Winning the Battle but Losing the War: Ironic Effects of Training Consumers to Detect Deceptive Advertising Tactics

Abstract

Misleading information pervades marketing communications, and is a long-standing issue in business ethics. Regulators place a heavy burden on consumers to detect misleading information, and a number of studies have shown training can improve their ability to do so. However, the possible side effects have largely gone unexamined. We provide evidence for one such side-effect, whereby training consumers to detect a specific tactic (illegitimate endorsers), leaves them more vulnerable to a second tactic included in the same ad (a restrictive qualifying footnote), relative to untrained controls. We update standard notions of persuasion knowledge using a goal systems approach that allows for multiple vigilance goals to explain such side-effects in terms of goal shielding, which is a generally adaptive process by which activation and/or fulfillment of a low-level goal inhibits alternative detection goals. Furthermore, the same goal systems logic is used to develop a more general form of training that activates a higher-level goal (general skepticism). This more general training improved detection of a broader set of tactics without the negative goal shielding side effect.

Marketing ethics education and consumer wisdom: conceptualizing the relationship

“…, 2015; Rundle-Thiele and Wymer, 2010). Due to the occurrence of several ethical issues, ethics have been emphasized by several authors, especially within the field of marketing whose practices are perceived to be unethical by several researchers (Ayuba, 2019; Wilson et al. , 2021).…”

“…Marketing ethics is introduced to marketing education whether in a form of a separate stand-alone course or integrated concepts within existing marketing courses (Jonson et al, 2015;Rundle-Thiele and Wymer, 2010). Due to the occurrence of several ethical issues, ethics have been emphasized by several authors, especially within the field of marketing whose practices are perceived to be unethical by several researchers (Ayuba, 2019;Wilson et al, 2021). That is why different pedagogical approaches have been developed by education institutions to Marketing ethics education and consumer wisdom make sure of delivering marketing ethics courses in the most effective and life-like manner (Aguirre et al, 2020;Hunt and Vitell, 2006).…”

“…The marketing field has been widely criticized by various researchers as the unethical and sinister side of the business (Ayuba, 2019; Goo et al. , 2021; Wilson et al. , 2021).…”

“…Marketing ethics is widely referred to as the integration of ethical standards and principles into the practices of decision-making, developing marketing strategies and different marketing operations (Hrehov a and Ziaran, 2016;Laczniak and Murphy, 2019). The marketing field has been widely criticized by various researchers as the unethical and sinister side of the business (Ayuba, 2019;Goo et al, 2021;Wilson et al, 2021). This view is explained by firms' departure from virtuous conduct and embracement of unethical conduct and malpractices (Madhani, 2020).…”

Bridging Who They Are with Who They Thought They’d Be: The Effects of Gen Zers’ Subjective Well-Being on Their Boycott Responses to Online and Offline Unethical Situations

“…Together with brand avoidance, boycotts represent acts of brand subversion, in which consumers try to undermine the success of the brand's marketing activities (Wilson, Darke, and Sengupta 2022). Though they appear to be similar, brand avoidance and boycotting present subtle differences.…”