Abstract
This article focuses on the “changing basis” of advertisings’ “responsibility” in the wake of new media and digitalization. The ethical concept of responsibility is usually defined as a four digit-relation: (1) Who is responsible (2) for what (3) toward whom or what – and (4) on the basis of which norm of judgment. Each of these relations will be shortly clarified and then related to or marked as changing circumstances in the advertising business. One of the main aspects of this article will be the question of who is responsible for potentially unethical advertisements and their circulation. It will be shown that the circle of responsible agents has extended as it not only includes the advertisers, the advertising agencies or their self-regulatory institutions, but also the everyday internet user. Hence internet users have to take more responsibility for their actions because they are not only users but also “produsers”: they communicate, exchange data, and spread advertisements.
The project ‘Ethics of Advertisement in Times of Media Change’ (project-number 249557738), by which the article was created, was funded by the German Research Foundation (DFG).
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Notes
- 1.
The concepts “ethics ” and “moral” are closely related but mean different things in German. While “moral” refers to rules, norms, values of actions and practices of the daily life, “ethics ” is the reflection, evaluation and justification of those rules, norms and values, of “morals”.
- 2.
This paper relates mainly to advertising in western developed countries.
- 3.
Although their influence decreases because of the loss of control over internet content, which will be shown in Sect. 5.4.4.2.
- 4.
The original reads: “[…] mit der systematischen Evaluation von Marketingentscheidungen, Marketingpraktiken und Marketinginstitutionen beschäftigt. Darüber hinaus werden […] Normen und Standards entwickelt, welche Marketingentscheidungen als moralisch richtig oder falsch kategorisieren.”
- 5.
See Sect. 5.4.4.2.
- 6.
A good term for this kind of independent content existences are the so-called memes (Becker et al. 2003). They can be interpreted as an “image, video, piece of text, typically humorous in nature that is copied and spread rapidly by internet users, often with slight variations” (Meme n.d.). Memes can be seen as a pars pro toto for a new user conduct, for new practices in the web. The three video examples described and discussed in this text are in a way such memes : They were rapidly copied and spread, and despite their old age (2004 and 2006) a lot of people know them.
- 7.
It is called “viral” because information or data is getting spread from person to person in a very short time – just like a virus.
- 8.
This quality of internet and interactivity stands in paradoxical contrast to the previously described enablement of advertisers to personalize advertisements, to place their ads more efficiently and fitting to the recipients – but it’s not necessarily a disadvantageous paradox.
- 9.
Although these advertisements as examples represent an action (the creation of the advertisement by the advertiser), they are not the only actions that are important in this paper. But since actions are inseparably connected with the actor, the others will be discussed in Sect. 5.4.4, “Who is responsible?”
- 10.
The original reads: “[…] erfordert den Bezug auf einen funktional oder sonstwie, z.B. moralisch oder rechtlich, ausgewiesenen (evaluativen oder normativen) Maßstab, der den Wert oder die Zulässigkeit von Handlungen und Unterlassungen, Geschehensverläufen und Folgen, Entscheidungen und Zwecksetzungen, Plänen und Programmen, Einstellungen und Grundsätzen bestimmt.”
- 11.
The original reads: “[Das Sprachspiel der Verantwortung braucht] ein Subjekt, das Aufgaben zu übernehmen oder Handlungen auszuführen und gegebenenfalls Rede und Antwort zu stehen vermag.”
- 12.
The original reads: “[In Wahrheit lässt sich aber eine Verantwortung] nicht nur natürlichen Subjekten, sondern auch ‘juristischen Personen’ zuschreiben, also einem Verein, einem Verband, selbst dem Staat und ‘natürlich’ ebenso einem Wirtschaftsunternehmen.”
- 13.
The original reads: “Notwendige Bedingung für die Freiwilligkeit einer Handlung ist die Kenntnis der Einzelumstände; deren Nichtwissen, so können wir vorläufig festhalten, hebt die Freiwilligkeit auf.”
- 14.
The webpage http://www.carbuzz.com/news/2012/6/28/The-Most-Controversial-Car-Commercials-of-All-Time-7709506/ for example says under each commercial: “Loved The Video? Share It!”; suggestions of a sharing channel are facebook or twitter.
- 15.
This question is aimed to be answered in the authors’ research project at the University of Tübingen: “Advertising Ethics in Times of Medial Change”. Part of that research cover questions like this: How are advertising practitioners dealing with the fact that their messages could reach anybody – children, youths and vulnerable groups of persons – at any time?
- 16.
The German title reads: “Viral marketing: Wie Sie Mundpropaganda gezielt auslösen und Gewinn bringend nutzen.”
- 17.
The original reads: “Nichtwissen […] hebt Freiwilligkeit auf.”
- 18.
The original reads: “Unwissenheit ist eine Folge des Willens.”
- 19.
“Pitch” is a term of art inter alia for the advertising area. It is a competition for a new contract with a company/business between advertising agencies to represent their product.
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Krautter, J., Feiks, M., Müller, U., Zurstiege, G. (2017). Who Is Responsible? Institutions for Self-Control and the Spread of Problematic Online Advertising. In: Haase, M. (eds) Economic Responsibility. Ethical Economy, vol 53. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-52099-5_5
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