Abstract:

Ethics in marketing and advertising has always been a subject most talked about not just by researchers but also the people at large. It has been observed that in the last decade companies have increased their advertising investments to attract consumers but the question remains that whether those advertisements are up to the ethical standards set by advertising and marketing associations. In our research we have tried to review the literature extensively in order to understand the standards for ethical marketing and advertising, and also to see whether the set criteria is being considered by the Telecommunication industry of Pakistan. Analysis revealed that advertisers most often ignore the standards set by the censor bodies like PEMRA (Pakistani Electronic Media Regulatory Authority) and 4 A’s (American Association of Advertising Agencies). It was also concluded that the consumers find telecommunication Ads having exaggeration of features and services and consider the frequency of Ads with the amount of spending done on them to be unnecessary and wasteful.