Relations of Advertising Regulations and Consumer Damages: Focusing on Weight-Loss Food Advertisements on the Internet

Abstract

This study initiates from the question of whether current advertising regulations are appropriate to be applied to the market. It confirms the relationship between misleading online advertisements of weight-loss food and consumer damages. This study argues that it is necessary to enforce monitoring and regulating (strengthening monitoring) for situations where misleading advertisements are exposed in the market with subsequent consumer damages. However, deregulation is needed for advertisements exposed in the name of misleading advertisements but with no consumer damages. In conclusion, the regulations of current weight loss foods are properly established vis-a-vis the market situation. However, misleading advertisements are prevalent for all regulated types: Type I (product quality and effect), Type II (endorsement and warranty), Type III (ways to use and safety), Type IV (comparison and superiority), and Type V (company information). Promotion targeting businesses, market monitoring and control are necessary to ensure that advertising regulations (which have existed only as an institution) can be appropriately applied. It is also confirmed that ‘comparison advertising’ (applicable to Type IV where consumer damages were not shown compared to other regulations) does not have an actual effect as a consumer protection regulation that should be considered in regulation revisions. Consumers also did not recognize Type III and V in the purchasing stage while consumer damages were demonstrated; consequently, this implies that consumers need to check and become attentive to these types.