Is Evidence Important For Advertising - 1120 Words

Is Evidence Important in Advertising? With the rise of technology and the widespread use of the internet in their everyday lives, consumers are currently being exposed to more advertisements each day than they were before. As people become more connected to goods and services through their computers and smartphones, ads are getting more facetime with the public. As advertising is gaining a larger foothold in our cultural consciousness, it is important to ask the question: Does it matter if advertisements mislead possible consumers? In this paper, I will attempt to answer this question by asserting that companies should not have to give substantive evidence for claims in their advertisements unless their products may lead consumers to†¦show more content†¦Misleading advertising can be more intricate than mere puffery because it can cause serious harm to the consumer depending on the industry that it is located in. For instance, misleading advertising in the healthcare industry could be disastrous. If a drug to cu re the common cold could be twisted in an ad to lead consumers to believe that it treated a more serious disease, such as HIV or malaria, then it could cause unnecessary pain and death in its target consumer base. In the same way, disclosing the ingredients in food products can be shown to be necessary because this allows consumers with severe allergies to avoid ingredients that could cause them serious injury. In this way, it could be said that companies owe certain explanations to their customers depending on their industry. However, customers should be given the personal autonomy to make their own decisions about goods and services based on their judgement, especially if the product will not put them in any serious danger. This is where regulating misleading advertisements could be more paternalistic in nature. For example, if an industry has a very homogenous product, then it can be up to the consumer to consider the value of their products based on their advertising. Outlets su ch as the internet also provide consumers with relatively unbiased information about products in the form of customer reviews and websites