Should companies associate their

competitors' attributes during

advertising?

Word count:2979

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TABLE OF CONTENTS………………………………PAGE

Introduction……………………………………………….3

Ethical dilemma…..………………………………………4

Hypothesis………………………………………………..3

Methodology……………………………………………...3

Body…………………………………………………….5-10

Reflection……………………………………………….. 10

Conclusion…………………………………………….…12

Primary resources…………………………………….....11

Sources/reference……………………………………....12

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INTRODUCTION
Advertising has literally been the common way of companies recommending their products/services to
their consumers.Therefore this led me to my question: is it ethical for companies to associate their
adverts to their competitors.
According to the various researches I have undertaken, many countries, advertising is the most
important source of income for the media in which it is served in various forms such as newspapers,
magazines, television stations, etc.
I even got to research on the purpose of the Advertising Standards Code (Code)of which it is to ensure
that every advertisement is a responsible advertisement.All advertising must be legal, decent, honest
and truthful and respect the principles of fair competition, so that the public can have confidence in
advertising.This essay will also get to address on the Principles and Rules set out in this Code are the
standards expected in all advertising. Other ASA Codes may also be applicable and many sectors have
their own specific advertising requirements – which must also be taken into account.

METHODOLOGY
During this essay my main aim is to exhaust all the possible sources of information in order to figure
out whether it is ethical for companies to relate their adverts to their competitors.The primary research
Iam going to carry out is by doing survey of which I shall afterwards send it to my peers to seek their
consent regarding this matter. To gather more information I shall also,use liable secondary resources
such as books and the internet. This is to ensure that I have got some more accurate data of which shall
make me accurately look up on this matter and to come up with an accurate conclusion. For my primary
research I will try as much as possible to come up with a reasonable questionnaire which shall not be
bias in any way to prevent it from influencing the respondent from giving an invalid reason but rather
give me a response which thinks should be more viable. To my secondary research the content should
be from well known sources which will help me gain more knowledge of the research I wish to
undertake.
ETHICAL ISSUE
I will determine whether it is truly ethical for companies to relate their advertisements to their
competitors. My first research question will analyze the positive impact of the issue while on the other
hand my second research question will analyze more on the negative impact of the issue.
HYPOTHESIS
I do personally believe that It is actually ethically correct to do advertisements since in reality it
improves the companies reputation and business. Most people also do think it is correct for companies
to mention their competitors' conclusion though indirectly but in my opinion I view it as a vice rather
than a virtue.

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MY ETHICAL DILEMMA
Advertising companies relating their adverts to their competitors

RESEARCH QUESTIONS
Should companies relating their competitors' attributes during advertising be considered legal?

Should companies relating their competitors’ attributes during advertising be considered illegal?

I have done couple of researches in regarding to consumers of which I shall be giving both the negative
and positive effects from them Consumers are basically people who purchase goods and services for
their personal use(s)of which I personally think that they are extremely important since they are the
ones in charge of driving revenues of particular businesses/firms simply. Not to forget without these
consumers businesses cannot exist. On the other hand these businesses also get to show their
importance to their consumers of which I personally see the firms discounting their commodities or
even expanding their customer bases to show that they care for the consumers
Consumers who belong to the advertising company will feel proud of the advertising company since
they will be happy with how the company is portraying itself to the general public hence making them
add more trust unto them while using their products/services

The consumers who will mostly not be in support of the ethical dilemma are the consumers from the
competitors side since they do not via the advert the companies reputation might be tarnished by the
advertising company since they will expose the negative side of perhaps their products/services.

The consumers' trust might lower down simply because of how the advertising company has negatively
used the company’s brand to advertise their products hence leading to some of the consumers ending up
abandoning the affected companies products. A good exampleI retrieved from the website is when
Coca-Cola used their competitor's brand Pepsi indirectly to show how unsatisfactory Pepsi is and
instead switched to Coca-cola but the advert was afterwards banned.
Below is the link to the advert

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https://youtu.be/GJEs_AtvsB0

I also felt that the employees are also affected by this issue both negatively and positively in various
ways. Firstly employees can be defined as:-Individuals hired by an employer to do a specific job and
afterwards ending up receiving a salary which is either monthly/weekly or yearly.
The employees from the advertising company view the advertisement as a huge advantage to them
since the advertisement is expected to increase their products awareness which might lead to more
sales. The company might even consider some salary increment to its employees due to the prosperity
of the good company through sales.
The employers from the advertising company will even feel proud of offering their services to the
company due to the wonderful things the company shall future in their adverts hence the employers
even end up putting efforts in their various tasks in the company.
The employees from the competitive side on the other hand might be affected by the negative attributes
of the company since when the public views the advert they might end up distrusting the
products/services of that company hence leading to poor sales which make the company even opt for
salary cuts unto their employees in order to sustain themselves adequately.
The employees' dedication to the company is also likely to lower down since after seeing the advert
which has negatively represented them they might even not put all their efforts in pushing the company
frontwards hence leading to poor performances among the employees.

A person or perhaps a business that is in charge of employing people for the purpose of wages and
salary.They can also be defined as something/someone that is in charge of the occupation of their
respective employees.
Employers are also affected by this issue both positively and negatively since from the advertising
companies’ perspective my issue shall affect them positively since the advertisement will feature their
company in a good way hence building a good reputation in the company they work in.
Employers will also be proud of the company they work in and even put more effort in the company in
order to build a better reputation which the advertisement is trying to portray. When companies doan
advert they must ensure it is as realistic as possible to ensure that if at any given scenario any
consumer wishes to purchase their products they shall not get disappointed but rather get what they saw
in the advertisement.
The employers from the competitive side shall have quite some advantages generated through the
advertisement since the company they will be working for shall be portrayed in a poor manner which
might be a key advantage to the downfall of the business.

A party/parties that have interests in a company and can either be affected or affect the operations of a
business.Stakeholders come primarily in the form of investors, customers and suppliers.
The entity’s stakeholders I personally divide them into two of which can be related either internally or
externally to an organization.When a company reaches out to its stakeholders while working on a
particular advertisement , it is like letting them know that the company really values everyone
perspective therefore even the stakeholders feel like they even have a share in the table hence enticing
them more to invest more and more into the company hence making the company to grow more bigger

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and bigger.
Stakeholders from the competing companies though will not in any manner become pleased by the
advert made since it is likely that it might contribute to the downfall of their heavy investments
therefore they may even opt to even withdraw all their investments from the company hence increasing
the probabilities to its downfall.
Stakeholders are also extremely keen when it comes to the type of companies they invest in therefore
for a company whose reputation has been destroyed by its competitor it might be extremely difficult to
find a reliable stakeholder due to the manner in which its negative attributes have been presented in the
advertisement.
Some of the social media networks do include but not limited to:

● Facebook
● Twitter
● Whatsapp
● Instagram
● Linked in

Social media also happens to be one of the best ways to reach the public through your advertisement
since it is estimated that out of the seven billion people who currently exist in the world two billion of
them are already subscribed to social media.
It’s always important to keep an eye on competitors—they can provide valuable data for keyword
research and other social media marketing insight. If your competitors are using a certain social media
marketing channel or technique that seems to be working for them, considering doing the same
thing.Therefore social media will be the exact place for the company to put their advertisement on since
it will enable them to be at per with their competitors hence giving them also equal chances of striving
in the industry

Impacts created by the issue through advertisements

In this section I will get to analyze the impacts both the advert and the advertising agencies have
created in my issue.
An advertising agency is an organization involved in creating ,planning and of course the handling of
advertisements as a form of promotion and marketing for their clients.
Agencies exist in various forms such as:-
Full services advertising agency
Digital advertising
Media buying agencies.
When a company hires an advertising agency, they are eligible to get lots of benefits such as the
services of their professional staff, content writers and lots more of services from the various
departments in the agency. Therefore through that the company gets more value of their money
adequately hence having a good product at the end which is the advertisement.
In addition to that I also got to understand that advertising agencies do all they can to keep themselves
at par with the latest trends and developments which currently do exist in the global market. They are
also always in touch with the other advert specialist in order to know how to serve their clients in a

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suitable and satisfactory manner hence the companies end up coming up with adverts which expand
their strategies easily.

Adverts do play a huge role in stimulating the growth of a particular nation which is spearheaded by the
government since it shows that business in a particular country is run in a meaningful way and that
businesses are well supported by the government in the nation hence promoting lots of investors in that
country.
Governments can also provide advice to the industry on the various ways to design programs which are
self explanatory but also maintain the set legal frameworks which do exist. The government can also
suggest various ways in which companies can advance their consumer protection goals to prevent them
from being outdone by neighbouring countries which might be having companies with the same
products/services.
The government can also fail to its part due to the various circumstances which mostly do happen to be
unavoidable, e.g the government may take on some decisions due to political considerations such as an
election which might hinder the advertising companies to do perhaps adverts of their own desire but
rather with the governments wish in order for the government not to take it down.
When the government gets to approve advertisements which happen to extremely unveil the negative
attributes of the competing company it is most likely that the company might tragically go down since
they have nowhere else to go since the government has already approved the adverts and people tend to
believe more in government verified products.

Radios do allow messages to be conveyed and localised to their audience as long as the listeners are
tuned in to their frequency. They transmit messages to specific demographics, communities and in the
genres of a market. Radio stations are operated with specific market segments so after each and every
selection process they get to advertise the product/service of the particular advertising company
therefore the company is able to reach quite a huge audience.
Radio happens to be very influential and cheap therefore it is affordable for any big company or
upcoming to pay the radio station and have their advertisement featured in the radio. Hence ending up
reaching your target market both easier and cheaper
A huge number of radios do create fragmations to their audiences.The number of audiences connected
to a particular frequency is quite small therefore companies do have to pay quite a huge number of
stations in order to reach their specific target.

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REFLECTION
In my essay, I have explored quite some issues while drawing some conclusions on whether I do
support the issue or not. I still stand with my notion that it is unethical to mention your competitors
while advertising Despite The various positive sides that I have found through my research since it does
not satisfy my perspectives as to why it should be done. I have also done quite a couple of
questionnaires of which people also view it as a malpractice by mentioning your competitors in any
given companies advert. I also know that I have got all that it takes to not support the dilemma since
even the most reliable sources do not consider it ethically correct. My research has also got me to really
understand that truly people might be having different perspectives regarding a particular issue but have
little knowledge about it therefore giving limited feedback on an issue therefore which has really
affected me during my research since the respondents merely give feedback that will help me explore
more on my particular issue

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PRIMARY RESEARCH
I conducted my questionnaire through the use of my questionnaire which was filled by a number of
respondents of whom found it ethically correct to mention your competitors attributes but some view it
as a vice of whom they were the majority ones.

( From the above image it is crystal clear that most of my respondents view it as a vice by mentioning
your competitors attributes )

( From the above image the respondents had shared thoughts of whom some suggested that
companies should be punished if they happen to mention their competitors attributes while others

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suggest that they shouldn’t be punished)

CONCLUSION
It is actually ethically correct to do advertisements since in reality it improves the companies reputation
and business. Most people also do think it is correct for companies to mention their competitors
conclusion though indirectly but according to my opinion I view it as a vice rather than a virtue since
sincerely speaking the advert is expected to associate various communities including the ten that I have
already mention therefore mentioning your competitors negative attributes whether they are cooked up
or not should be banned and the victimising companies should not emulate that habit in their
advertisements since it will completely tarnish their competitors business hence suffering extremely
huge losses perhaps even leading to their enclosure. I will therefore give a conclusion regarding my
best three communities of which I think they affect my issue much more.
Advertising through religion also comes with its own difficulties since it is not expected that all
consumers to come from one particular religion therefore when an advertising company decides to
focus on one religion it might be possible that they might leave out on another religion therefore
missing out of a fraction of their potential consumers due to the differences in religion which might as
well end up by reducing the sales/provision of services to the advertising company.

Governments can also provide advice to the industry on the various ways to design programs which are
self explanatory but also maintain the set legal frameworks which do exist. The government can also
suggest various ways in which companies can advance their consumer protection goals to prevent them
from being outdone by neighbouring countries which might be having companies with the same
products/services.Social media is used by almost all types of age groups therefore for a company to
reach their target audience is expected to be quite easier for them to strive in the market.
Social media also happens to be a key disadvantage to the related company in the advert since the
chances of them perishing regardless of their previous achievements are extremely low due to their
brand name being tarnished.

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References

Advantages and Disadvantages of Radio Advertising. (2012, July 12). MBA Knowledge Base.
https://www.mbaknol.com/marketing-management/advantages-and-disadvantages-of-radio-advertising/

Advertising Agencies - Meaning, its Role and Types of Agencies. (n.d.).

Www.managementstudyguide.com. https://www.managementstudyguide.com/advertising-agencies.htm

Farah, M. F., & El Samad, L. (2014). The Effects of Religion and Religiosity on Advertisement
Assessment among Lebanese Consumers. Journal of International Consumer Marketing, 26(4), 344–
369. https://doi.org/10.1080/08961530.2014.919126

Joseph, C. (2010). The Disadvantages of Using an Advertising Agency. Bizfluent.

https://bizfluent.com/list-6183423-disadvantages-using-advertising-agency.html

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