As consumers, we may not be aware of advertisements' influence on our lives, however, they impact our everyday decisions. Advertisers know their customers well and how to successfully capture their attention. They covertly lead consumers to follow and value whatever item or idea they choose to promote. The influence of advertising is often undercounted and overlooked which is where its true power lies. Once we recognize its sway over our mind and decisions we can realize the need for ethical advertising.
Ethical advertising is a set of well defined principles that govern the ways of communication between the buyer and the seller. Ethical advertising places priority on conveying truthful messages and promoting products that are beneficial to customers. The goal of honest messaging is to establish trust and maintain a relationship between the buyer and seller through a set of shared values.
Misleading and unethical advertisements have a plethora of consequences for both consumers and business’. ⅔ of U.S. consumers prefer buying from brands that align with their personal values. Consumers also prioritize and value brands that have their best interest at heart and look to form relationships with brands that maintain open communication channels. However, if customers find out they were lied to, they willingly spread the truth about the company. They don't hesitate to utilize various social media and news platforms and have even gone so far as suing companies for damages.
Additionally, persuasion tactics have heavily shifted to social media to target a younger audience. The average social media user sees over 10,000 ads a day meaning that users come across and interact with ads everyday. The majority of social media users fall between the ages of 11 and 26. The implications of unethical advertising become evident when you analyze this demographic of social media users. Adolescence is a critical period of development. Different areas of the brain begin to evolve, specifically the prefrontal cortex which starts to develop at an accelerated pace. The prefrontal cortex is responsible for our decision making processes. The brain in this stage is especially open to growth and learning which significantly increases the influence of advertisements over adolescent thinking. As our brain processes and interprets information at this age, it can accept potentially false advertisements as truth affecting perception of self and the world. During this period of growth the adolescents' understanding of life, values, and identity is formed. Advertisements that aren’t ethical and promote untrue messages about individuals and the world can negatively impact a consumer's core values. Advertisements are designed to persuade, but when they are misleading, customers not only make uninformed and potentially harmful decisions, but adolescents perceive them as reality. The true costs and intentions of a purchase decision are misleading and purposely hidden from the customer, especially a younger consumer.
Since the implications of unethical advertising are so consequential, the Federal Trade Commission has set guidelines for companies to follow. Even with these regulations firms can still do more to maintain and uphold ethical values. Taking affirmative action is important and can be done by establishing a code of ethics in which a company discloses their core competencies. Business owners can protect themselves and their audience by implementing these standards to uphold the quality and transparency of advertisements.