Ethical dilemmas in the management of advertising activities

Abstract

Advertising is an area of economic life, with a lot of moral dilemmas. This is an area in which conflicts must be resolved between the three parties: advertisers, consumers and advertising agencies. The state is also becoming an entity in the advertising market, one which cares about the protection of individual entities, as well as other institutions upholding the law in Poland (eg the Office of Competition and Consumer Protection, the National Council of Radio Broadcasting and Television).

Relations between the parties in the advertising market are regulated in three ways. Through legislation, through self-regulation and consumer movement activities. The article focuses on the first two ways of regulation on the advertising market (due to the minimal impact of consumer movement in Poland on advertising). The growing criticism of advertising has meant that since the 1990s it has became the subject of ethical considerations raising the issues of business ethics and corporate social responsibility.Today, we can observe an increase in interest in the problems of business ethics and cor-porate social responsibility in the field of academic and business practice. The purpose of this article is to demonstrate the need to include the ethics of advertising in the area of social responsibility of business.

Abstract

Advertising is an area of economic life, with a lot of moral dilemmas. This is an area in which conflicts must be resolved between the three parties: advertisers, consumers and advertising agencies. The state is also becoming an entity in the advertising market, one which cares about the protection of individual entities, as well as other institutions upholding the law in Poland (eg the Office of Competition and Consumer Protection, the National Council of Radio Broadcasting and Television).

Relations between the parties in the advertising market are regulated in three ways. Through legislation, through self-regulation and consumer movement activities. The article focuses on the first two ways of regulation on the advertising market (due to the minimal impact of consumer movement in Poland on advertising). The growing criticism of advertising has meant that since the 1990s it has became the subject of ethical considerations raising the issues of business ethics and corporate social responsibility.Today, we can observe an increase in interest in the problems of business ethics and cor-porate social responsibility in the field of academic and business practice. The purpose of this article is to demonstrate the need to include the ethics of advertising in the area of social responsibility of business.