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Utilitarianism and Advertising
Term Paper ID:38669
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In the broad area of corporate responsibility to consumers a number of moral issues ...... More...
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Paper Abstract:
Discusses the moral issues arising from corporate responsibility to consumers. One of these concern the role of advertising in modern business. Using the utilitarian moral framework and the discussion of the issue presented by Shaw, discuss the ethics of advertising.
Paper Introduction:
Utilitarianism is a philosophical doctrine that state that actions are tobe evaluated as right wrong good or evil by considering their likelycontribution to the happiness of human beings In this calculation thehappiness of any one person is to count for no more or less than thehappiness of any other An action is considered to be correct if itproduces as much or more of an increase in happiness of everyone affectedby it than any alternative action and wrong if it does not Stateddifferently
Text of the Paper:
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Views aboutconsumerism are affected by ones pre-existing thoughts and feelings. Mill wrote that morality isrelative. An example would be to refer to a food product as'light.' The implication is that the product is low calorie. Therefore, all ethical decisions rely on the application ofcertain pre-existing ideas, values, rules and principles to specificsituations. The productmay not be low calorie, and the advertiser might reasonably argue that itwas referring to the color or the taste of the food product rather than tothe number of calories it contains. In other words, there is no one universal right and wrong.Instead, each person must determine for themselves what is ethical andjust. Mill's Utilitarian theory would also argue thatconsumerism is neither inherently evil nor inherently good. Mill would reject Laconia's suggestions. The second is relates to the concept of human dignity. According toLaczniak, the third moral principle that advertisers should respectinvolves a concept of social responsibility. Laczniak suggestedthat advertising can and should be evaluated against three principles. Mill expanded on this theoryby defining happiness as pleasure and the lack of pain. It is difficult to reconcile the competing arguments which would benecessary to resolve this issue. The first of the four techniques involve the use ofambiguous statements. The thirdtechnique involves exaggeration, and the use of psychological appeals togenerate interest in products resulting in sales. In other words,advertising is a manifestation of the utilitarianism doctrine. According to Shaw, those who would defend advertising are untroubledby the accusations that advertising uses deception to sell products despitethe fact that the moral requirement for full disclosure challenges thecontent of almost every advertising campaign. An action is considered to be correct if itproduces as much or more of an increase in happiness of everyone affectedby it than any alternative action, and wrong if it does not. Stateddifferently, John Stuart Mill theory of Utilitarianism suggested thatactions are right in proportion as they tend to promote happiness, wrong asthey tend to produce the reverse of happiness. In his essay, Gene Laczniak makes specific reference to the moralprinciples relevant to improving advertising ethics. In other words, encouraging consumerism and lavish expendituresis harmful to individuals and to society as a whole. Utilitarianism is a philosophical doctrine that state that actions are tobe evaluated as right, wrong, good, or evil by considering their likelycontribution to the happiness of human beings. In his essay, Foley suggests that mostadvertising is fundamentally exploitive since it relies on deceptivepractices and encourages consumerism. Forexample, Shaw notes that since advertisers are constantly trying topersuade potential customers to purchase their products and sincepresenting simple, factual information about a product is not likely to bethe best way to market and advertise that product, there is always atemptation to misrepresent the product in some way in an attempt toconvince consumers to try or buy the product. Their rational Sinceadvertising is an aspect of the a market economy which fosters andencourages the manufacture and sale of a vast array of products for everytaste, and since the market economy rewards companies that are able tomanufacture, distribute, market and sell products and services mostefficiently that advertising is seen as an aspect of a process thatultimately benefits more consumers than it harms. Thisprinciple deals with the idea that advertisers should allow potentialconsumers to make responsible choices and that their "lower inclinations"should not be exploited when advertising a product or service. In this calculation, thehappiness of any one person is to count for no more or less than thehappiness of any other. If Mill was correct, even deceptivepractices could be justified if they resulted in the greatest good for thegreatest number of people. The second common technique involvesconcealing certain facts that are unflattering about the product. Thefirst is that advertising should not deliberately seek to deceiveconsumers. Shaw adds that advertisersfrequently use one or more of four deceptive techniques to persuadeconsumers to buy. Specifically, advertising thattends to reduce human desires to the acquiring more material possessionsare a false and destructive vision of the goals that individuals shouldstrive for. In his essay, Shaw makes a number of important points in criticizingthe role of advertising in encouraging consumption and consumerism.
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