Research Paper on Advertising in Modern Business: Misleading Clients?

Introduction

Advertisements are essential in modern day businesses. Any kind of business that would like to expand their customer outreach has to use advertisements to attract customers. Over the years, the advertisements have been used to make the buyers prefer some products over others; this has led to misleading information with the intention of winning the attention of clients. Advertisement is a type of communication that is directed at some specified people to make them consider some services or products. The advertisements may be audio or visual.

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Exaggerated descriptions about some products or services make the consumer develop negative attitudes towards the products. There is a need to consider the Utilitarianism when making up advertisements. This theory entails at having a look at the harsh consequences that misleading advertisements may have to the general population. Something right has to make people happy when they are misled; there are high chances of them not living a happy life. The consequences of using the wrong advertisements are more than the benefits as per the context.

Ethical Perspectives

Ethics is one of the topics being studied under philosophy, it is considered as a combination of rules that control behavior in society. Misleading information that is derived from the advertisement may contain a persuasive effect in the society to an extent of affecting common norms of people. Different advertisements are directed to different people, this, however, does not happen in modern day life. Children gain access to advertisements that mislead their moral values. This immoral initiation may cause rejection and unhappy feelings among the minds of people.

Ethically, the ways in which women are used in advertisements make the public to feel unhappy. Women tend to feel they are considered as tools used for personal gain. If the advertisers have to make their products familiar to the intended audience, there is a need for them to check on ethical perspectives when they use female gender and expose content that may mislead children.

How Some Justify Advertisements

Advertisements may be viewed as a better way to tell about products and services that are offered. This view may make some people like advertisements since they use them as a guide to the choice of products. Some people may also view advertisements as misleading due to the disappointments that are associated with the products that they are convinced to buy. The market may end up understanding advertisements as unethical means of looking for customers in a competitive market.

In recent days, it should be understood that the rise of competition cannot allow people to be misled just because the producers or marketers want their products to be bought. The behavior of buying is controlled by the reality of product or services. Once the population realizes that they are misled, they have an option to shift to other products in the market. This shift may create an unhappy feeling among the public and product sellers.

How People Criticize Advertisements

Many scholars have been involved in criticism of advertisements based on the psychological effects that accompany them. Many advertisements have been said to be misleading to the public in terms of ethical considerations. Advertisements which should be made private are left to the whole public; which contains children. The advertisements such as narrations on the use of contraceptives make children consider using them. The sellers of the products have however defended their move claiming that the competitive market does not allow them to sell products without reaching out to people.

Based on the ethical consequences that the misleading advertisements have in the public, the majority of the parents do not consider advertisements as just a means of selling products. Some of them think that the advertisements are aimed at destroying moral values in society. According to them, the past did not entail then recent kind of advertisements that are included in the mainstream media.

Utilitarian Dilemma

This is a theory that advocates for things to be done based on the consequences. According to this theory, people should take steps that are aimed at benefiting majority of the population. Happiness and wellbeing are among the results that should be accomplished through any decision. The sellers of products and services do not consider the wellbeing of customers anymore. The main intention of advertisements according to them has shifted to selfishness.

Personal gain has been the reason as to why many people end up buying products or services that they did not expect. Product sellers aim at fulfilling their selfish needs without considering negative perspectives that may have a huge impact on them in the near future. The Utilitarian theory does not consider any mischief or even evil deeds aimed at making the largest population of people unhappy, therefore it does not advocate for misleading advertisements.

Conclusion

The components of recent advertisements have been seen through the context to contain misleading information. People believe that advertisements should be telling about the reality concerning products in the market, the sellers, on the other hand, think that advertisements are important in making the customers to buy their products. This has created conflict in the society as buyers do not feel they are being told the truth regarding products. Some populations feel that they are not advised to follow the right way.

It is clear that the sellers of products have turned into destroying societal norms. They are sacrificing cultural values with the intention of selling their products. The community has been carried away by economy matters. Some buyers have agreed to be misled into buying cheaper products without understanding the consequences that such products may have on their health. This has therefore made it hard for the public neither to live happily nor be well.

Recommendations

To correct the current mess that has been created in the market, the sellers need to consult the public when making advertisements. There is a need for them to consider feedback from customers after they have used the products or services that they pay for. This move will enable them to make the right decisions. The right decisions, in this case, mean those that will not end up at making people feel unhappy. Ethics is an important consideration in marketing; it should never be avoided by sellers. The consequences of disregarding ethics in business may include complete failure; the sellers should, therefore, work ethically. It should be understood that some advertisements are for specified people, therefore, they should not be part of the mainstream media. Sellers should try as much as they can to ensure they only reach out to their intended audiences when advertising. This is a decision that will end up in enabling children to grow under moral guidance.