Professionals' Attitudes Concerning the Ethics of Comparative Advertising

Abstract

ABSTRACT The main purpose of this study is to answer how four professional groups-physicians, dentists, attorneys, and accountants-perceive comparative advertising. Specifically, this study attempts to answer; (1) how the four professionals perceive comparative advertising in terms of ethics, (2) whether there is any significant difference among the four professionals regarding the ethical scales of comparative advertising, and (3) what the relationship between the ethics and their intended use of comparative advertising. This study found that in general, all four professionals believed that the hypothetical example of comparative advertising adopted by this study is unethical and expressed a strong reservation to use this format of advertising in the future. This study also found some differences in their beliefs of specific ethical items and intentions to use among the four professional groups.