some firms first localize their marketing efforts and once success has been achieved, they spread
out to wider horizons. A classic example is Nirma washing powder, which initially was sold only
in Gujarat and subsequently entered the other markets. Retail stores also undertake local
advertising. The area to be covered would generally be a city or a town and media would be
selected which principally relates to that area. If we discuss about the recent years, several
newspaper supplements have appeared which focus on a particular city and are of direct
relevance to its inhabitants like the Bombay Times and Metro. Sometimes large firms may also
go in for local advertising, e.g., when they undertake pre-testing of a product especially
consumer products in selected areas before embarking promotional campaign on a national level.
3. Global Advertising: Multinational firms treat the world as their market. Firms such as
National IBM or Sony or Ford advertise globally, e.g., in periodicals like Times, Readers Digest
A global or and international ad? Whats the difference?
Target Group: It is on the basis of target groups aimed at it can further be divided into sub
category as:
a. Consumer Advertising
b. Industrial Advertising
c. Trade Advertising
d. Professional Adverting
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market segments, therefore, have to direct their advertising to these decision makers, who are
professional people. Such advertising is called professional advertising.
By Type of Impact:
On the basis of impact, advertising can be primary advertising for generic products such as tea,
coffee, paints etc. These are unbranded products. At later stages, these commodities are branded
and specific brands are promoted. They are called selective advertising. Direct action
advertising expects immediate response from the buyers such as soliciting orders through direct
mail. Mostly advertising is indirect action advertising which makes the consumers favorably
inclined towards the product so that they can later on buy these products in future. Institutional
Advertising can be used 1:0 project a positive corporate image for the company. Is this ad an
example of primary or selective demand stimulation? Whats the difference? Lets see one of the
most important types of advertising, which is not known to many people.
Public Relations Advertising (PRA)
Organizations these days are concerned with the type of image they project they have to
communicate their objectives to the general public. They also have to Intake the public
understand what their activities are. Public relations, in short, try to build rapport with various
constituents of public such as employees, customers, local authorities, pressure groups, vendors,
customers, shareholders, government and public at large. Public relations advertising help to
maintain this relationship. Its main objective is to build a good corporate image. It deals with
issues rather than products and services. PR advertising is done by both business and nonbusiness organizations. It represents management and communicates its policies, problems and
performances to the public.
PR advertising generally precedes shares issues these days to create a favorable climate for the
investing public. Annual reports of the companies and the chairmans speech have the potential
of being good PR advertising provided they are excellently drafted.
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Purposes of PR Advertising
1. It projects a favorable image of the company.
2. It generates goodwill for the business.
3. It maintains relationship with the trade and suppliers.
4. It bursts the myths surrounding the corporate activities.
5. It creates conducive climate for the investing public.
6. It wins the confidence of the employees.
7. It takes up social causes for promotion such as- dowry, female infanticide; cancer detection etc
.It thus renders community service. It seeks public support for certain causes.
8. It is concerned with customer service and customer relationship management
Sub-categories of PR Advertising
PR advertising can be put into three categories:
1. Institutional or Corporate Advertising.
2. Public Service Advertising.
3. Political Advertising.
The basic purpose of institutional or corporate advertising is to create a favorable public image
of it. It emphasizes its name, rather than its products and services. Institutional advertising may
cover the following dimensions:
1. The institute may present its viewpoint about a national cause, say prevention of blindness and
the efforts it has taken to help this cause.
2. It may list its social contributions, or may emphasize its socially oriented policies.
3. It may also stress on the mission of the organization and, its philosophy.
4. It may speak about its R & D, p1ants, employee welfare schemes, market position.
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The Institute can communicate through a single ad or a series of ads Institutional ads are indirect
in their approach, and do not intend to sell anything. It forcefully tells -how the organization is a
socially responsible institution. It also tells about the nationalistic leanings of the organization.
Many companies are faceless entities. Institutional or corporate advertising gives a face to the
company. Second sub category that we will discuss is Public Service Advertising Public Service
Advertising (PSA) is also institutional advertising, which seeks to promote important social
issue. It is created to promote greater awareness of public causes. The examples of such social
issues, which have been promoted, are handicapped children and their help, female foeticide,
national integration, flood donation, AIDS etc. Public Service Advertising is also known by
various other names such as Public Awareness Advertising, Social Service Advertising and
Social Awareness (SA) Advertising.
Political Advertising
As most of the political advertising is directed to public, it comes under the category of public
relations advertising. Political advertising is created either by political parties or candidates.
Mostly we come across such advertising at the time of elections. Election advertising either lists
the achievements of the party of candidate or propagates their ideological basis. Sometimes, they
are provocative too. Such advertising may become comparative, where the weaknesses of the
opposition are highlighted to show their party or candidate in favorable light.
Financial Advertising
When public limited companies invite the general public to subscribe to the share capital of the
company, it is called financial advertising. In a broader sense, it includes all advertising by
financial industry such as banks, car loan companies, insurance companies, non-banking
financial companies etc. It also includes image building corporate advertising prior to an issue
or-otherwise. The copy of financial ad gives highlights of the project, details of the issue, crisis
rating, managements perception of the risk factors, closing date of the issue, lead managers
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name and address, promoters name and address, name of the company and its address. Apart
from these routine things the investing public is motivated to invest by suitable copy matter - a
slogan, a promise of returns, profile of the product etc. The media used for financial advertising
are mainly the print media, especially the press and to some extent magazines. Mega-issues are
promoted even on TV. Issue advertisements are also put on hoardings. Financial advertising
motivates the public to invest, educate the public on various aspects of the issue, works in favor
of the brokers/underwriters, and builds a good corporate image. Financial advertising still
remains prosaic. In order to be successful, it should become more imaginative and distinctive.
Directory Advertising
Another type of advertising is called directory because people refer to it to find out how to buy a
product or service. The best known form of directory advertising is the Yellow Pages, although
many different kinds of directories perform the same function.
Direct-Response Advertising
Direct-response advertising can use any advertising medium, including direct mail, but the
message is different from that of national and retail advertising in that it tries to stimulate a sale
directly. The consumer can respond by telephone or mail, and the product is delivered directly to
the consumer by mail or some other carrier.
Business-to-Business Advertising Business-to-business advertising includes messages directed at
retailers, wholesalers, and distributors, as well as industrial purchasers and professionals such as
lawyers and physicians. Advertisers place most business advertising in business publications or
professional journals.
Institutional Advertising
Institutional advertising is also called corporate advertising. These messages focus on
establishing a corporate identity or winning the public to the organizations point of view.
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Interactive Advertising
Interactive advertising is delivered to individual consumers who have access to a computer and
the Internet. Advertisements are delivered via Web pages, banner ads, and so forth. In this
instance, the consumer can respond to the ad, modify it, expand it, or ignore it. We see, the, that
there isnt just one kind of advertising. In fact, advertising is an age and varied industry. All types
of advertising demand creative, original messages that are strategically sound and well executed.
In upcoming chapters, we discuss each type of advertising in more depth.
Public Service Advertising (PSAs)
If your company can sponsor a charity event, PSAs are a great way to promote your company in
a positive light. Most media are required by licensing agreements to provide a certain amount of
time or space for the good of their local communities. Some of the downsides of PSAs: Dont
expect to see your adoner or some other prime time show. PSAs are often placed in off times. I
dont want to paint everyone with a broad brush here. Some media are better than others. Just
because you request a PSA, doesnt mean youll get it. Media has a limited amount of space or
time for PSAs. You might get a break if you are currently advertising in the media of choice. It
might also help if your organization buys a small amount of time or space to run with your
PSAs.
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IMPACT OF ADVERTISEMENT
The importance of advertising is steadily on the increase in modern society. That observation,
made by this Pontifical Council a quarter century ago as part of an overview of the state of
communications, is even truer now. Just as the media of social communication themselves have
enormous influence everywhere, so advertising, using media as its vehicle, is a pervasive,
powerful force shaping attitudes and behavior in todays world.
The responsibility of media is to contribute to the authentic, integral development of persons and
to foster the well being of society. "The information provided by the media is at the service of the
common good. Society has a right to information based on truth, freedom, justice and solidarity.
At the same time, attention to moral principles and norms relevant to social communications, as
to other forms of human endeavor, while criticizing policies and practices that offend against
these standards.
Here and there in the growing body of literature arising from the Church's consideration of
media, the subject of advertising is discussed. Now, prompted by the increasing importance of
advertising and by requests for a more extensive treatment, we turn again to this topic. We wish
to call attention to positive contributions that advertising can and does make; to note ethical and
moral problems that advertising can and does raise; to point to moral principles that apply to this
field; and, finally, to suggest certain steps for the consideration of those professionally involved
in advertising, as well as for others in the private sector, including the churches, and for public
officials. Our reason for addressing these matters is simple. In today's society, advertising has a
profound impact on how people understand life, the world and themselves, especially in regard
to their values and their ways of choosing and behaving. The field of advertising is extremely
broad and diverse. In general terms, of course, an advertisement is simply a public notice meant
to convey information and invite patronage or some other response. As that suggests,
advertising has two basic purposes: to inform and to persuade, and while these purposes are
distinguishable both very often are simultaneously present. Advertising is not the same as
marketing (the complex of commercial functions involved in transferring goods from producers
and consumers) or public relations (the systematic effort to create a favorable public impression
or image' of some person, group, or entity). In many cases, though, it is a technique or instrument
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employed by one or both of these. Advertising can be very simple a local, even
neighborhood,' phenomenon or it can be very complex, involving sophisticated research and
multimedia campaigns that span the globe. It differs according to its intended audience, so that,
for example, advertising aimed at children raises some technical and moral issues significantly
different from those raised by advertising aimed at competent adults.
Not only are many different media and techniques employed in advertising; advertising itself is
of several different kinds: commercial advertising for products and services; public service
advertising on behalf of various institutions, programs, and causes; and a phenomenon of
growing importance today political advertising in the interests of parties and candidates.
Making allowance for the differences among the different kinds and methods of advertising, we
intend what follows to be applicable to them all.
We disagree with the assertion that advertising simply mirrors the attitudes and values of the
surrounding culture. No doubt advertising, like the media of social communications in general,
does act as a mirror. But, also like media in general, it is a mirror that helps shape the reality it
reflects, and sometimes it presents a distorted image of reality. Advertisers are selective about the
values and attitudes to be fostered and encouraged, promoting some while ignoring others. This
selectivity gives the lie to the notion that advertising does no more than reflect the surrounding
culture. For example, the absence from advertising of certain racial and ethnic groups in some
multi-racial or multi-ethnic societies can help to create problems of image and identity,
especially among those neglected, and the almost inevitable impression in commercial
advertising that an abundance of possessions leads to happiness and fulfillment can be both
misleading and frustrating.
Advertising also has an indirect but powerful impact on society through its influence on media.
Many publications and broadcasting operations depend on advertising revenue for survival. This
often is true of religious media as well as commercial media. For their part, advertisers naturally
seek to reach audiences; and the media, striving to deliver audiences to advertisers, must shape
their content so to attract audiences of the size and demographic composition sought. This
economic dependency of media and the power it confers upon advertisers carries with it serious
responsibilities for both.
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contributing to efficiency and the lowering of prices, and stimulating economic progress through
the expansion of business and trade. All of this can contribute to the creation of new jobs, higher
incomes and a more decent and humane way of life for all. It also helps pay for publications,
programming and productions including those of the Church that bring information,
entertainment and inspiration to people around the world.
B Political Benefits of Advertising
"The Church values the democratic system inasmuch as it ensures the participation of citizens in
making political choices, guarantees to the governed the possibility both of electing and holding
accountable those who govern them, and of replacing them through peaceful means when
appropriate." Political advertising can make a contribution to democracy analogous to its
contribution to economic well being in a market system guided by moral norms. As free and
responsible media in a democratic system help to counteract tendencies toward the
monopolization of power on the part of oligarchies and special interests, so political advertising
can make its contribution by informing people about the ideas and policy proposals of parties
and candidates, including new candidates not previously known to the public.
c) Cultural Benefits of Advertising
Because of the impact advertising has on media that depend on it for revenue, advertisers have
an opportunity to exert a positive influence on decisions about media content. This they do by
supporting material of excellent intellectual, aesthetic and moral quality presented with the
public interest in view, and particularly by encouraging and making possible media presentations
which are oriented to minorities whose needs might otherwise go un served. Moreover,
advertising can itself contribute to the betterment of society by uplifting and inspiring people and
motivating them to act in ways that benefit themselves and others. Advertising can brighten lives
simply by being witty, tasteful and entertaining. Some advertisements are instances of popular
art, with a vivacity and lan all their own.
d) Moral and Religious Benefits of Advertising
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In many cases, too, benevolent social institutions, including those of a religious nature, use
advertising to communicate their messages messages of faith, of patriotism, of tolerance,
compassion and neighborly service, of charity toward the needy, messages concerning health and
education, constructive and helpful messages that educate and motivate people in a variety of
beneficial ways.
For the Church, involvement in media-related activities, including advertising, is today a
necessary part of a comprehensive pastoral strategy. This includes both the Church's own media
Catholic press and publishing, television and radio broadcasting, film and audiovisual
production, and the rest and also her participation in secular media. The media "can and
should be instruments in the Church's program of re-evangelization and new evangelization in
the contemporary world." While much remains to be done, many positive efforts of this kind
already are underway. With reference to advertising itself, Pope Paul VI once said that it is
desirable that Catholic institutions "follow with constant attention the development of the
modern techniques of advertising and... know how to make opportune use of them in order to
spread the Gospel message in a manner which answers the expectations and needs of
contemporary man."
The harms done by advertisement
There is nothing intrinsically good or intrinsically evil about advertising. It is a tool, an
instrument: it can be used well, and it can be used badly. If it can have, and sometimes does
have, beneficial results such as those just described, it also can, and often does, have a negative,
harmful impact on individuals and society. Communio et Progressio contains this summary
statement of the problem: "If harmful or utterly useless goods are touted to the public, if false
assertions are made about goods for sale, if less than admirable human tendencies are exploited,
those responsible for such advertising harm society and forfeit their good name and credibility.
More than this, unremitting pressure to buy articles of luxury can arouse false wants that hurt
both individuals and families by making them ignore what they really need. And those forms of
advertising which, without shame, exploit the sexual instincts simply to make money or which
seek to penetrate into the subconscious recesses of the mind in a way that threatens the freedom
of the individual ... must be shunned."
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seek this progress by satisfying wants that have been artificially created. The result of this is that
they waste their resources and neglect their real needs, and genuine development falls behind."
Similarly, the task of countries attempting to develop types of market economies that serve
human needs and interests after decades under centralized, state-controlled systems is made more
difficult by advertising that promotes consumerist attitudes and values offensive to human
dignity and the common good. The problem is particularly acute when, as often happens, the
dignity and welfare of society's poorer and weaker members are at stake. It is necessary always
to bear in mind that there are "goods which by their very nature cannot and must not be bought
or sold" and to avoid "an idolatry' of the market" that, aided and abetted by advertising, ignores
this crucial fact.
b) Political Harms of Advertising
Political advertising can support and assist the working of the democratic process, but it also can
obstruct it. This happens when, for example, the costs of advertising limit political competition to
wealthy candidates or groups, or require that office-seekers compromise their integrity and
independence by over-dependence on special interests for funds. Such obstruction of the
democratic process also happens when, instead of being a vehicle for honest expositions of
candidates' views and records, political advertising seeks to distort the views and records of
opponents and unjustly attacks their reputations. It happens when advertising appeals more to
people's emotions and base instincts to selfishness, bias and hostility toward others, to racial
and ethnic prejudice and the like rather than to a reasoned sense of justice and the good of all.
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Advertising also can have a corrupting influence upon culture and cultural values. We have
spoken of the economic harm that can be done to developing nations by advertising that fosters
consumerism and destructive patterns of consumption. Consider also the cultural injury done to
these nations and their peoples by advertising whose content and methods, reflecting those
prevalent in the first world, are at war with sound traditional values in indigenous cultures. Today
this kind of "domination and manipulation" via media rightly is "a concern of developing nations
in relation to developed ones," as well as a "concern of minorities within particular nations."
The indirect but powerful influence exerted by advertising upon the media of social
communications that depend on revenues from this source points to another sort of cultural
concern. In the competition to attract ever larger audiences and deliver them to advertisers,
communicators can find themselves tempted in fact pressured, subtly or not so subtly to set
aside high artistic and moral standards and lapse into superficiality, tawdriness and moral
squalor.
Communicators also can find themselves tempted to ignore the educational and social needs of
certain segments of the audience the very young, the very old, the poor who do not match
the demographic patterns (age, education, income, habits of buying and consuming, etc.) of the
kinds of audiences advertisers want to reach. In this way the tone and indeed the level of moral
responsibility of the communications media in general are lowered.
All too often, advertising contributes to the invidious stereotyping of particular groups that
places them at a disadvantage in relation to others. This often is true of the way advertising treats
women; and the exploitation of women, both in and by advertising, is a frequent, deplorable
abuse. "How often are they treated not as persons with an inviolable dignity but as objects whose
purpose is to satisfy others' appetite for pleasure or for power? How often the role of woman as
wife and mother is undervalued or even ridiculed? How often is the role of women in business or
professional life depicted as a masculine caricature, a denial of the specific gifts of feminine
insight, compassion, and understanding, which so greatly contribute to the ?civilization of love'?"
d) Moral and Religious Harms of Advertising
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Advertising can be tasteful and in conformity with high moral standards, and occasionally even
morally uplifting, but it also can be vulgar and morally degrading. Frequently it deliberately
appeals to such motives as envy, status seeking and lust. Today, too, some advertisers
consciously seek to shock and titillate by exploiting content of a morbid, perverse, pornographic
nature.
What this Pontifical Council said several years ago about pornography and violence in the media
is no less true of certain forms of advertising:
"As reflections of the dark side of human nature marred by sin, pornography and the exaltation
of violence are age-old realities of the human condition. In the past quarter century, however,
they have taken on new dimensions and have become serious social problems. At a time of
widespread and unfortunate confusion about moral norms, the communications media have made
pornography and violence accessible to a vastly expanded audience, including young people and
even children, and a problem which at one time was confined mainly to wealthy countries has
now begun, via the communications media, to corrupt moral values in developing nations."
We note, too, certain special problems relating to advertising that treats of religion or pertains to
specific issues with a moral dimension.
In cases of the first sort, commercial advertisers sometimes include religious themes or use
religious images or personages to sell products. It is possible to do this in tasteful, acceptable
ways, but the practice is obnoxious and offensive when it involves exploiting religion or treating
it flippantly.
In cases of the second sort, advertising sometimes is used to promote products and inculcate
attitudes and forms of behavior contrary to moral norms. That is the case, for instance, with the
advertising of contraceptives, abortifacients and products harmful to health, and with
government-sponsored advertising campaigns for artificial birth control, so-called "safe sex", and
similar practices.
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economic negative aspect of advertising is that it boosts the price of goods and services. The
source of this contention is that, when organizations subsidize the mass media with advertising,
we, the purchaser, subsidize advertising by compensating a grossly increased price for heavily
advertised goods and services. An easy example of this is that a box of Tide washing powder
generally costs around Rs. 30/kg while the market price of the product would be Rs 50/kg. The
fact behind this is that the remaining proportion goes in heavy advertising in television and print
media. So, the impact of advertising on our society is in a jumble form, depending on the
functions and implementations of numerous campaigns. Our society and the marketing of
products depend very badly upon advertising. The companies have become much dependent of
advertising that even its negative impacts can never outweigh the many positive social and
economic effects.
We live and prosper in a dynamic economy. Ours has been an economy of relative abundance
which has succeeded in bringing about a material well-being never before known in history. It is
an economy which emphasizes consumption! In this country consumption does not necessarily
mean wearing out goods in a physical sense. We wear out goods psychologically as well. Usually
our clothes are psychologically worn out and discarded while the material is still good. We
dispose of our automobiles when they become obsolete rather than when they are physically
worn out. How different is this viewpoint from the practices that are current in other nations,
England and France, for instance! It is difficult for the European to understand the economic
importance of the individual in our country and the American idea of psychological
obsolescence. It is also incomprehensible to most that in America we spend nearly eight billion
dollars a year for advertising
Why do we do it? What is advertising's role in our economy? What useful purpose does
advertising serve?
First, advertising makes jobs.
Second, advertising reduces selling costs.
Third, advertising increases company profits.
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thus being intruded upon. This kind of tax would be a Pogivan tax in that it would act to reduce
what is now increasingly seen as a public nescience.
Public perception of the medium
Over the years, the public perception of advertising has become very negative. It is seen as a
medium that inherently promotes a lie, based on the purpose of the advertisement to encourage
the target audience to submit to a cause or a belief, and act on it to the advertising partys benefit
and consequently the targets disadvantage. They are either perceived as directly lying (stating
opinions or untruths directly as facts), lying by omission (usually terms or conditions
unfavorable to the customer) or Portraying a product or service in a light that does not reflect
reality. It is this increased awareness of the intention of advertising, as well as advertising
regulations that have increased the challenges that marketers face.
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The Elaboration
Likelihood Model is a theory that states that there are two routes to persuasion. These two routes
may alter a persons belief structure based on the cognitive processes that occur at the time of
persuasion. The two routes are defined as the central and peripheral routes. The outcome of this
favorable and unfavorable thought processing will determine whether the position that has been
advocated holds any merit. The other route, the peripheral route, has to do with the fact people
can not exercise careful and effortful analyzation of every message that they come upon. There
simply are too many messages in the environment for there to be a central processing route.
There are many variables which affect the likelihood of thinking about the merits of a message
and thus the route to persuasion. These variables affect a persons motivation to think about
issue-relevant information and the ability to do the cognitive processing. Other variables
affecting motivation are part of the person and the situation. Some variables affect the direction
of thinking (favorable vs. unfavorable) and others affect the overall amount of thinking a person
does.
One commonly used technique of persuasion is that of authority. Everyone has seen ads where "2
out 3 doctors recommend..." This is based on the idea that people will respect the opinions of
someone who is assumed to have a lot of knowledge about the product. People feel better
knowing that someone with authority has recommended what they are about to buy. Of course,
the authority person has to have expert knowledge in that particular field. Would you buy a
certain toothpaste because a car salesman recommended it?
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First and foremost an advertisement has to catch your attention. One way in which it does this is
by appealing to your emotions. It can arouse feelings of fear, love, pleasure, or vanity. Scarcity is
the
fear
that
you
may
miss
an
opportunity
to
purchase
product.
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advertising is to evoke the feeling, in other words, it demonstrates how the customer is going to
feel after acquiring one or another product.
If the ad evokes the feelings not only directly related to it, but also additional (both positive and
negative) ones, we can state that the advertiser was successful in distinguishing the merchandise
and this will affect the customers decision. Another important cognitive aspect is perception.
The feelings are usually evoked subconsciously, while cognition is a conscious process. Viewing
is the most influential in the process of advertising information perception and evaluation.
Therefore, advertising has to correspond the principle of consistence, all of its aspects title,
text, illustration and logos - are closely related and determine the general impact of the ad. If the
aspects and information are insufficient to formulate the main idea, ambiguities occur.
Recognition plays an important role in the cognition process. Therefore, if the first ad of the
product is graphic and logical, later it is enough to repeat any of its aspects and the customer will
reproduce the ad she/he has seen before. Visual presentation must meet several conditions: the
structure of the ad must be precise and clear; the object advertised is the centre, therefore its
shape, size and proximity are important; the most important is to have the product dominating
and standing out in the background.
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Parents must be aware of the commercial messages found in all advertising - print, movies,
videos, music videos, computer games and the Internet. These messages depict how sexy and
cool it is to use alcohol and tobacco products, promote consumption of candy and other
unhealthy foods, and sanitize violence. All this could create addicts as well as physically and
mentally unhealthy people. Other then this there are certain issues that affect the children such
as:
Violence
Over the past two decades, hundreds of studies have examined how violent programming on TV
affects children and young people. While a direct "cause and effect" link is difficult to establish,
there is a growing consensus that some children may be vulnerable to violent images and
messages. Researchers have identified three potential responses to media violence in children:
Parents should also pay close attention to what their children see in the news since studies have
shown that kids are more afraid of violence in news coverage than in any other media content.
Fear based on real news events increases as children get older and are better able to distinguish
fantasy from reality.
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Sexual content
Kids today are bombarded with sexual messages and images in all mediatelevision,
magazines, advertisements, music, movies and the Internet. Parents are often concerned about
whether these messages are healthy. While television can be a powerful tool for educating young
people about the responsibilities and risks of sexual behaviour, such issues are seldom mentioned
or dealt with in a meaningful way in programs containing sexual content.
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particular situation. This chapter thus gives some insight into moral theory and also the
opportunity to practice the skill of applying principles to specific cases.
Business Ethics
Business ethics is the behavior that a business adheres to in its daily dealings with the world. The
ethics of a particular business can be diverse. They apply not only to how the business interacts
with the world at large, but also to their one-on-one dealings with a single customer.Many
businesses have gained a bad reputation just by being in business. To some people, businesses
are interested in making money, and that is the bottom line. It could be called capitalism in its
purest form. Making money is not wrong in itself. It is the manner in which some businesses
conduct themselves that brings up the question of ethical behavior. Good business ethics should
be a part of every business. There are many factors to consider. When a company does business
with another that is considered unethical, does this make the first company unethical by
association? Some people would say yes, the first business has a responsibility and it is now a
link in the chain of unethical businesses. Many global businesses, including most of the major
brands that the public use, can be seen not to think too highly of good business ethics. Many
major brands have been fined millions for breaking ethical business laws. Money is the major
deciding factor.
If a company does not adhere to business ethics and breaks the laws, they usually end up being
fined. Many companies have broken anti-trust, ethical and environmental laws and received fines
worth millions. The problem is that the amount of money these companies are making outweighs
the fines applied. Billion dollar profits blind the companies to their lack of business ethics, and
the dollar sign wins. A business may be a multi-million seller, but does it use good business
ethics and do people care? There are popular soft drinks and fast food restaurants that have been
fined time and time again for unethical behavior. Business ethics should eliminate exploitation,
from the sweet shop children who are making sneakers to the coffee serving staff who are being
ripped off in wages. Business ethics can be applied to everything from the trees cut down to
make the paper that a business sells to the ramifications of importing coffee from certain
countries.
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so-called indirect advertising that attempts to move people to act in certain ways for example,
purchase particular products without their being fully aware that they are being swayed. The
techniques involved here include showing certain products or forms of behavior in superficially
glamorous settings associated with superficially glamorous people; in extreme cases, it may even
involve the use of subliminal messages. Within this very general framework, we can identify
several moral principles that are particularly relevant to advertising. We shall speak briefly of
three: truthfulness, the dignity of the human person, and social responsibility.
a) Truthfulness in Advertising
Even today, some advertising is simply and deliberately untrue. Generally speaking, though,
the problem of truth in advertising is somewhat more subtle: it is not that advertising says
what is overtly false, but that it can distort the truth by implying things that are not so or
withholding relevant facts. As Pope John Paul II points out, on both the individual and social
levels, truth and freedom are inseparable; without truth as the basis, starting point and
criterion of discernment, judgment, choice and action, there can be no authentic exercise of
freedom. The Catechism of the Catholic Church, quoting the Second Vatican Council, insists
that the content of communication be "true and within the limits set by justice and charity
complete"; the content should, moreover, be communicated "honestly and properly."
To be sure, advertising, like other forms of expression, has its own conventions and forms of
stylization, and these must be taken into account when discussing truthfulness. People take for
granted some rhetorical and symbolic exaggeration in advertising; within the limits of recognized
and accepted practice, this can be allowable.
But it is a fundamental principle that advertising may not deliberately seek to deceive, whether it
does that by what it says, by what it implies, or by what it fails to say. "The proper exercise of the
right to information demands that the content of what is communicated be true and, within the
limits set by justice and charity, complete. ... Included here is the obligation to avoid any
manipulation of truth for any reason."
b) The Dignity of the Human Person
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There is an "imperative requirement" that advertising respect the human person, his right duty to
make a responsible choice, his interior freedom; all these goods would be violated if man's lower
inclinations were to be exploited, or his capacity to reflect and decide compromised." These
abuses are not merely hypothetical possibilities but realities in much advertising today.
Advertising can violate the dignity of the human person both through its content what is
advertised, the manner in which it is advertised and through the impact it seeks to make upon
its audience. We have spoken already of such things as appeals to lust, vanity, envy and greed,
and of techniques that manipulate and exploit human weakness. In such circumstances,
advertisements readily become "vehicles of a deformed outlook on life, on the family, on religion
and on morality an outlook that does not respect the true dignity and destiny of the human
person."
This problem is especially acute where particularly vulnerable groups or classes of persons are
concerned: children and young people, the elderly, the poor, the culturally disadvantaged. Much
advertising directed at children apparently tries to exploit their credulity and suggestibility, in the
hope that they will put pressure on their parents to buy products of no real benefit to them.
Advertising like this offends against the dignity and rights of both children and parents; it
intrudes upon the parent-child relationship and seeks to manipulate it to its own base ends. Also,
some of the comparatively little advertising directed specifically to the elderly or culturally
disadvantaged seems designed to play upon their fears so as to persuade them to allocate some of
their limited resources to goods or services of dubious value.
c) Advertising and Social Responsibility
Social responsibility is such a broad concept that we can note here only a few of the many issues
and concerns relevant under this heading to the question of advertising. The ecological issue is
one. Advertising that fosters a lavish life style which wastes resources and despoils the
environment offends against important ecological concerns. "In his desire to have and to enjoy
rather than to be and grow, man consumes the resources of the earth and his own life in an
excessive and disordered way. ... Man thinks that he can make arbitrary use of the earth,
subjecting it without restraint to his will, as though it did not have its own requisites and a prior
God-given purpose, which man can indeed develop but must not betray."
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As this suggests, something more fundamental is at issue here: authentic and integral human
development. Advertising that reduces human progress to acquiring material goods and
cultivating a lavish life style expresses a false, destructive vision of the human person harmful to
individuals and society alike. When people fail to practice "a rigorous respect for the moral,
cultural and spiritual requirements, based on the dignity of the person and on the proper identity
of each community, beginning with the family and religious societies," then even material
abundance and the conveniences that technology makes available "will prove unsatisfying and in
the end contemptible." Advertisers, like people engaged in other forms of social communication,
have a serious duty to express and foster an authentic vision of human development in its
material, cultural and spiritual dimensions.
Communication that meets this standard is, among other things, a true expression of solidarity.
Indeed, the two things communication and solidarity are inseparable, because, as the Catechism
of the Catholic Church points out, solidarity is "a consequence of genuine and right
communication and the free circulation of ideas that further knowledge and respect for others."
In the end, it may be up to the public to make sure that a company adheres to correct business
ethics. If the company is making large amounts of money, they may not wish to pay too close
attention to their ethical behavior. There are many companies that pride themselves in their
correct business ethics, but in this competitive world, they are becoming very few and far
between.
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Competence
Maintain and improve your own professional competence and expertise through lifelong
education and learning; take steps to promote competence in science as a whole.
Legality
Know and obey relevant laws and institutional and governmental policies.
Animal Care
Show proper respect and care for animals when using them in research. Do not conduct
unnecessary or poorly designed animal experiments.
Human Subjects Protection
When conducting research on human subjects, minimize harms and risks and maximize benefits;
respect human dignity, privacy, and autonomy; take precautions with vulnerable populations; and
strive to distribute the benefits and burdens of research fairly.
Ethical Decision Making in Research
Although codes, policies, and principals are very important and useful, like any set of rules, they
do not cover every situation that arises in research, they often conflict, and they require
considerable interpretation. It is therefore important for researchers to learn how to interpret,
assess, and apply various research rules and how to make decisions about how to act in various
situations. The vast majority of decisions that people must make in the conduct of research
involve the straightforward application of ethical rules.
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money or which seek to penetrate into the subconscious recesses of the mind in a way that
threatens the freedom of the individual ... must be shunned.
Advertising also can have a corrupting influence upon culture and cultural values. We have
spoken of the economic harm that can be done to developing nations by advertising that fosters
consumerism and destructive patterns of consumption. Consider also the cultural injury done to
these nations and their peoples by advertising whose content and methods, reflecting those
prevalent in the first world, are at war with sound traditional values in indigenous cultures. Today
this kind of "domination and manipulation" via media rightly is "a concern of developing nations
in relation to developed ones," as well as a "concern of minorities within particular nations.
REVIEW OF LITERATURE
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Before undertaking this topic and presenting the study, there have been many well known
authors who have earlier done research on this topic. One of the researches was done by Dr.
Geoffrey Klempner titled Advertising Ethics: Indian Perspective. The article highlighted the
good and evil of advertising to Indian consumers and this study was published in June 2004.
Another study in the context of advertising ethics was done by Mr. Vijay Menon titled Ethics in
Advertising which was published in India Today on 15 th Jan 1997. He discussed certain
unethical practices in the form of examples and how they proved to be ineffective.
Some of the earlier studies done by famous authors are:
Persuasive advertising, however, poses a real problem since some of the persuasive
techniques used are intended to by-pass the intellect and reduce rationality, and may, if
successful, lead to improvident actions" by Garrett.
These earlier studies were quite useful for the project undertaken to study and there is a huge
difference from what they said in their work long time back and the result I had presented.
The past studies are the clear indicators of how time has evolved over the years in the field of
advertising and how much important role it plays in our lives today.
The past studies have focused on gaining insights about the companies pursuing unethical
practices for their profits. They stated some of the methods and techniques that the companies
adopt to persuade the customers to buy the products and how well they have been successful in
doing that. But at that point of time, customers were not that educated and when the study was
carried out by me, customers had much of the knowledge and knew what companies are doing.
Objective
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To know how much effect advertisements have on people and type of effect that they
have
Research Methodology
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The samples were undertaken on the basis of the convenience which can give best
possible results.
1. Questionnaire:
a) Structured Questions: The structured questions are those questions that impose a limit on
the respondent to answer the question. It is usually in the form of Yes/No questions.
b) Unstructured Questions: Unstructured questions are the ones in which the respondent is
free to give as much answer as he/she wants without imposing any kind of limit on him/her.
c) Open Ended Question: Another form of question involved the respondent to answer a
particular question within the space provided.
Statistical Tools
1. Bar graphs:
Bar graphs were used for the interpretation of the questionnaires in the project.
They were used to show the result from different number of respondents in the form of
numbers.
2. Pie chart:
Pie chart was another form of statistical figure used in most of the questions.
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Some felt that companies do not have concern for its customers which can be seen in the
advertisement and said that companies only believe in fooling people and leads them to
include unethical practices.
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3. Which of the following issue in general advertising would you consider being unethical?
a) Ads for abortion services or family planning.
b) Ads for cosmetic surgery or other elective surgery.
c) Ads for medical products and services.
d) Ads for personal care and hygiene products.
e) Ads for professional services (lawyers, doctors, etc)
f) Advertising to children
g) Use of sexual themes in ads
h) Racial stereotyping ads
i) Other
A- According to respondents,
63 believed that advertisements involving sexual themes are more unethical. Lot of
sexual content can be seen these days which is not a part of our culture.
10 felt that companies are influencing negative impact on small children through their ads
as they are immature. Because of some unethical element present in ads related to
children, it is leading to negative consequences.
7 believed that ads involving abortion or family planning theme at times should be
presented in a different way because companies advertising products/services present
them in an obscene manner.
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42% respondents felt that psychological impact was more on them due to advertisements
followed by social impact (30%), economic impact (16%) and advertising to children
(12%).
5. Have you ever decided not to buy a product/service due to an advertisement that you
perceived as unethical?
55% said that they dont purchase a product/service if they feel that the advertisement is
unethical or is claiming to provide something that is not present or is harmful where as 45
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% did not care about the unethical element being present in the ad or being influenced in
their purchasing decision.
6. In the future, would you refrain from buying a product/service because you perceive its
advertisements as unethical?
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Most of the respondents said that there should be some strict laws involved for handling
such ads. The current laws by censor board and government are not very strict because
some of the companies are still continuing to show some of their unethical ads.
Rest of the respondents believed that companies should be taken to court for falsely
claiming something or for any other unethical practices. Huge imposition of fine was
another alternative they suggested.
8. Would you invest in a fund company with high ethical standards if it presented slightly
lower returns than a fund company with low ethical standards if it yields higher returns?
This question was included to check how much value respondents give to ethics when it
involves them.
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75% respondents were not willing to risk their investment or get fooled by the
advertisement that shows high profits without showing any negative results.
Maximum respondents thought that business can accumulate profits even if it follows
ethical practices.
10. What suggestions would you like to give to stop or avoid from being influenced by
unethical ads?
A- Following were some of the important suggestions made by the respondents
Research proper pros and cons of the product before buying it.
Unethical ads should be banned and more stringent laws should be made.
There should be proper legal authorities to look into the matter and prohibit such ads.
There should be awareness from public regarding unethical practices so that people dont
get influenced from such ads.
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Dont buy the products of those unethical companies. They will lose the value in the
market and will then learn a lesson.
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today, no matter how much benefit person might get, they will not like to get themselves attached
or involved in a company who pursue unethical practices. 75% people felt this.
5. 42% believed that advertisements have a psychological impact on them followed by social
impact.
LIMITATIONS
Every project faces some limitation and my project was no exception. Some of the limitations
faced during my project were
Since the responses were only from one part of Delhi, the report cannot be generalized
for whole Delhi and NCR.
Some of the respondents were not willing to devote time for the survey. Most of the time,
they were busy and were not willing to respond.
There could have been vast exploration on the topic but due to limited time availability, it
could not be explored more for study.
At times, they were not able to understand the questions which enforced me to make the
question understand to the respondent in detail.
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RECOMMENDATIONS
Recommendation to the Companies:
Unethical elements and practices will damage the companys brand name. Once
damaged, it will be difficult to achieve that goodwill again.
Do follow the rules and regulations laid down by the government. Breaking those laws
will land them in huge trouble and it will be difficult for them to get out of the jail.
Some of the elements that are showcased in advertisements affect children in negative
way. Make sure to stick to the message without creating a negative effect.
Dont get easily influenced by the advertisements. Cross check many times before
making a purchase decision.
Learn from the experiences of other people. They can better tell whether the company has
falsely promised or not.
Make sure to write down to the company in the case unethical elements in the form of
obscenity, fraud etc. This will make them realize their mistake.
Make sure that children dont get negatively influenced from the advertisements.
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Check whether companies are abiding the rules and regulations related to advertisements
as the results from the report show that companies still pursue unethical elements and
practices in their advertisements.
Introduce more stringent laws which if broken should lead to negative consequences for
the companies.
Do take strong actions on the companies in the form of banning the product, heavy
imposition of fine and even liquidating the company.
Some advertisements that are not meant for children should be aired on other channel.
CONCLUSION
Advertising is an important element in today's society, especially in the functioning of a market
economy, which is becoming more and more widespread. Moreover, for the reasons and in the
ways sketched here, we believe advertising can, and often does, play a constructive role in
economic growth, in the exchange of information and ideas, and in the fostering of solidarity
among individuals and groups.
From the study, it can be seen that it is causing harm to individuals and to the common good.
People today are no more uneducated and stupid. With time, their have become more
knowledgeable. Its not easy nowadays to adopt unethical practices for the businesses to risk the
value of the customer. Be it obscenity, fraudulent practices, false promises etc. people today do
know about all this and playing with their morals and values will lead the companies to pay
heavy price.
Advertising ethics affects the practice of our lives, and also the practice of business, in subtle and
prominent ways. Indeed, advertising ethics concerns us all--academicians, ad agency personnel,
advertisers, attorneys, consumers, media personnel, and regulators--in one way or another.
Using unethical practices to persuade the customer to purchase the product can be done once.
But with the negative experience that he/she will feel will not make that customer go to that
product again. Then what will a company do. They will loose the customer. Its important for the
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company to be ethical to their customers to achieve their customer loyalty. Customer loyalty will
itself bring profits and it can be seen from the result of the study.
So, the final conclusion can be derived in the sense that companies are required to be ethical, no
matter how much competition they face. Unethical practice will bring the customer only once but
an ethical practice will bring the customer again and again. Companies are required to adhere to
the laws brought by the government as unethical practice can land them into huge trouble in the
form of liquidation, ban of product etc. So, be ethical and be profitable.
Websites
http://www.ddindia.gov.in/Business/Commercial+And+Sales/Code+for+Commercial+Advert
isements.htm
http://www.etstrategicmarketing.com/smNov-Dec2/art7.html
http://www.icmr.icfai.org/casestudies/catalogue/Business%20Ethics/BECG002.htm
www.brandbuilding.com/books/food.html
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toostep.com/insight/ethics-in-advertising
Articles:
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