Consumers are at the mercy of misleading advertising practises

MANY companies blatantly lie, misrepresent or conceal the facts when it comes to providing consumers with information on their products or services.

For example, important characteristics of products which are harmful are not always communicated to potential consumers.

This essentially means consumers are not always able to make informed purchasing decisions.

Particularly in the emerging markets of developing nations, consumers are vulnerable to psychologically-appealing advertising.

Blatant untruths are often used in ambiguous wording, and companies coax consumers into making false inferences about products to deceive them and lure them into purchases.

Deceptive marketing is often unnoticed by consumers, and humour is even used to conceal facts as this provides a fleeting escape from the stresses of daily living.

Untruthful statements are often made and images of products are far removed from reality.

For example, many fast food restaurants mislead consumers by placing photos of products with certain ingredients on billboards.

When consumers actually

purchase the advertised product, it is often devoid of some of the ingredients and is about half the size.

Many companies cover themselves by saying their products ‘help’ to do this or that.

This simply means these products ‘assist’ to do something and no more.

And so the adverts placed are literally and legally acceptable. This is not the case ethically, however.

The word ‘helps’ is used at will to advertise products, as are ‘virtually’, ‘as much as’ or ‘up to’.

These are examples of ‘weasel’ words which mask, evade or help a company retreat from making direct, honest statements about their products and services.

The result is that many adverts are ambiguous and mislead consumers, ultimately costing them money as well as damaging their interests.

For example, take a number of company slogans that state they are ‘the best’ in what they do.

Has it been substantiated by research that they are the best, or is this simply a ploy to obtain greater market share? Ethically speaking, such advertising is unacceptable.

It is commonplace that certain companies engage in puffery (a legal term), which is when product qualities are blatantly exaggerated, virtually fraudulently - but in a legal manner to aid a business obtain a strategic competitive advantage.

The difference between mere puffery and fraud is difficult to ascertain.

Making consumers ‘need’ a product that they might not have considered previously, so as to make profits, is generally considered unethical behaviour, while humour is used in various forms to deliberately deceive consumers into buying a product.

An ethical frame of reference and starting point is critical for all conduct at work, and marketing should be no different.