The Ethics Of Persuasive Advertising - 1278 Words

Jackson Catalano Business Ethics Ethics of Persuasive Advertising Each day we are bombarded with advertisements from a plethora of corporations in every waking moment of our lives. Advertising agencies have become so advanced at what they do, that often times we may not even realize we are being advertised a product. This raises an interesting ethical dilemma over a certain type of advertising: persuasive advertising. Philosophers, economists, and business professionals have debated over whether or not persuasive advertising is an immoral violation of the autonomy of consumers. While not all forms of advertising are in and of themselves certainly immoral, persuasive advertising is particularly reprehensible due to the fact that not only does it manipulate our unconscious desires of which we are completely unaware in order to sell a product, but it also routinely leads us to act against our own best interest, thus overriding our autonomy. In the 1982, Robert Arrington wrote a paper titled â€Å"Advertising and Beha vior Control,† in which he separated the complex issue of what constitutes autonomy into four parts: (a) autonomous desire, (b) rational desire and choice, (c) free choice, and (d) control or manipulation. Arrington notes the differences in points of view between those who are against advertising on the belief that persuasive advertisements are guilty of â€Å"controlling their lives and manufacturing their very souls,† and the advertisers who believe it is an effectiveShow MoreRelatedTruth : The Search For Truth794 Words   |  4 Pagestruth, undoubtedly, has been an interesting one for scholars and philosophers. My first attempt at responding to this week’s question, regarding what level of truth is necessary in advertising, took me by surprise. 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His overarching argument is that persuasive advertising ‘overrides the autonomy of consumers’ and he concludes that ‘all forms of a certain common type of advertising (i.e. persuasive adv ertising) are morally wrong’. In my response to this article, IRead MoreHumor and Persuasion1318 Words   |  6 Pagesof General Psychology, a study was done by Jim Lyttle, where he researched the effectiveness of humor and persuasion. He used business ethics training while trying to determine if humor plays a role and how much in persuasion. Cartoon images as well as wisecracks were used in the study to see which the audience responded to more. The basic study was, â€Å"â€Å"The Ethics Challenge, a training exercise used by the Lockheed Martin Corporation. 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