Current Ethical Dilemmas of Advertising Professionals

Abstract

Taxonomies (e.g., classification schemes) are valuable in that they clarify and create conceptual and theoretical frameworks to integrate a large variety of research (Brinkmann, 2002; Crié, 2003). In addition, taxonomies draw attention to the importance of a subject and provide a framework for organizing what we know and what we have yet to explore (Berenbaum, Raghavan, Le, Vernon, & Gomez, 2003). This article develops a taxonomy to explore the ethical considerations of advertising professionals. A netnographic study was conducted and the results are presented. A taxonomy is developed in which advertising practitioner concerns are classified into four categories: (1) societal impact, (2) industry norms and rules, (3) my ethical dilemmas, (4) others’ behavior, and (5) industry responses. This research supports and extends previous academic research into advertising ethics.

Citation

Cohn, D.Y. (2005), "Current Ethical Dilemmas of Advertising Professionals", Pava, M.L. and Primeaux, P. (Ed.) Crisis and Opportunity in the Professions (Research in Ethical Issues in Organizations, Vol. 6), Emerald Group Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 149-168. https://doi.org/10.1016/S1529-2096(05)06008-6