Beruflich Dokumente
Kultur Dokumente
Management Sciences
out of Raksha, near a small shop, in which an old man is sitting, reading a newspaper. He asks
for ‘Josh Condoms’ small pack, he has a very meaningful smile on his face. Another person, thin
in appearance, approaches the same shop and asks for same product but the Big Pack of it. He
has a sense of victory or achievement on his face and at the same time he is appreciated with
This ad is more sensitive than any other advertisement of condoms, used in Pakistan national
media. The reasons are;
It is not clearly mentioned that they are married or not and why they want it.
The business environment has become so dynamic and volatile that the high level of competition
has left few loopholes for business to produce and promote such products which are still
Especially when children are exposed to these products, they feel anxiety to just see or hold that
thing, this sense of curiosity can ultimately lead them to use it. As they are innocent and
immature for certain kinds of information, they engage themselves in such sexual activities
which are not just harmful for their health but also affect their character. Our social institutions
like family and school, colleges are not contributing in the character building of youth, so it
becomes more dangerous to openly accept and promote the usage of these products.
In Pakistan, religion is still deeply embedded in our daily life and behaviors; the usage of
condoms is conditionally allowed only in few sects, generally it is not allowed to use. The
advertisements to launch different medicines and condoms to control the growth rate of
population but the advertisement of other producers of condoms do not highlight the aspect of
birth control. In fact they promote the pleasure associated with the usage of condoms. Those
pleasures are not mentioned clearly but the subliminal message is that it can increase the time
period of physical interaction. Again, artificially induced time period during physical interaction
in not at all any healthy thing but very harmful for health and can cause further health problems
The above case has been presented in order to explain the context of the topic of the present
review article.
The articles studied and reviewed on the topic have been selected on the basis that they answer
2. They specifically deal with advertisements and their moral aspect in relation with society
at large.
3. They deal with the qualitative side of experiences of people associated with
Advertisement is the basic tool for achieving goals particularly the sales targets in
business today. The word Advertising has the origin from the Latin word ‘Adventure’ which
in nature, usually persuasive, paid form with some identified source through various media
(Imtiaz, as cited in Karim & Akber, 2011). To communicate with large audience, companies do
need advertisement so that they can introduce, differentiate and persuade the audience towards
quality concerns of customers, brand loyalty and high competition have altogether elevated the
role of advertising to new levels. That is why business units, regardless of size and scope, heavily
audience and when there are so many advertisements to hit the same consumers in the market
then it becomes very difficult to communicate the message efficiently. That is the prime reason
for being creative and thinking out of the box while selecting the way the message is delivered in
advertisement.
There are limitless ways to communicate a message but not every way of communicating
is appropriate for the audience. Education, maturity, economic conditions, moral values, culture
and religion can be some of the possible constraints in using different ways of communication.
Some societies are technologically more sophisticated and advanced to interpret the meaning of
advertisement easily than others; for example some cultures allow and encourage the liberty of
women and therefore, people generally more easily give acceptance to such emancipatory and
liberal ideas conveyed in advertisement while in some other cultures people do not accept such
Therefore, it is very difficult to select the content and way the content is to be presented
to the audience, in which one not only has to promote the product but is also held responsible for
the between-the-lines messages that the advertisement conveys through its portrayal of the two
In spite of the development of social networking websites and internet gadgets, television
still is the greatest source of entertainment and information for most people. Therefore, television
advertisement can have a very significant role in shaping people’s ideas not only about the
products they promote, but also in shaping their self-image and of the people in general.
2010), there are many ways advertising is helpful for the consumer, in the fact that it conveys
information to the potential consumer. Mostly people generally believe that advertising cannot
influence them. “People do not typically admit that they are influenced by advertising” (Cohan,
2001). This may not be the situation, advertising holds mostly all the electronic media, over 60
Keeping in view the business and economics side as well, advertisements play a very
positive role, by stimulating sales and acting as a catalyst in economic activity (Robbs, as cited in
Hayko, 2010). Some researchers suggest that advertising almost gives a personality to a product.
It is so powerful a means that it can make the product so prominent in the competing market that
people eventually buy it leaving other less advertised products behind (Hussainy, Hakim &
Khan, 2014). Besides, another good side of advertising is that it can act as a tool of propagating
constructive social information (Zain-ul-abideen & Salaria, 2010). For example in India
education for women has been continuously promoted and supported and has helped challenge
and change stereotypes against women (Kariya, Mehge & Bhise, 2013).
However, despite the positive usage of advertising and its potential to propagate useful and
constructive social messages, it has generally been criticized (Polay, 1986; Hayko, 2010).For
almost one and a half century, advertisements and their relationship with people’s attitudes,
feelings and personality development has been under study by psychologists and sociologists.
Major points on which advertising has been criticized include using deception to promote
the product, promoting unrealistic fanciful images of people who use a particular product thus
inculcating unreasonably high levels of desires and expectation in people, and in this way
because we watch them on daily basis, replace almost subliminally, our most original thoughts
and feeling by thoughts and feelings that ‘should’ be pursued. Although some advertisers admit
this fault in advertisement but still, it does not seem possible for them to advertise their product
categories of human beings and promoting deviation from social norms unnecessarily (Jones,
1970).
According to some researchers (Jones, 1970) advertisers focus is making people desirous
of external stimulation and external objects, thus underestimating and lowering the importance of
the ‘internal states’ which are not necessarily dependent on purchasing such external objects that
the advertisers propagate. Advertisements seem to provide ready-made and easy solutions to the
issues that life poses, thus making people eager for immediate gratification of their problems and
desires.
Gulas and McKeage (2000) investigated the problem of moral and ethical concern in
advertisments and proposed certain important aspects that according to them advertisers should
take care of in deciding the mode and content of advertisement. These aspects include fanciful
harmful products, thus attracting people with immature minds and affecting them in a negative
way. These concerns by Gulas and McKeage (2000) are built on the studies and findings of
Dunfee, Smith and Ross (1999) andLatour and Henthorne (1994) who also proposed similar
According to another research, through advertising, people tend to internalize the idea that
highest goals in life, like success, beauty, happiness and satisfaction can be gained only when
you own certain material objects, like those promoted in ads (Wulfemeyer & Mueller, 1992).
their inner satisfaction coming from products, rather than from people, they would prefer
products over relationships. In a research by Zain-ulabideen and Salaria (2010) television
advertisements were found to have a significant relationship with materialism as well as with
Another study (Hussainy, Hakim & Khan, 2014) concludes that the destructive effects of
advertising on values and cultural norms include: presenting certain groups of people as more
vulnerable or fragile (women, in this case) and promoting individualistic and materialistic values.
Religion is a long-term phenomenon which cannot be sacked by the marketers for the
short term. That’s why it has been taken as a valuable construct in consumers’ perspectives
(Ismail, 2015). Religion is one of the main factors of interet from point of view of research in the
field of advertisemen, as it is the most widespread and prominent social-institution which has
major control on people’s morals, attitudes and conducts at both the personal and communal
levels (Karim, 2010). This commitment with religion and faith affects the sentiments and mind-
sets of the individuals towards the utilization of an advertised product (Jamal, 2003).
Religion gives the specifications of the non-prohibited and the prohibited products that
counter the attentions of consumer’s decision (Ansari, 2014) thus the product’s consumption for
Muslims are more subject to ‘prohibited’ and ‘allowed’ things and doings. Religious faiths play
an important role in shaping societal actions. The differences in religious associations have a
tendency to shape the way individuals survive, make choices in what to eat and whom to connect
with (Bin Nooh, khairi, Aziz, Abdullah, Shukor, & Rashiddi, 2014).
Islam does not give the permission for selling the product by adopting the unethical way
which affects the social value and norms of society (bari & Abbas, 2011) Every Muslim has the
faith that they are accountable to Almighty Allah for the deeds they have committed and also
Islam does not tolerate the selling of products by adopting sexual applications or controversial
conceptions.
In-contrast to the Islamic notion there are many Islamic countries including Pakistan
where sexual appeal is used for the promotion of their products, such as good looking models
and also by portraying nudity for advertising (Severn, Belch, and Belch, 1990).
Generally the legislative account or foundations of most societies identify the age range
of childhood, as in most of the eastern and western communities this perimeter is under 14 years.
Young children of this age range are attracted towards advertisements more as compared with the
other age groups and they also perceive that what they are watching is true (Abideen & Salaria,
2009).
Most of the Pakistani childern believe that the quality that is being provided to them for
TV advertisements is annoying and tasteless (Shabbir, Kirmani, Hassan, 2008). They also found
in their survey that Pakistani childern’s perception about the TV advertisement is that the claims
made by the Tv Ads are not true. (Khattak & Khan, 2009)
Blair, Stephenson, Hill and Green (2006) argue that females have been the main object in
advertisements that have appealing side in the past. Ads cannot gain success for generating the
sales only if women are not portrayed as item or sex objects (Nooh, 2012). Most of the
advertisements created to attract the females who are housewives because they have the decision
making powers for most of the products (Uddin, 2014) and also females are cosidered as being
Ghachem, Garrouch, & Mzoughi, 2014) that is caused by the sexually provocative ads. Most of
the Ads are shaped in the modern and advanced settings which is not likely in Pakistani society
such as the Lux advetisement which is not the representative of the Pakistani setting or culture
Controversial products produce a sense of offence, abhorrence and dislike for consumers,
when they are being advertised (Akhter, Abassi, & Umar, 2011) . “ Advertisements of
controversial or socially sensitive products can clash with the traditional and cultural values of a
country, create negative impact in the minds of general public and damage the brand name or
“Controversial products” described are those services, concepts and products which
stimulate provocative reactions of dislike, outrage, disgust when it is presented openly (Wilson &
West, 1981). These products are characterized by Wilson and West (1981) and Fam et al. (2004)
as “products of personal hygiene, (e.g. birth control or drugs for terminal illness), gender and sex
related products, (e.g. condoms or female under-garments), addictive products, (e.g. alcohol,
using sex appeal and provocation (Mohammad, Quoquab, Mahadi, & Hussin, 2015).
The ethical impasse takes us towards the problems with advertising the socially sensitive
products in muslim countries like Pakistan where consumers due to the islamic and societal
norms and values don’t like the open advertisement of condoms on television and print media
(Bari & Abbas, 2011). Such as josh condom’s advertisement which is being shown on national
television and one of their Ads is also banned not to go on national Tv due to its appealing and
provocative side.
Discussion and conclusion
The review of the literature on this topic shows that the conflict between marketing a
product and following the social ethics is a serious one and is so widespread an issue that it does
not only affect the marketers and consumers, but the society in general as well.
In most of the studies reviewed here the focus is on people’s reported moral values rather
than on what they actually practice or like to practice. For example, ads of products related with
sexuality might be accused of having lowered the societal moral values, but it should also be of
interest to researchers, that it is such ads that are the informal and in many cases sole source of
useful information regarding certain aspects surrounding sex, take for example the
advertisements of sanitary napkins and condoms. For a moment put aside the sexual appeal in
such ads, we see that in a relatively not-so-open culture like Pakistan, girls, or even their mothers
would not be able to stay informed that any such products exist or not. Similarly, under certain
conditions birth control becomes obviously desirable, and such ads like those of contraceptive
pills and condoms become the sole source of infrmation for masses, specially who are not
educated.
Such aspects in the advertisemnt research have not been dealt with very efficiently in the
studies reviewed in the current paper and must be studied and focussed upon in the future
researches.
Bibliography
Abideen, Z. U., & Salaria, R. M. (2009, december 04). Effects of TV Ads on Childern: With special
Reference to Pakistani Urban Childern. Munich Personal RePEc Archive .
Afifa, Naz, T., Humera, & Danish, M. H. (2014). Effect of Women Representation in Lux Ads on Pakistan
Women Identity. European Academic Research , 2 (9).
Akhter, W., Abassi, A. S., & Umar, s. (2011). Ethical Issues in Advertising in Pakistan: An Islamic
Perspective. World Applied Sciences Journal , 13, 444-452.
Ansari, Z. A. (2014). The Relationship Between Religiosity and New Product Adoption Among Muslim
Consumers. International Journal of Management Sciences , 249-259.
Bari, A., & Abbas, R. Z. (2011). Advertisement and Islam: a Muslim world Perspective. Australian
Journal of Business and Management Research , 1, 152-157.
Bin Nooh, M. N., Khairi, K. F., Aziz, M. R., Abdullah, M., shukor, A. S., & Rashiddi, B. A. (2014). The
criteria and challenges of unethical advertising. American Journal of Business, Economics and
Management , 2 (4), 88-93.
Houda, N. E., Ghachem, M. S., Rrouch, K., & Mzoughi, M. N. (2014). Female Bareness in Print
Advertisements: Do Religiosity and Gender Matter? International Journal of Marketing Studies , 6.
Ismail, H. I. (2015). A Generational Cohort of the Relationship Between Religious Intensity and Religious
Assurance for the Purchase of Non- Food Products. International Journal of Economics and Financial
Issues .J.Korn, D. (2006). Ethical Jugments of Sexual Appeals in Advertising Image-Based Products to
Teens. Senior Honors Projects , 23.
Khattak, J., & Khan, A. (2009). Understanding Female College Students Mind-Set Towards Tv Ads in
Pakistan. Suvremene TEME , 2.
korn, D. j. (2006). Ethical judgment of sexual appeals in advertising image-based products to teens.
senior Honors Projects , 23.
Mohammad, J., quoquab, F., Mahadi, N., & Hussin, N. (2015). Religious Faith, Addictive Products, and
their Advertisement: A Qualitative Inguiry. Innovation and Business Strategy , 3.
Uddin, S. (2014). The Features of an effective Ads: A Critical Review. Management and Administrative
Sciences Review , 3 (6), 878-890.
Akbar, W. M. & Karim, W. (2011). The influence and techniques of modern advertising: ethics and
Responsibilities. Gomal University Journal of Research, 27(2)
Cohen – Baron, S. & Wheelwright, S. (2004). The Empathy Quotient: An Investigation of Adults with
Asperser Syndrome or High Functioning Autism, and Normal Sex Differences. Journal of Autism and
Developmental Disorders, 34 (2)
Halamata, N. A. (2013). Ethics in advertising: impact on women and children. International Journal of
Business and Management Invention, 2 (6), 1-4.
Hussainy, K. S., Hakim, L. S. & Khan, A. M. (2014).Measuring the Correlation Between ethical
dimensions of Advertisement and Development of Society. KBJ, 7 (2)
Jones, M. G. (1970). The Cultural and Social impact of Advertising on American Society. Osgoode Hall
Law Journal, 8 (3), 65-89.
Kariyal, N., Meghe, B. &Bhise, V. P. (2013). Empowering women consumers: Breaking the Social Norms
Using Stereotypes Advertising. Special Issue for National Conference On Recent Advances in Technology
and Management for Integrated Growth.
McCrae, R. R. & Costa, Jr. T. P. (2004).A contemplated revision of the NEO FIVE – FACTOR inventory.
Personality and Individual Differences, 36.
Pollay, R. (1986). The Distorted Mirror: Reflections on the Unintended Consequences of Advertising.
Journal of Marketing, 50, 18 – 36.
Wulfemeyer, K. T., & Mueller, B. (1992). Channel One and Commercials in Classrooms: Advertising
Content aimed at Students. Journalism Quarterly, 69, 724–742.
Maheshwari ,N.S. & Gupta,A.K. (2014).Advertisement effectiveness: a review and research agenda.
International Journal of Social, Behavioral, Economic and Management Engineering, 8(12)
Tolmacheva.S.V. (2013) Impact of Advertising on the Foundation of the Value Orientations of Young
People. World Applied Sciences Journal27, 402-405