Is Advertising Ethical?

[creative_way]

 

In response to my past blog on advertising, in one of the comments someone raised an interesting question stating “Is it ethical to try to control people's behavior through advertising?" The key word is "try", in order for companies to promote their product they must make consumers aware that the product exists. The goal of the company is to introduce the item through advertising, and in turn generate sales; this is a common business tactic, especially when the Ad is geared to specific markets. Advertising allows consumers to have an actual visual of the product, and therefore encourages the consumer to purchase it. Each consumer has full control of their buying habits, if they like what they see and feel as though it has a hedonic value, or a utilitarian value then the consumer may be inclined to purchase the item. I am sure that we have seen commercials, billboards, etc. that are convincing and we like the concept of the product, however we choose not to purchase it. Everyone responds differently to advertisements, and in my opinion the company can only persuade which isn’t necessarily controlling a person’s behavior.   

Comments

is advertisement ethical?

[cboutin89]

I agree! There are many companies that exist that may sell similar products, allowing them to compete with each other. Obviously these venders are going to use advertisement to persuade consumers to purchase their products. I think at the end of the day a consumer has a decision to either buy the product or not depending on the presentation of the ad or what they already know. That implies that the consumer is not controlled to buy the product that is advertised.

[carter897]

Advertising is ethical because business do what the people want. People do not want to see a boring dull man do a commercial about car insurance, so the get a an animal and put an accent on it. The problem lies with the consumers. If the consumers did not want these things or knew who they were as a person then these types of advertising would not be put out.

[mrmooney]

I think advertising is very ethical. People say that advertising is a way to "control" somebody's mind, thoughts, and actions, but don't we all have the abilities to think for ourselves and realize that we dont have to act on an impulse to buy a new car, shoes, or a watch just because we saw a celebrity using the product in a billboard?