Ethics in Advertising
An Overview of Marketing Tactics and the Ethical Implications
Advertisers employ many different strategies to sell products. Discover what some of them are and learn the ethical questions that arise from the use of such tactics.
It’s no secret that advertisements are supposed to persuade you to buy a product. That’s their job. Advertising may attempt to educate you or entertain you, but beneath it all, the ultimate goal is always to sell you. So, it’s only natural that advertisers would resort to all kinds of slippery tactics as a way of getting you motivated to buy. The question is this: are these strategies ethical? Do companies have an obligation to tell the truth or does the goal of selling the product override such ethical concerns?
Advertising Strategies
When marketing a product, advertisers will use several methods to get you interested and ultimately, to get you to purchase. Here are a just few of the more popular ones:
- Celebrity endorsements – using well known people to promote their product
- Product comparison – showing how their product is superior to another
- Price comparison – showing how their product is a better deal than another
- Selling a dream or lifestyle – showing how their product will make your dreams come true
- Selling with sex – showing how their product will make you popular with the opposite sex
- Selling sentiment - connecting their product to cherished emotions
Obviously, some strategies have the ability to be more subjective than others. For example, when using the strategy of “selling a lifestyle”, many businesses will work hard to create a brand image. That image may be associated with status, lifestyle, or success. When selling a product with that brand, advertisers will then focus on selling that image. It may not necessarily have anything to do with the real value or quality of the product itself. The customer is simply buying the name and the concepts that go along with it. However, owning that product will likely not truly change the reality of the consumer’s status. Is it therefore ethical to sell the image instead of the product? Is it truthful?
Ethical Concerns
Advertising typically plays upon emotions. It uses desire to lure people into the purchase. Creating that desire is a task that requires a certain amount of illusion. Advertisers must create a scenario that heightens the consumer’s emotional state. No matter what strategy they use, they are always building a fantasy – one in which the consumer’s life is better because of the product.
Ethical questions abound when considering modern advertising techniques:
- What responsibility, if any, does a company have for honestly educating the consumer about its product?
- Should advertisers be allowed to suggest that a product will make a person more sexy/interesting/beautiful/successful/etc?
- Is it ethical to use celebrities to sell products they probably don’t even use themselves?
- Is it the buyer’s responsibility to be aware of these strategies and not allow them to manipulate their emotions?
While there is no cut and dry answer to these questions, it goes without saying that consumers must be skeptical of advertising. Understanding the techniques used is a good way to start considering the impact of advertising.
