Advertising Agency Practitioners' Perceptions of Ethical Decisions

Abstract

Agency personnel frequently follow standard of immediate consequences when deciding how to act.A group of faculty from the University of Illinois is involved in an ongoing study of the perceived ethical decision making of practitioners in mass media-related occupations. We have selected a n inductive approach to the inquiry. That is, rather than attempting to operate-implicitly or explicitly-from some ethical paradigm. we have deliberately undertaken our research to allow the practitioners maximum freedom to relate their own perceptions of ethical decisions in their day-today work.' The research instrument asked the following: I ) Do you feel that you encounter ethical decisions in the practice of your job? 2) If nor, please explain why you feel these types of decisions do not arise in your work. (a) Please indicate how jrequenr/v these decisions arise. (b) Please describe, in a paragraph or two, the rypes ojsiruorions in which you typically encounter the most important of these decisions.The questionnaire was pre-tested in one of the country's largest advertising agencies under anticipated study conditions. It proved to provide both a general consensus on certain issues apparently fraught with ethical dimensions, as well as gratifying detail and candor (One practitioner 3) If you do ... 'The rcrurch was thus d c s i g d to avoid what C. Wrkht Mills a l l s 'abstracted cmpiricism.' Thc lack of definitional chnty over ethical terms and cornpkxity of moral dccisionnuking prompted us toward the tradition of Max Wcbcr's "vcrstchen' and away Irom r i d and confining mcthodologin. For more details. wnte the authm.related pressure to attempt to bribe a government official.)This article concerns one segment of that study -the advertising agency. Responses were first analyzed to determine the types of situations (or the lack of them)reported. Then various ethical paradigms were applied to find the best "fit" with the ethical dimensions the practitioners reported. This article follows that path: First, a reporting of the general findings; second, a discussion of the ethical system that appeared to offer the greatest explanatory power; and third. a conclusion concerning the major theoretical moral question that emerges. ProcedureFor each subject area (e.g., advertising, magazine journalism, etc.) a list of representative employment units was developed. This article reports on responses of 123 employees of advertising agencies. Three of the agencies are quite large, one quite small.Inquiries were then made of firms of these types and "hands-off" cooperation secured. Questionnaires were sent for all personnel from the secretarial level up. The firm's management then distributed the forms with a covering memo urging cooperation while noting the voluntary nature of the project. Completed forms were mailed directly to the researchers by the employees with anonymity assured.

Media Influence: Pre- and Postexposure of College Women to Media Images and the Effect of Mood and Body Image

“…Advertisers often rely on utilitarian ethics in their decision making, that is, an action is ethical only if it benefits society (Rotzoll & Christians, 1980), and yet, many advertisers seem to market their products without such consideration as they are driven by profits rather than public interests or social needs. If indeed the advertising of the ideal body generates harmful social consequences, such as emotional distress and engaging in unhealthy behaviors (e.g., eating disorders, cosmetic surgery), then the use of such advertisements can be unethical.…”

Did Calvin Klein go too far this time? (American advertising practitioners' attitudes to present-day advertising)

“…The social construct comprised 11 statements (6)(7)(8)(9)(10)(11)(12)(13)(14)(15)(16). Statements in this construct ranged from whether current advertising is socially acceptable to the unacceptability thereof at a personal level.…”

“…• Executives notice a greater proportion of ads that irritate and insult the public's intelligence • Business people believe that advertising has a greater need for ethical codes than their own industries. Rotzoll and Christians (1980) requested 123 employees of four advertising agencies to relate their own perceptions of ethical decisions in their day-today work and found that the two main areas of concern involving ethical decisions, were the advertising message and agency/client relationships.…”

A Critical Review of the Costs of Advertising: a Transformative Consumer Research Perspective

“…It noted that media and publicity departments were obsessed with pushing the edge, being over the top, and being Bmore offensive,^meaning some actually viewed ethics as Bbad for business^and claimed that imposing a code of conduct on these activities would violate tenants of free speech. When it came to ethical and moral issues, the authors concluded, advertisers were like an Bostrich with its head in the sand,^or in the word of one participant of their study, Bignorance is bliss.^Such ethical myopia has been confirmed by a variety of other studies including Moon and Frank (2000); James et al (1994); Hyman et al (1994); Hunt et al (1989); Hunt and Chonko (1987); and Rotzoll and Christians (1980), and recently popularized by the AMC network's drama, Mad Men (Letizia 2010), which ran for seven seasons and lifted the small cable network to new status within the industry (Safo 2015).…”