Abstract
Effective online disclosure presentation is an important feature in banner advertising worldwide. The U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is viewed as the leader in providing guidance for making disclosures clear and conspicuous. This study examines the extent to which banner ads in the top 100 web sites in three countries with a shared language and intertwining legal and self-regulatory systems—the United States, United Kingdom, and Singapore—adhere to FTC guidance. The lack of systematic differences across countries suggests the need for disclosure research from a global perspective that takes cultural and linguistic differences into account.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
4As News (2007). 4As Partners The Webby Awards, Interviews Executive Director, David-Michel Davies. http://www.4as.org.sg/archive_news/2007/january/archive_webby_jan_03.htm.
ABC (American Broadcasting Company) (2005). Advertising Standards and Guidelines. http://www.espnabcsportscms.com/adsales/stuff/ABC_Advertising_Standards_and_Guidelines.pdf.
ABS (2004). Code of consumer banking practice. http://www.abs.org.sg.
Ang, P. H. (2000). Advertising regulations in Singapore. http://www.medialaw.com.sg/sgadrules.htm.
ASA (The Advertising Standards Authority) (2003). Compliance report: Internet banner and pop-up advertisements survey 2002. www.asa.org.uk.
ASA (The Advertising Standards Authority) (2005). www.asa.org.uk.
Attorney-General’s Chambers (1975). Consumer Protection (Trade Descriptions and SafetyRequirements) Act. http://statutes.agc.gov.sg/non_version/html/homepage.html.
Attorney-General’s Chambers (2004a). Consumer Protection Act. http://statutes.agc.gov.sg/non_version/cgi-bin/cgi_legdisp.pl?actno=2003-ACT-27-N&doctitle=CONSUMER%20PROTECTION%20(FAIR%20TRADING)%20ACT%202003%0A&date=latest&method=part.
Attorney-General’s Chambers. (2004b). Consumer Protection (Fair Trading) Act. http://statutes.agc.gov.sg/non_version/html/homepage.html.
Azcuenaga, M. L. (1995). Advertising regulation and the free market. Speech given before the International Congress of Advertising and Free Market, May 11. http://www.ftc.gov/speeches/azcuenaga/lima.htm.
Bezjian-Avery, A., Calder, B., & Iacobucci, D. (1998). New media interactive advertising vs. traditional advertising. Journal of Advertising Research, 38(July), 23–32.
Boddewyn, J. J. (1992). Global perspectives on advertising self-regulation: Principles and practices in thirty-eight countries. Westport, Connecticut: Quorum Books.
Borrie, Q. C. L. (2006). The one-stop shop for advertising regulation. Speech given at the ISBA Annual Conference, March 9. www.asa.org/uk.
Bovee, C. L., & Arens, W. F. (1986). Contemporary advertising. Homewood, IL: Richard D. Irwin, Inc.
BCAP (Broadcasting Committee of Advertising Practices) (n.d.). Advertising Standards Code, Rule 5.4.2. http://www.cap.org.uk/cap/codes/broadcast_codes/Guidance_Notes/Advertising+Guidance+Note+1.htm.
CBS, (2005). CBS television advertising guidelines, February. http://www.cbscommercialclearance.com/GUIDE10.pdf.
Chatterjee, P. (2005). Changing banner ad executions on the web: Impact on clickthroughs and communication outcomes. Advances in Consumer Research, 32, 51–57.
Davis, J. (1997). Advertising research: Theory and practice. Upper Saddle River, N.J.: Prentice Hall.
Eggland’s Best, Inc (1994). Proposed Consent Agreement with Analysis to Aid Public Comment, 59 CFR 8638, February 23.
Emarketer.com (2004). Biggest e-business opportunity in the world? www.emarketer.com.
Endeshaw, A., & Goh, E. (1999). Marketing and consumer law in Singapore. Singapore: Photoplates.
Federal Register, (1987). Disclosures in warranty or guarantee advertising. 16 CFR 239.2, May 21, p. 41.
FTC (Federal Trade Commission) (1970). Statement of enforcement policy, (October 21), CCH Trade Regulation Reporter, 7569.09.
FTC (Federal Trade Commission) (1979). FTC staff report: Consumer information remedies. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office.
FTC (Federal Trade Commission) (1983). Federal Trade Commission policy statement on deception, appended to Cliffdale Assocs., Inc., 103 F.T.C. 110 (1984). http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/policystmt/ad-decept.htm.
FTC (Federal Trade Commission) (2000a). DOT COM disclosures: Information about online advertising. http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/conline/pubs/buspubs/dotcom/index.html.
FTC (Federal Trade Commission) (2000b). Advertising and marketing on the Internet: Rules of the road. www.ftc.gov/bcp/conline/pubs/buspubs/ruleroad.pdf.
FTC (Federal Trade Commission) (2000c). Privacy online: Fair information practices in the electronic marketplace-A report to Congress. http://www.ftc.gov/reports/privacy2000/privacy2000text.pdf.
Final Report of the Committee on Consumer Protection (1962). London: Her Majesty’s Stationery Office.
Foxman, E. R., Muehling, D. D., & Moore, P. A. (1988). Disclaimer footnotes in ads: Discrepancies between purpose and performance. Journal of Public Policy and Marketing, 7, 127–137.
Fueroghne, D. K. (2000). Law & advertising: Current legal issues for agencies, advertisers and attorneys. Chicago: The Copy Workshop.
Geist, M. (2000). The fine print behind FTC’s advertising rules for the dot-com world. http://www.michaelgeist.ca/resc/html_bkup/june12000.html.
Gillespie, J. (2000). Web page design for designers-typography. http://www.wpdfd.com/wpdtypo.htm.
Hofacker, C. F., & Murphy, J. (2000). Clickable world wide web banner ads and content sites. Journal of Interactive Marketing, 14(1), 49–59.
Hoy, M. G., & Andrews, J. C. (2004). Adherence of prime-time televised advertising disclosures to the “Clear and Conspicuous” standard: 1990 versus 2002. Journal of Public Policy and Marketing, 23(2), 170–182.
Hoy, M. G., & Andrews, J. C. (2006). Entertainment industry ratings disclosures and the clear and conspicuous standard. Journal of Consumer Affairs, 40(1), 117–143.
Hoy, M. G., & Stankey, M. J. (1993). Structural characteristics of televised advertising disclosures: A comparison with the FTC clear and conspicuous standard. Journal of Advertising, 22(2), 47–58.
Huay, E. B. (1968). The psychology and pedagogy of reading. Cambridge, MA: MIT.
Interactive Advertising Bureau. (2007). IAB/PwC UK online adspend figures 2006. http://www.iabuk.net/en/1/iabadspend2006.mxs.
Internetworldstats.com, (n.d.). World Internet Usage Statistics: The Internet Big Picture. http://www.internetworldstats.com/.
Kolbe, R. H., & Muehling, D. D. (1992). A content analysis of the “Fine Print” in television advertising. Journal of Advertising Research, 14(2), 47–61.
Lan, L. L., & Lwin, M. O. (2001). An overview of the advertising laws and regulations in Singapore. The Journal of Business Law, (July), 399–413.
Lohtia, R., Donthu, N., & Hershberger, E. K. (2003). The impact of content and design elements on banner advertising click-through rates. Journal of Advertising Research, 43(4), 410–418.
Loke, S., Heng, C. B., & Goh, J. (2004). A consumer’s guide to fair trading. Singapore: Times Editions.
Marcus, A. (1992). Graphic design for electronic documents and user interface. New York: ACM.
Marcus, A. (1995). Principles of effective visual communication for graphical user interface design. In R. M. Baeker, J. Grudin, W. A. S. Buxton & S. Greenberg (Eds.), Readings in human–computer interaction toward the year 2000, 2nd ed. (pp. 425–439). San Francisco: Morgan Kaufmann.
Media Development Authority (2008) MDA Internet Policy and Regulatory Framework. http://www.mda.gov.sg/wms.www/devnpolicies.aspx?sid=161.
Miracle, G. E., & Nevett, T. (1987). Voluntary regulation of advertising: A comparative analysis of the United Kingdom and the United States. Lexington, Mass.: Lexington Books.
Moriarty, S. (1991). Creative advertising (2nd ed.). Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall.
Moriarty, S., & Duncan, T. (1989). How to create and deliver winning advertising presentations. Lincolnwood, IL: NTC Business Books.
Murch, G. (1995). Color graphics—Blessing or Ballyhoo. In R. M. Baeker, J. Grudin, W. A. S. Buxton & S. Greenberg (Eds.), Readings in human–computer interaction toward the year 2000, 2nd ed. (pp. 442–443). San Francisco: Morgan Kaufmann.
Murray, N. M. (1998). How super are video supers? A test of communication efficacy. Journal of Public Policy and Marketing, 17(1), 24–34.
Murray, N. M., Manrai, L. A., & Manrai, A. K. (1993). Public policy relating to consumer comprehension of television commercials: A review and some empirical results. Journal of Consumer Policy, 16, 145–170.
Nielsen, J., & Loranger, H. (2006). Prioritizing web usability. Berkeley, CA: New Riders.
OECD (Organisation of Economic Cooperation and Development) (2003). Consumers in the online marketplace: The OECD guidelines three years later. http://www.olis.oecd.org/olis/2002doc.nsf/LinkTo/dsti-cp(2002)4-final.
Paterson, D. G., & Tinker, M. A. (1940). How to make type readable. New York: Harper and Brothers.
Perreault, W. D., & Leigh, L. E. (1989). Reliability of nominal data based on qualitative judgements. Journal of Marketing Research, 26, 135–148.
Petty, R. (1997). Advertising law in the United States and European Union. Journal of Public Policy and Marketing, 16(1), 2–13.
Pfanner, E. (2005). On advertising: Online ads may finally come of age. International Herald Tribune. http://www.iht.com/articles/2005/01/10/ad10_ed3_.php.
Pitofsky, R. (2000). Electronic commerce and beyond: Challenges of the new digital age. http://www.ftc.gov/speeches/pitofsky/rpwilson2.shtm.
PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP. (2006). Internet advertising revenues continue to accelerate at an unprecedented rate with a 36% increase for the first half of ’06. http://www.iab.net/news/pr_2006_09_25.asp.
PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP. (2007). Internet ad revenues estimated at $16.8 billion for full year 2006. http://www.iab.net/news/pr_2007_03_07.asp.
Rau, P., & Preble, J. (1987). Standardization of marketing strategy by multinationals. International Marketing Review, 4, 18–28.
Rayner, K., & McConkie, G. W. (1976). Asymmetry of the perceptual span in reading. Bulletin of the Psychonomic Society, 8, 365–368.
Rowe, H., Taylor, M., & Brown, P. (2004). Staying legal: Self-regulation on the Internet. Business Information Review, 21(2), 117–124.
Starek, R. B. III (1997). Unfairness, Internet advertising and innovative remedies. Speech given before the American Advertising Federation Government Affairs Conference. http://www.ftc.gov/speeches/starek/aaffin.htm.
Tara, S. (1998). Seductive design for web sites. http://www.uie.com/articles/seductive_design/.
Tavassoli, N. T., & Lee, Y. H. (2003). The differential interaction of auditory and visual advertising elements with Chinese and English. Journal of Marketing Research, 40, 468–480.
The Control of Misleading Advertising Regulations (1988). Statutory Instrument 1988 No. 915.
Trade Descriptions Act (1968). Department of Trade and Industry Consumer and Competition Policy Directive: Guidance Note—The Trade Descriptions Act 1968. http://www.berr.gov.uk/files/file8156.pdf.
Tinker, M. A., & Paterson, D. G. (1949). Speed of reading nine point type in relation to line width and leading. Journal of Applied Psychology, 33, 81–82.
Wheeler-Lea Amendment (1938). Annual Report of the Federal Trade Commission for the Fiscal Year Ended June 30, 1938. http://www.ftc.gov/os/annualreports/ar1938.pdf.
Wingfield, A., Lindfield, K. C., & Goodglass, H. (2000). Effects of age and hearing sensitivity on the use of prosodic information in spoken word recognition. Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research, 44, 915–925.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding authors
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Hoy, M.G., Lwin, M.O. An International Perspective of Online Disclosure Presentation: A Comparison of Banner Ad Disclosures from United States, United Kingdom, and Singapore Web Sites. J Consum Policy 31, 327–347 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10603-008-9073-6
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10603-008-9073-6