Advertising ethics: Definition, And minorities, And social responsibility; And legal environment, Cases, Code, False, Good, Guerrilla, Important, Native, Principles , Realtor, Sexism, Smart, Television, Violation, Unethical advertising; Conclusion.
Introduction
Have you ever bought a particular product because an advertisement convinced you to do so? Well, advertising is one of the major factors in firms that helps in increasing consumer awareness. Advertisements can be genuine while others can be deceptive. In most cases, the consumer might not know the transparency of an advertisement until they have bought the particular product.
This explains why organizations should focus on advertising ethics to ensure that they have the consumer’s best interests at heart.
Through advertising ethics, an organization would find it easy to convince a consumer into buying their products because the advertisements would be based on the truth. They would also be based on various moral principles that govern human beings.
If you are planning on starting a business, it is important to understand the role played by ethical advertising in increasing your consumer base. If you do not consider ethics in your advertisements, you risk losing your customers in the future.
A customer needs to be assured of transparency and the best way to do so in advertising is by ensuring that the advertisement is truthful about your products. This article will focus on some of the terms that are commonly used regarding advertising ethics.
Definition
Advertising ethics is a term used in the advertising industry to ensure that sellers do not take advantage of buyers. Before you understand this term, it is important to understand the meaning of ethics. Ethics refers to an individual’s moral principles that govern their behavior.
When a person is guided by ethics in their actions, they are highly likely to make a good decision. If people are not guided by their ethics, they will likely make bad decisions that will negatively affect the involved individuals.
Therefore, advertising ethics refers to all the moral principles involved in the creation of an advert, advertising, the public relations, editorial, and communications regarding the advertisements. The moral principles are based on the truth to ensure that the advert does not mislead the consumer.
Unfortunately, this is not always the case because some advertisers choose to ignore the issue of ethical advertising to lure consumers into buying their products. The best thing about running a long lasting business is focusing on advertising ethics. Whenever consumers feel they are being cheated into buying a product, they are likely not to buy it again. However, if the consumer is assured of transparency in your business, they would remain loyal customers.
Minorities
A lot of controversy has arisen from the issue of using advertisements to target minority groups in society. Such an issue has become a major area of concern especially when the advertiser is dealing with harmful substances such as alcohol and tobacco. The companies producing these products have in the past, been in the limelight for their advertising which was believed to target the minority groups in society.
The choice of a target population while advertising is one of the most challenging things to do. The advertiser has to ensure that the target population consists of individuals likely to buy their products. This population should also not turn out to be controversial like in the case of choosing to advertise to the minorities.
If an advertisement targets a minority population, it might face an ethical dilemma in society and this can negatively affect your organization. Therefore, in every advertisement made, you need to ensure that it targets the right population and does not create the impression of targeting a minority population.
Social responsibility
Social responsibility requires firms to provide environmental benefits through its marketing activities. Such benefits are a moral obligation which plays a major role in increasing the firm’s customer base. If a firm is not socially responsible through its marketing activities, the chances are high that a large number of consumers would not be willing to purchase their products. This means that the firm will have a few customers and this could result in its closure.
Social responsibility is a concept whereby firms consider the interests of the society in all the activities they carry out. For instance, if a firm intentionally disposes of its waste in the nearby community, such a form would not be considered socially responsible. A firm would be socially responsible if they ensure that their waste products do not affect the well-being of the neighboring communities.
Social responsibility also means that organizations have a duty to act in the best interests of the environment. One of the common ways through which most companies have become socially responsible is by reducing their carbon print. Such has been reduced through increased levels of recycling waste products.
Legal environment
Laws have a huge impact on various operations of a business. These laws are made to ensure that businesses act in the right manner without exploiting consumers. One of the common sectors of such laws is the legal environment in advertising. This environment has been created to ensure that all the advertisements made by firms are in accordance with consumer laws and do not facilitate consumer exploitation.
The legal environment prevents advertisers from making deceptive or manipulative advertisements. A deceptive advertisement would not present the truthful information about a product. In turn, a consumer would purchase the product based on false information, only for the same to realize the truth about the product when it is already late.
The legal environment is known to protect consumers from such advertisers. This environment requires advertisers to ensure that all of their advertisements are in accordance with the law. However, these laws are not always effective because some companies have been known to use illegal advertisements to manipulate consumers into buying their products.
Cases
The cases of violating the legal environment in advertising have been on the rise. The public and the private sector are aware of such cases and the impacts they have had on organizations. In some cases, illegal advertising can lead to a rapid increase in customer base. However, such an increase is usually short-loved and can highly reduce when the consumers have realized that the advertisement was deceptive. In such a case, the chances are high that the consumer would no longer purchase the particular products and the firm would lose a customer.
It is important for advertisers to avoid any situations that might render their advertisements illegal as this could negatively affect their firms. A false advertising scandal can cost your brand huge sums of money especially when a lawsuit is involved.
The firm might be required by the court to pay huge sums of money to the individuals who were misled by the advertisement. For instance, Red Bull paid $13million for a false advertisement. Such is an example of the ramification of false advertising if a firm does not follow the guidelines of the legal environment.
Code
Every organization has a code of conduct in its different sectors. Advertising is one of the sectors that is governed by a code of ethics that needs to be followed by the advertisers to ensure the advertisements are in the good interest of the consumers. Advertising code consists of five sectors which advertisers should pay close attention to.
Among such sectors are children and young people, therapeutic and health, alcohol, and gambling. If a firm has to comply with the codes, it should focus on the spirit of intention and principles. Such would ensure that the advertisement created does not go against any set regulations.
An advertisement that follows all the advertising standard codes is less likely to face an ethical dilemma in society. Such would safeguard the company’s reputation while increasing its customer base.
Advertisers are provided with the necessary codes of ethics they need to follow when creating a legal and reliable advertisement. If the codes of ethics are not followed, the advertisement can be considered illegal. Such an advertisement risks the occurrence of lawsuits from affected consumers.
False
False advertising is one of the common factors in the world of advertising. Most of the organizations that engage in false advertising aim at getting more people to buy their products. The false advertisements include information that is likely to motivate the consumer into buying a specific item.
The false advertisement consists of information that does not present the truthful information about the item. If the consumer is unaware of the truth about the product, they are highly likely to purchase it based on the false details given. The consumers believe that the false information is the truth about the product and end up buying it.
The only disadvantage of false advertisements is that it raises the possibilities of a lawsuit or consumers not purchasing a product for a second time. Once a consumer has purchased a product on the basis of false advertising, there is a likelihood that they will discover the truth about such a product and will no longer be interested in buying it again. False advertising might be beneficial for the firm in the short run but is likely to cost a lot in the long run.
Good
Good advertising refers to the creation of adverts that do not go against the laws. These could be the federal, state or organizational laws. If the advertisement is against such laws, it can be considered illegal and this makes it a bad advertisement. If the advertisement is in compliance with such laws, it would be considered a good advertisement.
A good advertisement plays an important role in enhancing product awareness because it presents try information about the product. If a consumer buys a good product, they are likely to send a positive word or mouth about the same products to other consumers. In tune, the organization would have an increase in the number of sales.
According to advertising ethics, a good advertisement is always focused on what is morally right. In the case of advertising, the most common thing which is morally right is giving truthful information about a product. A good thing would also be minding about the environmental benefits of all the advertising activities. Such considerations would result in the creation of a good advertisement.
Guerrilla
Guerilla advertising is derived from the term guerrilla fighters. These fighters were unorganized, new and underfunded. In advertising, the term refers to the type of advertising using the available resources regardless of how little they are. This is a common form of advertising among small firms.
If you are planning to start a small business and do not have enough money to market your products, you can always choose guerilla advertising. This method is rarely used by large firms because they have all the necessary resources needed in advertising.
Companies that use this form of advertising focus on unconventional or surprise tactics to create awareness about their products. In such a case, the company is unaware of how the advertisement would be perceived by society. It is made under the assumption that it would persuade consumers into buying the product being advertised. Guerilla marketing is most reliable in small organizations because it is a low-budget form of advertising and focuses on individual interactions.
Guerilla advertising requires the advertiser to make clever advertisements that would leave consumers questioning about it. In such a case, consumers would be compelled to know more about the advertisement. The more products that the consumers purchase, the easier it is for the company to meet its advertising goals or objectives. Most advertisements are made to increase sales and in such a case, a guerilla advertisement would have served its purpose.
Important
Advertising plays an important role in society in educating people about the availability and need for a particular item. Imagine if you came across a particular supplement and did not know its importance in the body. In such a case, the chances are low that you would purchase the supplement.
However, the case would be different if you came across an advertisement of the same supplement. Such an advertisement would provide more details regarding the usage and importance of the supplement in the body. This means that the chances of you purchasing the supplement would be high. Such is a clear indication of the importance of advertising in society.
There are many products that people do not know about their existence yet they need them. However, advertising such products would create awareness to the people that did not know of their existence.
This shows that advertising educates society about the availability of all the products they might need in their lives. If an individual is made aware of a product they have been looking for, the chances are high that they will purchase it.
Advertising is also an important role in organizations because it helps them market their products. Marketing is one of the best strategies that helps an organization to create awareness about its products. Without advertising, firms might find it challenging to reach their target population. Hence, advertising is an essential factor in every organization.
Native
Native advertising refers to the use of paid ads matching the feel, look and function of the media format in which they appear. A common area where you can find such types of advertisements are social media platforms, or the recommended pages of a web page. A lot of people would recognize an advert when they see one.
However, this is not the case for native advertisements because they do not look like advertisements. This makes them an effective way of convincing the consumer to buy a product without thinking that an advertisement has made them buy the product. Native advertisements are the leading form of advertisements with a high rate of returns.
The best part about native advertising is that the information of the advertisement is naturally embedded in the content of the particular platform, thus making it appear to be in the right place. The main goal for native advertising is to create an advertisement that naturally meets the target population. This advertisement does not need to appear like it is in the wrong place because this could prevent the target consumer from taking an action.
Principles
The key factor to making good advertisements is by following the various principles of advertising. These principles provide advertisers with proven ways of creating and converting advertisements. If the advertiser does not follow these guidelines, the chances are high that they would create illegal or bad advertisements that will not enable their target consumers to take action.
There are many principles involved in advertising. All that matters is to ensure that the advert follows all the advertising ethics. If an advertisement does not follow such ethics, it will not be considered an effective advertisement for driving sales within an organization.
It is important for an advertiser to choose the most reliable principles based on the type of advertisements they intend to create. They should also consider their audience and industry since this will guide them in knowing which principles they should follow.
Realtor
As a real estate agent, the main job is to create adverts to sell and buy homes. If you do not create such adverts, it would be challenging to find potential clients. Therefore, as a realtor, it is important to know how to write good advertisements to evoke action among the target population.
The easier it is for your advert to evoke an action, the more successful you would be as a real estate agent. The advertisements created vary depending on where you would place it. For instead, native adverts can be used on web content and social media pages to drive the right traffic to your website.
The principles of realtor advertising vary from one person to another. Advertising is all about having a strategy and these strategies are likely to change from one person to another. Therefore, every realtor would have to follow the principles that match their advertising strategy.
For instance, one realtor might decide to use images and texts to post on their Facebook page while another realtor might create native adverts on their web page. The principles for creating these adverts vary and this requires the relator to know which principles they should consider or follow.
Sexism
Sexism is one of the factors that some companies consider to be ideal in their advertising strategies. While sexism might bring positive results for some companies, it is generally known to negatively affect organizations. Many consumers tend to have a negative attitude towards companies that use sexism. If consumers have a negative attitude about your company, the chances are high that they will not purchase your products.
If you plan on creating adverts for your company, sexism is one of the principles that you should never consider regardless of the products you sell. Sexism is considered a prejudice against women and therefore, can result in your business losing customers within a short period.
Given the current technological advancements, social media platforms have become a place for analyzing what is good and what is bad. Therefore, an advert with sexism can result in an overnight downfall for your company.
Smart
Smart is among the principles you need to follow while creating an advertisement. Have you ever wondered why brands in the same industry vary in terms of fame? The main reason for such is that some brands know how to create smart adverts while other brands do not know the essential or smart advertising.
When you create a smart advert, you are less likely to face lawsuits because everything about the advertisement would be legal. The advertisement would also reach the target population, compelling them to take action. In most cases, such an action would be the purchase of the organization’s products.
Television
Television is one of the most common media used in passing advertisements from the advertisers to the consumers. If an individual is creating an advertisement for television, they should know all the principles that need to be observed.in most cases, television adverts will include a voice-over talent. The voice-over increases the reliability of the advertisement in compelling the consumer to take an action.
Television advertisements are mostly geared towards a specific population. Therefore, it is important to identify the target population before making the advertisement. Such would enhance its reliability in passing the intended message. It is also important to learn more about the changing consumer needs to keep the advertisements up-to-date.
Violation
Violation in advertising means going against the legal rules. When making an advertisement, it is important to understand the common violations to avoid committing them. One of the most common advertising violations is the use of another company’s content without their permission. The company whose company has been used can sue for a huge compensation. Any advertisement that is against the advertising policies can be considered a violation and is subject to penalties.
Unethical advertising
Unethical advertising refers to the type of advertising that goes against the interests of the consumers. Such advertisements can be deceptive or manipulative. This means that the consumer would not purchase a product because they wanted to but because an advertisement has pushed them into doing so. If the advertisement was deceptive, the consumer would not be purchasing the exact product they were persuaded to purchase. Such an action is considered unethical.
Conclusion
It is the wish of every firm to maximize its profits by increasing the number of sales. Increasing the number of sales would require the organization to market its products. This is the part where advertising plays an important role because it helps in creating awareness of the product’s availability.
However, not all advertising will increase the number of sales because some adverts might be misleading. Consumers prefer to know the truth about a product before they can purchase it. If the consumer realizes that they were deceived into buying a particular product, the chances are high that they would not be interested in purchasing it again in the future.
The good news is that advertising ethics makes it easy for organizations to create the right advertisements which would in turn, enhance product awareness. An enhancement of product awareness would increase the number of people willing to buy the product. This would in turn increase the profits that the organization would make. The next time you plan on advertising your products, it is important to consider the legal and ethical environment to ensure that your advertisements do not go against the moral beliefs of your consumers.
Read Also: The components of a good advertisement. A good advertisement would play an important role in ensuring that you reach your target clients without risking lawsuits. A good advertisement would follow all the necessary codes of ethics, legal environment guidelines and be truthful to the consumer.
If you plan on enlarging your market share, advertising is one of the best ways to achieve such. However, not every advertising will help you expand your market share. All you need to do is ensure that your advertisement has all the necessary regulations: Origin of digital marketing; Digital marketing history, evolution, timeline, chronology; Marketing costs definition
External resources: Jstor ; Microsoft advertising
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