In Defense of Advertising: A Social Perspective

Many critics have questioned the ethics of advertising as an institution in current American society. The purpose of this paper is to critically examine three negative social trends that have been attributed to advertising: (a) the elevation of consumption over other social values, (b) the increasin...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Phillips, Barbara J. (Author)
Format: Electronic Article
Language:English
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Published: Springer Science + Business Media B. V 1997
In: Journal of business ethics
Year: 1997, Volume: 16, Issue: 2, Pages: 109-118
Further subjects:B Social Perspective
B Individual Consumer
B Negative Trend
B Social Factor
B Economic Growth
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Summary:Many critics have questioned the ethics of advertising as an institution in current American society. The purpose of this paper is to critically examine three negative social trends that have been attributed to advertising: (a) the elevation of consumption over other social values, (b) the increasing use of goods to satisfy social needs, and (c) the increasing dissatisfaction of individual consumers. This explanation yields a defense of advertising which argues that the underlying cause of these negative trends is not advertising, but a larger social factor - capitalism. Solutions that address the capitalistic roots of these negative social trends are suggested.
ISSN:1573-0697
Contains:Enthalten in: Journal of business ethics
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.1023/A:1017948331820