Dr. Raghbir Singh* Sandeep Vij** Abstract Depending upon the public opinion about the social, economic and ethical aspects of advertising, the marketers and the public policy makers should take different stances on how advertising should be treated. The study has analyzed in detail the public response to the issues like: ‘Targeting Children in Advertising’, ‘Use of Sex in Advertisements’, ‘Promotion of Materialism through Advertising’, ‘Use of Comparative Advertising’, ‘Ethics in Advertising’, ‘Use of Celebrities in Advertising’, ‘Economic Effects of Advertising’; and ‘Public Policy on Advertising’. The population for the study comprised a sample of 900 respondents, 100 each from the seven North Indian states (Punjab, Jammu & Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Haryana and Uttranchal) plus Union Territory of Chandigarh and National Capital Territory of Delhi. Based upon the opinions and beliefs of the public, as revealed by the study, suggestions have been made to the advertisers and the public policy makers. Advertising has played a major role in consumer marketing, and has enabled companies to meet communication and other marketing objectives. Typically, advertising is used to inform, persuade, and remind consumers. It importantly reinforces their attitudes and perceptions. Advertising has been a target of criticism for decades. Advertising has been hailed as a capitalistic virtue, an engine of free market economy, and a promoter of consumer welfare. Its detractors on the other hand accuse it of an array of sins ranging from an economic waste to purveying of harmful products, from sexism to deceit and manipulation, from triviality to intellectual and moral pollution (Mittal, 1994). Advertising is seen by many as a threat to the cultural identity and self realisation of many developing countries: it brings to many people alien ethical values; it may deviate consumer…
