Advertising Ethics (Basic Ethics in Action)
Editorial Reviews
Book Description
The purpose of this book is to offer a critical examination, analysis, and evaluation of key ethical issues that arise in contemporary advertising practice. The book is primarily designed to identify, examine, and evaluate ethical issues that arise in the planning and execution of the advertising process: the process of the communication of advertising messages of persuasion directed at consumers and, as in the case of some types of noncommercial advertising, citizens. With this specific purpose in mind, the book is not designed to address business ethics issues that arise generally and, as a matter of course, within the internal organizational structures of professional institutions, including advertising institutions. Thus the ethical issues addressed in this book are primarily the ones that arise as a result of the planning, production, and communication of messages of persuasion by advertisers to consumers and citizens. The method of analysis and evaluation employed in Advertising Ethics is primarily dialectical, in that it seeks to engage the reader in rational reflective dialogue concerning the various advertising strategies and practices that are of ethical concern. The ethical analysis is presented and conducted by way of rational arguments that seek to provide critical reflection on ethical issues that arise with regard to specific advertising strategies and practices in the hope that the reader will feel challenged to think and reflect about the ethical implications and consequences of those strategies and practices. The dialectical method employed throughout the book assumes no prior knowledge of ethical theory or advertising practice and is designed to build the analysis and evaluation of ethical issues that arise in advertising from the ground up, using only certain basic ethical principles that are explained and justified in Chapter 1. In keeping with the dialectical methodology of the book, the assumed perspective for the examination of the advertisements described in the various case studies throughout the book, is that of a putative rational person: a reasonable person capable of using his or her own critical rational judgment in identifying and assessing the ethical issues that relate to those advertisements for himself or herself. Our own analytical judgments concerning the ethical issues pertaining to those advertisements are ones that can reasonably be ascribed to such a putative rational person. To assist in the professional and thus practical contextualization of the ethical issues that arise in advertising, the book offers an exposition of the current advertising theory and practice that informs the various advertising strategies currently employed in the advertising industry. Moreover, the ethical analysis and the evaluation of the various ethical issues that follow the exposition of current adverting theory and practice are conducted by reference to actual case studies that assist in highlighting the ethical relevance and significance of those issues, as well as illustrating the practical application of the ethical analysis and evaluation with regard to those issues. Finally, the ethical analysis and evaluation for each relevant chapter is concluded by a summary of instrumental and ethical consequences that emanate either actually or potentially from the advertising strategy or practice under discussion. In a sense, the summaries of instrumental and ethical consequences can be viewed as "ethical balance sheets." Thus the dialectical structure of Advertising Ethics comprises four distinct but interrelated components: Case studies Professional practice Ethical analysis and evaluation, and Summaries of instrumental and ethical consequences The first part of the book (Chapters 1 and 2) provides an introductory account of how ethical principles and codes of ethics are relevant and applicable to professional practice in general and advertising practice in particular. Chapter 1 offers an account of ethical reasoning and ethical decision-making based on ethical principles that are, in turn, justified and supported by contemporary ethical theory. Chapter 2 offers an examination and discussion of codes of ethics relevant to the adverting industry and advertising practice. The second part of the book (Chapter 3) offers a critical examination and discussion of the relationship of advertising to the community. The third part (Chapters 4 through 8), which is the major section of the book, offers an account and critical analysis and evaluation of key strategies and practices in contemporary advertising ranging from the place of truth in advertising (Chapter 4); stereotyping (Chapter 5); endorsements and testimonials (Chapter 6); The Ethics of Space and Time (Chapter 7), which examines how advertising infiltrates and colonizes both private and public spatiotemporal spaces; and the digital explosion of advertising (Chapter 8), which examines the introduction and proliferation of digital modes of advertising and their ethical implications. Finally, the fourth part (Chapter 9) discusses the possibility and desirability of ethical advertising and the way that ethical problems in advertising can and should be addressed and resolved by the advertisers and the advertising industry. The chapter also offers a critical examination and evaluation of the various professional regulation options available to the advertising industry. The preferred option is reflective and effective self-regulation, which is in keeping with our overall view that ethical conduct essentially comprises ethical self-regulation at the personal, organizational, professional or institutional, and communal or societal levels. If, as Socrates claimed, "the unexamined life is not worth living," then it is the responsibility of all individuals to reflectively examine their oVkn lives at all levels and in all manifestations and to determine the best way to conduct their personal, familial, professional, and societal affairs within the parameters and constraints of ethical conduct that, in turn, necessitates an integrated comprehensive and consistent worldview that is good not only for the individual who holds and maintains such a worldview but also for the community at large as required by universal public morality (see Chapter 1).
From the Back Cover
Edward Spence and Brett Van Heekeren identify, examine, and evaluate ethical issues in advertising. The authors understand advertising as "the process of the communication of advertising messages of persuasion directed at consumers..." Combining cases with ethical analysis, the authors focus on numerous areas of advertising, including codes of ethics, the media, truth in advertising, and new technologies in advertising.
Advertising Ethics is the ninth book in the series Basic Ethics in Action, edited by Michael Boylan, which is a major new undertaking by Prentice Hall covering several areas in applied ethics, including business ethics, environmental ethics, medical ethics, and social and political ethics.
Advertising Ethics (Basic Ethics in Action)
Advertising Ethics (Basic Ethics in Action),Edward Spence,Brett Van Heekeren,Michael Boylan,Prentice Hall,0130941212,Advertising,Advertising & Promotion,Business & Economics,Business / Economics / Finance,Business Ethics,Business/Economics,Moral and ethical aspects,Business & Economics / Advertising & Promotion
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