Online Advertising: Ethics And Ethics Of Advertising

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Advertising is essential to create business and promote organizations, as it creates a brand image and attracts customers to a service or a product. Without advertising, sales would most likely suffer and the potential for new customers would decrease. While transforming from the print of yellow journalism to click-bating of online advertising, the code of conduct and ethics of online advertising is becoming questionable. While advertising is essential to the success of a business if individuals are being exploited for their personal and private information, advertising methods such as click-bating and behavioural advertisement become unethical to the morality of advertising.

According to the study of Baek and Morimoto in 2012, people are …show more content…

Most companies require information about their customers for various reasons. To provide customers with some reassurance that their information his not being used inappropriately some companies have participated in programs “that require advertisers to adhere to a particular set of standard practices in exchange for the right to display a seal icon on their… online advertising.” (Stanaland, Lwin, & Miyazaki, 2011, 512). Programs such as the seal icon are in place but they are not popularized. The average individual must continue to use their personal judgment while browsing the internet. Many individuals feel comfort in popular and seemingly secure websites such as Facebook and Google. However, Facebook still allows advertisements that collect personal information and allows companies to suggest personalized advertisements. As from my own experience, an ad on Facebook for a clothing company displayed a clothing article with my personal name and job description on a sample of their …show more content…

While being informed is the responsibility of an individual, it is perceived to be highly unethical particularly when click-bating children. Children lack the mental capacity to make critical thinking decisions without an adult. This results in “children voluntarily giving up personal information, [and] with such advanced technology that enables Web sites to record data by tracing one’s online travels.”(Austin & Reed, 1990, p.596) By attracting children with sensational click-bating headlines, companies exploit the vulnerable. The use of advance technology to record data, known as Cookies, can cause another effect on those even capable of making logical choices. When health, government and financial websites use Cookies, it can cause the “‘chilling effect’, whereby individuals are discouraged from conducting Internet searches, making purchases or using specific consumer services because of personalized advertising applications.”(Finn & Wadhwa, 2014, p.26) This chilling effect limits searches for individuals because the affect of behavioural advertising hinders their ability to inquire information on health, financial and political news that can benefit them. The model of using sensational click-bating headlines to gain the attention of the customers in being used in the public with political leaders, and organizational group. This

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