Beruflich Dokumente
Kultur Dokumente
EXAMINATION OF PRACTITIONER
PERSPECTIVES
Sara Kamal, American University in Dubai, U.A.E.
Minette E. Drumwright, University of Texas at Austin
SUMMARY
The topic of advertising ethics has emerged as an important issue, but most empirical investigations have focused
on Western countries. Emerging markets deserve attention. They pose the greatest opportunity for global marketers in terms of market and media expansion (Mahajan
and Banga 2005). The Middle East and North Africa
(MENA) region has experienced exponential economic
growth and provides immense opportunities for global
business. As a result, advertising media and agencies have
flourished. At the same time, incidences that raise important ethical concerns are increasingly frequent, and only a
handful of studies have examined advertising ethics in
MENA (e.g., Mostafa 2011; Marta et al. 2004).
The current study examines industry perspectives on
advertising ethics in the MENA region. In-depth interviews were conducted with advertising practitioners in
the MENA region using a discussion guide adapted from
previous research (Drumwright and Murphy 2004, 2009).
Our observations yielded a complicated story. Unlike in
the U.S. where laws form the foundation for advertising
ethics, the laws in MENA are either highly specific, such
as a ban on alcohol advertising in the mass media, or
nonexistent or unenforced. As such, there is something of
a laissez-faire mentality with respect to many traditional issues of advertising ethics and law. For example,
issues such as false claims, copyright concerns, and privacy issues either have little protection in the law or laws
are not enforced. Consumers appear not to be concerned
about or engaged with these issues, giving undue power to
advertisers.
Emerging markets in the MENA region are undergoing a
huge influx of new residents and exponential commercial
growth. Our informants expressed significant concerns
regarding negative effects of advertising on local culture.
Many advertising decision makers are themselves
imports from countries outside MENA, who come to
work in MENA for short stints. These transient advertising
practitioners often have limited understanding of local
culture and conduct little research to gain insights about
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REFERENCES
Drumwright, M.E. and P.E. Murphy (2004), How Advertising Practitioners View Ethics: Moral Muteness,
Moral Myopia and Moral Imagination, Journal of
Advertising, 33, 724.
____________ and ____________ (2009), The Current
State of Advertising Ethics: Industry and Academic
Perspectives, Journal of Advertising, 38 (1), 83
108.
Mahajan, Vijay and Kamini Banga (2005), The 86 Per-
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