IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/kap/jbuset/v172y2021i3d10.1007_s10551-020-04480-x.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

To Be or Not to Be Governed Like That? Harmful and/or Offensive Advertising Complaints in the United Kingdom’s (Self-) Regulatory Context

Author

Listed:
  • Kristina Auxtova

    (University of Dundee School of Business)

  • Mary Brennan

    (University of Edinburgh Business School)

  • Stephen Dunne

    (University of Edinburgh Business School)

Abstract

This paper demonstrates how the UK’s Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) governs advertising ethics with and on behalf of its members and stakeholders. Drawing on an archive of 310 non-commercial (i.e., not-for-profit and public) adjudication reports, we highlight the substantive norms and procedural mechanisms through which the ASA governs advertising complaints alleging offence and/or harm. Substantively, the ASA precludes potential normative transgressions by publishing, disseminating, consulting upon, and updating detailed codes of advertising conduct. Procedurally, the ASA adjudicates between allegations and justifications of offence and harm on a received complaint-by-complaint basis, often upon consequentialist grounds. Such consequentialism, we claim, has the effect of normalizing power imbalances between the ASA’s members, on the one hand, and wider stakeholders, on the other hand. The paper argues that, in the context of UK advertising, what Michel Foucault called the right ‘to be or not to be governed like that’ is enjoyed by relatively few subjects. Having demonstrated how UK advertising practices are governed, the paper closes with suggestions as to how they might be governed otherwise.

Suggested Citation

  • Kristina Auxtova & Mary Brennan & Stephen Dunne, 2021. "To Be or Not to Be Governed Like That? Harmful and/or Offensive Advertising Complaints in the United Kingdom’s (Self-) Regulatory Context," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 172(3), pages 425-446, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:kap:jbuset:v:172:y:2021:i:3:d:10.1007_s10551-020-04480-x
    DOI: 10.1007/s10551-020-04480-x
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s10551-020-04480-x
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s10551-020-04480-x?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Karine Charry & Patrick Pelsmacker & Claude Pecheux, 2014. "How Does Perceived Effectiveness Affect Adults’ Ethical Acceptance of Anti-obesity Threat Appeals to Children? When the Going Gets Tough, the Audience Gets Going," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 124(2), pages 243-257, October.
    2. Eleanor Burt & Samuel Mansell, 2019. "Moral Agency in Charities and Business Corporations: Exploring the Constraints of Law and Regulation," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 159(1), pages 59-73, September.
    3. Max Baker & John Roberts, 2011. "All in the Mind? Ethical Identity and the Allure of Corporate Responsibility," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 101(1), pages 5-15, March.
    4. Ramón A. Feenstra & Elsa González Esteban, 2019. "Autocontrol: A Critical Study of Achievements and Challenges in the Pursuit of Ethical Advertising Through an Advertising Self-Regulation System," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 154(2), pages 341-354, January.
    5. Roberts, John, 2001. "Corporate Governance and the Ethics of Narcissus," Business Ethics Quarterly, Cambridge University Press, vol. 11(1), pages 109-127, January.
    6. Frances Bowen, 2019. "Marking Their Own Homework: The Pragmatic and Moral Legitimacy of Industry Self-Regulation," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 156(1), pages 257-272, April.
    7. Dahl, Darren W. & Frankenberger, Kristina D. & Manchanda, Rajesh V., 2003. "Does It Pay to Shock? Reactions to Shocking and Nonshocking Advertising Content among University Students," Journal of Advertising Research, Cambridge University Press, vol. 43(3), pages 268-280, September.
    8. Kelemen, Mihaela & Peltonen, Tuomo, 2001. "Ethics, morality and the subject: the contribution of Zygmunt Bauman and Michel Foucault to 'postmodern' business ethics," Scandinavian Journal of Management, Elsevier, vol. 17(2), pages 151-166, June.
    9. Kim-Shyan Fam & David Waller & Zhilin Yang, 2009. "Addressing the Advertising of Controversial Products in China: An Empirical Approach," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 88(1), pages 43-58, April.
    10. Ian Bruce & Celine Chew, 2011. "Debate: The marketization of the voluntary sector," Public Money & Management, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 31(3), pages 155-157, May.
    11. Wendy Bastalich, 2009. "Reading Foucault: Genealogy and Social Science Research Methodology and Ethics," Sociological Research Online, , vol. 14(2), pages 81-90, March.
    12. McKinlay, Alan & Pezet, Eric, 2010. "Accounting for Foucault," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 21(6), pages 486-495.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Cameron Graham & Martin E. Persson & Vaughan S. Radcliffe & Mitchell J. Stein, 2023. "The State of Ohio’s Auditors, the Enumeration of Population, and the Project of Eugenics," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 187(3), pages 565-587, October.
    2. Katarzyna Bachnik & Robert Nowacki, 2018. "How to Build Consumer Trust: Socially Responsible or Controversial Advertising," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(7), pages 1-21, June.
    3. Ouidade Sabri, 2017. "Does Viral Communication Context Increase the Harmfulness of Controversial Taboo Advertising?," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 141(2), pages 235-247, March.
    4. François-Régis Puyou & Eric Faÿ, 2015. "Cogs in the Wheel or Spanners in the Works? A Phenomenological Approach to the Difficulty and Meaning of Ethical Work for Financial Controllers," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 128(4), pages 863-876, June.
    5. Gebreselassie, Andinet Worku, 2019. "On communicating about taboo social issues in least developed countries : The case of Ethiopia," Other publications TiSEM bb35ee74-fdd7-4220-af92-5, Tilburg University, School of Economics and Management.
    6. Grisard, Claudine, 2014. "La formation de l'accountability en situations conflictuelles," Economics Thesis from University Paris Dauphine, Paris Dauphine University, number 123456789/13959 edited by Berland, Nicolas.
    7. Maran, Laura & Bracci, Enrico & Funnell, Warwick, 2016. "Accounting and the management of power: Napoleon’s occupation of the commune of Ferrara (1796–1799)," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 34(C), pages 60-78.
    8. Mathieu Djaballah & Boris Helleu, 2014. "La WWE de Vince K. McMahon : une mascarade à prendre au sérieux," Post-Print hal-01716779, HAL.
    9. Vijaya Murthy & Jim Rooney, 2018. "The Role of Management Accounting in Ancient India: Evidence from the Arthasastra," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 152(2), pages 323-341, October.
    10. Toms, Steven & Fleischman, Richard K., 2015. "Accounting fundamentals and accounting change: Boulton & Watt and the Springfield Armory," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 41(C), pages 1-20.
    11. Sudipta Bose & Amitav Saha & Indra Abeysekera, 2020. "The Value Relevance of Corporate Social Responsibility Expenditure: Evidence from Regulatory Decisions," Abacus, Accounting Foundation, University of Sydney, vol. 56(4), pages 455-494, December.
    12. Marie LEMAIRE, 2018. ""It's a Bible!" Unexpected use, misuse and non-use of CSR standards among "activist" workers," Working Papers of LaRGE Research Center 2018-08, Laboratoire de Recherche en Gestion et Economie (LaRGE), Université de Strasbourg.
    13. Frerich Buchholz & Kerstin Lopatta & Karen Maas, 2020. "The Deliberate Engagement of Narcissistic CEOs in Earnings Management," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 167(4), pages 663-686, December.
    14. Sabri, Ouidade & Obermiller, Carl, 2012. "Consumer perception of taboo in ads," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 65(6), pages 869-873.
    15. Albert D. Spalding & Gretchen R. Lawrie, 2019. "A Critical Examination of the AICPA’s New “Conceptual Framework” Ethics Protocol," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 155(4), pages 1135-1152, April.
    16. Lee, Michael S.W. & Septianto, Felix & Frethey-Bentham, Catherine & Gao, Esther, 2020. "Condoms and bananas: Shock advertising explained through congruence theory," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 57(C).
    17. Carlotta del Sordo & Massimo Fornasari & Rebecca L. Orelli, 2021. "Power and Discipline: The Role of Accounting in the Monte di Pietà of Ravenna between 18th and 19th Centuries," International Journal of Business and Management, Canadian Center of Science and Education, vol. 14(7), pages 1-93, July.
    18. Laurence Romani & Betina Szkudlarek, 2014. "The Struggles of the Interculturalists: Professional Ethical Identity and Early Stages of Codes of Ethics Development," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 119(2), pages 173-191, January.
    19. Ana M. Aranda & Tal Simons, 2023. "Clearing the Smoke: Regulations, Moral Legitimacy, and Performance in the U.S. Tobacco Industry," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 187(4), pages 803-819, November.
    20. Maria Mercanti-Guérin & Christophe Bezes, 2010. "La créativité publicitaire représente-t-elle un danger pour les marques ?," Post-Print hal-02056938, HAL.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:kap:jbuset:v:172:y:2021:i:3:d:10.1007_s10551-020-04480-x. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.