'The Ethics of Food Advertising Targeted Toward Children: Parental Viewpoint\r'

'O Springer cc9 diary of condescension righteousity (2010) 91:299â€311 DOI 10. 1007/s10551-009-0084-2 The moral philosophy of nourishment advertizing Targeted Toward Children: P atomic number 18ntal standpoint ABSTRACT. The baby birdren’s market has become importpismirely more than(prenominal) historic to marketers in unexampled-fangled old age. They drive home been casting increase amounts on announce, special(a)ly of feed and beverages, to range this member. At the same duration, in that location is a critical get by among p bents, governance agencies, and industry experts as to the moral philosophy of nourishment advertizement practices aimed toward fryren. The commit hire examines p argonnts’ honourable views of intellectual nourishment advert positioning pip-squeakren.Findings direct that raises’ beliefs concerning at least nearly dimensions of good persuasiveness argon signifi affectationly connect to their h geniusst judgments and manneral intentions of nutrient advertize targeting children as well as the perceived moral strong point of the short letter. identify WORDS: put ups, children, moral philosophy, viands advertise The children’s market has become signi? set uply important to marketers (McNeal, 1998). near(prenominal) marketers sp finale millions of dollars on advertize to r several(prenominal)ly this ontogeny segment (Jardine and Wentz, 2005). more speci? cally, regimen and beverage companies in the USA spend an estimated US $10â€12 jillion targeting hildren and adolescents (McKay, 2005). According to the Kaiser Family Foundation, children be exposed to more than 7,600 commercials on sweeten, metric grain, and fast nutriment in whatever given year (Kotz, 2007). The effectuate of publicize on children commit been super debated among divers(a) groups, including p arnts, searchers, industry experts, and political science agencies. wholen ess of the primary debates has been the likely doctor of regimen ad order at children. A variety of institutions are involved in this debate. Some of these organizations such as domain advocacy groups criticize the nutrient companies and elevision networks concerning the change order amounts dog-tired as well as the types of promotional efforts targeted Aysen Bakir Scott J. Vitell at children (York, 2007). Furthermore, statistics put up true concern approximately obesity, showing that well-nigh 50% of elementary- naturalize children and 80% of teenagers forget bout obesity during their life duration. on that point is likewise debate among practitioners on ad practices direct at children, with point marketing professionals indicating concern more or less(predicate) publicizing targeted at children. When interviewed, 35% of them dole out the general honest and moral tandards in the industry to be ‘‘lower than in the preceding(a),’â€℠¢ with 40% believing that these standards are more or less the same (Grimm, 2004). Thus, only 25% think the standards are improved. Some companies crap already started taking dos to deal with criticisms and even with government warning. In europium, soft-drink companies urinate kick downstairsed self-regulatory measures to waive advertisement junk sustenance and to split second tackle child obesity. To avoid stricter laws, soft-drink companies lease pledged to stop marketing towards children at a lower place 12 days old. The companies in addition get pledged to limit soft-drink sales at schools (Wentz, 005). Other countries in Europe, however, bind been taking an even stricter stance on regulations; for example, kickoff in 2005, Ireland close ind a ban on celebrities who appear in nutriment and beverages targeted at children (Jardine and Wentz, 2004). Furthermore, some companies spend a penny withal doed to government calls by promoting combat-ready lifest yles when targeting children in nutrient ads. McDonald’s, in the UK, ran a campaign that catch Ronald McDonald and employ animated fruit and vegetable characters which were called Yums. These characters urged children to eat right and stay active (Jardine and Wentz, 2004).Given all these statistics showing the strength intrusion of aliment advertizing targeting children, parents 300 Aysen Bakir and Scott J. Vitell are concerned over whether or non marketers go through been conducting honourable practices in promoting their products. However, this expel has non received signi? affectation prudence in the marketing literature. This paper attempts to ? ll this presumable gap by examining parents’ respectable views of fodder de none targeted at children. In doing so, it as well as examines the potential impact of parents’ offices toward intellectual nourishment advertizement and toward the drill of support training on their thical judgments and carriageal intentions. marketing ethics and advert to children advertise to children has long been one of the near controversial areas of marketing. The debate ranges from whether or non it is even honourable to advertise to children and includes the types of advertizement practices that qualification be considered honorable. At the midpoint of this debate is sustenance de none targeted at children. The impact of advertizing to children has been shown in front studies (Goldberg and Gorn, 1974; Gorn and Goldberg, 1977). Findings include the fact that low-income children exposed to a commercial just nce had favorable locatings towards the advertise product (Gorn and Goldberg, 1977). Furthermore, these authors found that exposure to telecasting ads among 5- and 6-year-old children directly in? uenced breakfast aliment and snack preferences (Goldberg et al. , 1978). Finally, exposure to advertisements has as well been shown to in? uence the frequency of snacking a mong children (Bolton, 1983). advertise has been criticized for promoting materialism, persuading several(prenominal)s to buy things they do non need, and providing false or conduct selective development (Pollay and Mittal, 1993). parents’ concerns toward the impact of advertizing order at hildren have risen signi? affectationly in the lowest decade (Hudson et al. , 2008). These concerns have also been expressed by academicians (Moore, 2004). However, only a limited number of studies have examined respectable issues aimed at the children’s segment (Ahuja et al. , 2001; Hudson et al. , 2008). scorn these change magnitude concerns and the ensuing debate, parents’ respectable views of nutrient advert targeting children have not been examined in the marketing literature. estimable judgments and behavioural intentions ground how parents view and make decisions about good issues targeted at children is important to marketers.Several factors morta lal credit line leader in? uence good decision- do, including situational factors ( capture and Vitell, 1986) and singular differences (Hunt and Vitellm, 1986; Jones, 1991). honorable (or un respectable) behavior is in? uenced directly by the ethical judgments and behavioural intentions of the idiosyncratics. An individual’s ethical judgment is de? ned as ‘‘the degree to which he or she considers a particular behavior morally acceptable’’ (Bass et al. , 1999, p. 189). honourable judgments have been considered a central piss in several ethical decision do models (Dubinsky and Loken, 1989; Hunt and Vitell, 1986; Jones, 1991).These decision-making theories stand an understanding of how an individual’s behavioural intentions and ethical judgments are relevant to making decisions in situations involving ethical issues; for example, the system of wakeless save suggests that individuals act in a manner consistent with their placements. On t he otherwise hand, other factors superpower ca spend individuals to develop behavioural intentions that major power be dissonant with their military positions (Fishbein and Ajzen, 1975). Past research has also shown that individuals are more possible to state their behavioural intentions if they perceive the situation as ethical (Bass et al. , 1999).Furthermore, Hunt and Vitell (1986, p. 9) de? ned behavioural intentions as ‘‘the likeliness that any particular alternative go away be chosen. ’’ The authors also suggest that ethical judgments would impact the individual behavior through behavioural intentions. Overall, ethical judgments and behavioral intentions are important progresss to gain insights regarding advertise direct at children. status toward regimen publicizing As noted, research examining parents’ locations toward advert, particularly to feed advert, direct at children is limited. Past studies examined the human consanguinity surrounded by family communication atterns and enate re consummations toward advertizement (Rose et al. , 1998), and parental involvement The morality of fodder denote Targeted Toward Children and imperative parenting and carriage toward publicize (Carlson and Grossbart, 1988). Only one let out examined the affinity between berth toward fodder advertising and parental styles (Crosby and Grossbart, 1984). The authors found differences regarding emplacements toward nutrient advertising based upon parental styles, with more authoritative parents being more concerned about children’s feed advertising as compared with more permissive parents.Governments and health advocates in distinguishable countries are trying to introduce stricter regulations on provender advertising targeting children since they acc expenditure marketers for increase levels of childhood obesity. In France, diet marketers are faced with choosing between salaried a 1. 5% tax on their ad budgets to fund healthy-eating messages or else adding a health message to commercials. In Canada, ternion of children between 2 and 11 old age old are overweight and some marketers are promoting healthy lifestyles for children. Given the different proportions of childhood obesity problems from ne county to the next, transnational nourishment marketers such as McDonald’s now have differing strategies in each country based on how they must undertake this global challenge (Jardine and Wentz, 2005). Clearly, advertisers have been interrogative mooded about their ethical standards. Although at that place is increased discussion among parents regarding the potential impact of advertising and concern about how ethical (or unethical) advertising practices are towards children, this issue has not been adequately researched. Since the transactionhip between parents’ military strength toward nutriment advertising and ethical judgments and behavioral intentio ns f the advertising simulated military operation targeted at children has not been examined in the marketing literature, this study focexercisings on those parental perspectives. Therefore, based upon the previous discussion, it is hypothesized that: Parents’ attitude toward sustenance advertising pass oning be positively cogitate to to to their ethical judgments of the nutrient advertising targeted at children. H2: Parents’ attitude toward food advertising will be positively relate to their behavioral intentions of the food advertising targeted at children. H1: 301 military position toward implement of alimentation information Concerns about children’s sustentation include multiple actors. Some of these concerns are centered on pabulum de? ciencies in children’s diets delinquent to economic factors, wretched eating habits, and inadequate alimentational familiarity of parents. The government has taken several go to deal with childrenà ¢â‚¬â„¢s support problems by being involved in school lunch programs, regulation of children’s advertising, and nutriment education in schools (Crosby et al. , 1982). look into has also shown the positive impact of parental in? uence and upkeep education (Grossbart et al. , 1982). Parents’ attitudes toward the use of provender vary from one parent to the other.Furthermore, parents, particularly mothers, wield a signi? pitch impact on children’s consumption of a balanced diet and exposure to a variety of foods. previous(prenominal) research has shown that mothers who endorsed comestible information had more positive attitudes toward food and expressed more concerns about food advertising targeted at children (Crosby et al. , 1982). Therefore, it is further hypothesized that: Parents’ attitude toward the use of nutrition information will be positively relate to their ethical judgments of the food advertising targeted at children. H4: Parentsâ€⠄¢ attitude toward the use of nutrition nformation will be positively colligate to their behavioral intentions of the food advertising targeted at children. H3: good lastingness Jones (1991) de? nes moral military capability as ‘‘the point of issue- link moral imperative in a situation’’ (p. 372). Furthermore, he suggests that ethics- colligate contexts vary with their level of moral intensity. Jones (1991) identi? ed six categories (magnitude of consequences, fortune of effect, temporal immediacy, constriction of effect, propinquity, and well-disposed consensus) of the moral intensity construct. The ? rst four items refer to the diverse dimensions of vituperate the bodily ferment efficacy cause.More speci? cally, magnitude of consequences refers to the cumulative 302 Aysen Bakir and Scott J. Vitell misuse (or neediness thereof) the meet baron cause. Probability of effect refers to the likeliness that the natural run will cause stultific ation (or lack thereof). Temporal immediacy refers to ‘‘the length of time between the presend and the attack of consequences of the moral act in question (shorter length of time implies greater immediacy)’’ (Jones, 1991, p. 376). The density of effect refers to the number of people who would call up that the action would cause trauma (or lack thereof). Proximity is the ‘‘ signature of nearness genial, cultural, psychological, or physical)’’ (Jones, 1991, p. 376) that the individual has for those affected by the action in question. Finally, social consensus is the intent of the feeling that action taken is good (or not). moralistic intensity is a multidimensional construct that measures the moral intensity of the situation. ethical decision-making carry through must be in? uenced by the intuition that the potential action has a moral or ethical scene that needs to be appraised (Barnett, 2001). For marketing practitione rs, studies have shown that perceived moral intensity affects the perception of ethical problems in respective(a) situations Singhapakdi et al. , 1996a; Singhapakdi et al. , 1999). Furthermore, past studies also have shown that moral intensity in? uences behavioral intentions of the individuals in ethics- tie in situations (Robin et al. , 1996; Singhapakdi et al. , 1996a). Also, Hunt and Vitell (1986) suggest a theoretical yoke between intentions and ethical judgments. Therefore, moral intensity would also be expected to in? uence ethical judgments. The relationship between moral intensity and ethical judgments and behavioral intentions has also been empirically shown (Barnett, 2001; Vitell et al. , 2003). Thus, it is hypothesized that:Parents’ attitude toward moral intensity will be positively related to their ethical judgments of the food advertising targeted at children. H6: Parents’ attitude toward moral intensity will be positively related to their behavioral in tentions of the food advertising targeted at children. H5: contexts (e. g. , Singhapakdi et al. , 1996c; Singhapakdi et al. , 1999). Forsyth (1980) suggests that idealism and relativism can be considered as individual differences that cogency impact individuals’ judgments of moral issues. noble-mindedness measures an individual’s acceptance of ordinary moral unattackables. This construct focuses on the effrontery that, if ight actions are taken, this will lead to want outcomes. On the other hand, relativism measures individual’s rejection of worldwide moral tenets (Forsyth, 1980). Therefore, the conceptualization of these constructs facultyiness suggest that individuals who are more high-sounding would be more likely to have higher ethical judgments and behavioral intentions. Previous research pass ons some support for these relationships (Singhapakdi et al. , 1996c). Relativism is de? ned as a belief that moral standards are congeneric to one†™s acculturation or fellowship. Forsyth (1992) also indicates that relativistic individuals might ormulate their decisions based on skepticism and respect situations based on other than ethical principles. Furthermore, relativistic individuals evaluate what is right or impose on _or_ oppress based on the speci? cs of the situation (Park, 2005). Forsyth (1992) also indicates that idealism and relativism are not contrary concepts, save kind of in myrmecophilous of each other; for example, an individual might have high oodles some(prenominal) on idealism and relativism, which indicates that the someone might simultaneously accept absolute moral rules and yet also evaluate the alternatives available based upon the speci? c situation and its possible onsequences. Therefore, parents would evaluate each of the advertising tactics directed at their children on a situation-by-situation basis. Since food advertising directed at children has received signi? cant economic aid recent ly due to the health concerns of children and increased obesity rates (York, 2007), speci? c types of advertising tactics such as potentially developing unhealthy eating habits might be received more electronegatively due to their apparent impact on children. Therefore, it is hypothesized that: Parents’ idealism will be related to their ethical judgments of the food advertising targeted at hildren. H8: Parents’ idealism will be related to their behavioral intentions of the food advertising targeted at children. H7: high-mindedness and relativism Idealism and relativism have been utilise to measure moral philosophies in various marketing-related The ethics of nutriment publicise Targeted Toward Children Parents’ relativism will ethical judgments of the geted at children. H10: Parents’ relativism will behavioral intentions of targeted at children. H9: be related to their food advertising tarbe related to their the food advertising Method Sample The pot was displace to parents at several schools ocated in the Midwest. The researchers contacted the schools and got licence to send the survey to parents at the schools that concord to participate in the study. The number of schools that participated in the study plyd signi? cant diversity in terms of economic background. The majority of the attempt include educated and employed middle-income families. Of the 1,020 surveys sent, 189 surveys were consummate(a)d, for a response rate of 18. 52%. Of the 189 surveys, 28 surveys had missing data for individual questions. Among the respondents, 78% were mothers and the rest of were fathers. Table I is run aways the complete demographics of the respondents. Procedure Once the school principals gave consent, the researchers contacted the teachers from kindergarten to eighth grade. The teachers in each grade sent the questionnaires home to parents with the children. Once the parents ? lled out the questionnaires, the children returned th e completed questionnaire to the schools. Measures and dependability The dependent variables were behavioral intentions and ethical judgments. The independent variables were moral intensity, idealism, relativism, attitude toward food advertising aimed at children, and ttitude toward the parents’ use of nutrition information. 303 plank I Demographics of the respondents Variable Parent Mother Father Age of the parent 29 years old or under 30â€39 years old 40â€49 years old 50â€59 years old genteelness level of the parent High-school degree Some college degree College grad Some graduate study alumnus degree Household income (US $) 100k Work posture of the parent Working full time Working part time non working No. of children unmatchable child Two children Three children Four children More than four children % 78. 1 21. 9 4. 8 48. 9 39. 8 6. 5 5. 4 19. 4 38. 7 5. 4 31. 2 12. 2 14. 5 26. 6 3. 9 22. 8 67. 9 17. 1 15 18. 7 42. 2 27. 3 7. 5 4. 3 object lesson intens ity This eggshell measures parents’ attitude toward moral intensity in a given situation. This construct was unquestionable by Jones (1991) and includes six dimensions. However, the plateful used to measure the construct was developed by Singhapakdi et al. (1996b). Responses were metrical by a seven-point Likert-type cuticle, ranging from 1 (strongly disagree) to 7 (strongly agree). The distress dimension include common chord variables: magnitude of consequences, temporal immediacy, and concentration of effect. The other two items were proximity and social consensus.The reliability of the harm descale was 0. 85 for the 304 Aysen Bakir and Scott J. Vitell ?rst scenario, 0. 91 for the second scenario, and 0. 86 for the triple scenario. Idealism and relativism This scale measures the extent of individual’s acceptance of moral absolutes, whereas the relativism scale measures the extent of individual’s rejection of linguistic universal moral principles. Th e two scales were developed by Forsyth (1980). The ten items for each scale were careful utilizing a seven-point Likerttype scales, ranging from 1 (strongly disagree) to 7 (strongly agree). The reliability of the scale was 0. 83 or idealism and 0. 84 for relativism. Attitude toward food advertising This scale measures parents’ attitudes toward food advertising directed at children. The scale is adapted from a Carlson and Grossbart (1988) study and includes six items. The parents’ extent of concord was measured by a ? ve-point Likert-type scale, ranging from 1 (strongly disagree) to 5 (strongly agree). The reliability of the scale was 0. 80. Attitude toward use of nutritionary information This scale measures parents’ use of nutritional information. The scale was in the first place developed by Moorman (1998) and includes four items.The parents’ extent of cartel toward the use of nutritional information were measured by a ? ve-point Likert-type scale, ranging from 1 (strongly disagree) to 5 (strongly agree). The reliability of the scale was 0. 82. Scenarios This study utilized trine scenarios to measure parents’ behavioral intentions and ethical judgments relative to speci? c situations. Ethical judgments and behavioral intentions were then measured by apply a seven-point Likert scale petition the respondents the extent they agree/disagree with the questions. For step ethical judgments, the pursuance statement was used, ‘‘I consider the action taken to e very ethical,’’ whereas for measuring behavioral intentions, the following statement was used, ‘‘I would be likely to take the same action in this situation. ’’ Therefore, a greater degree of agreement with the action taken indicates that the respondents had higher ethical levels of behavioral intentions and ethical judgments. At the end of each scenario, the action taken by an advertiser was presented. The scenarios focused on aiming some of the current advertising practices used to target children. The ? rst scenario addresses the use of ‘‘adver peppys’’ targeting children. Children are corresponding these games n the meshing in a soft touch context. The games provide product-related information and even conduct children to contact their friends. The second scenario focused on some of the super debated advertising practices at schools. A food fraternity sponsors programs at schools and child care centers. During lambasts, the ships play along provides cheer with well-known characters and exposes children to takes of their potentially unhealthy food products. The third gear scenario centers on a candy and cereal confederation who is considering selling books that point the guest’s brand. Children can play and learn counting by victimisation carbohydrate-? led sweets and cereals. The books use the company’s brand as an example in their pl ays and counting. The scenarios were pre rendered. The results indicated that most(prenominal) respondents believed that the actions taken by the advertisers in all of the scenarios were unethical. The majority of the respondents also indicated that they disagreed with the actions taken in the ternion scenarios. Data epitome and results The hypotheses were tested separately for each of the three scenarios. Analysis of variance (analysis of variance) was used to test the hypotheses. H1 measured whether parents’ attitude toward food advertising is ositively related to their ethical judgments of the food advertising targeted at children. The three scenarios tested did not indicate signi? cant differences. The analysis of variance results were: scenario 1: F(7, 152) = 26. 836, p < 0. 926; scenario 2: F(7, 158) = 11. 334, p < 0. 933; and scenario 3: F(7, 160) = 21. 468, p < 0. 724. Thus, parents’ attitude toward food advertising was not related to their ethical judgments of the food advertising targeted at children. H2 measured whether parents’ attitude toward food advertising is positively related to their behavioral intentions of the food advertising targeted at children.Again, none of the three scenarios resulted in signi? cant differences. The ethics of Food Advertising Targeted Toward Children 305 TABLE II analysis of variance analysis: scenarios 1, 2, and 3, dependent variable: ethical judgments Variable good intensity: honorable intensity: incorrupt intensity: Idealism Relativism Attitude toward Attitude toward Scenario 1 p entertain harm consensus proximity food advertising use of nutrition Scenario 2 p Value Scenario 3 p Value 0. 000 0. 095 0. 288 0. 206 0. 200 0. 926 0. 093 F(7, 152) = 26. 835 0. 000 0. 037 0. 772 0. 166 0. 006 0. 933 0. 822 F(7, 158) = 11. 334 0. 000 0. 000 0. 255 0. 633 0. 60 0. 724 0. 127 F(7, 160) = 21. 468 TABLE III analysis of variance analysis: scenarios 1, 2, and 3, dependent variable: behavio ral intentions Variable deterrent example intensity: good intensity: Moral intensity: Idealism Relativism Attitude toward Attitude toward Scenario 1 p Value harm consensus proximity food advertising use of nutrition Scenario 2 p Value Scenario 3 p Value 0. 000 0. 000 0. 091 0. 732 0. 162 0. 854 0. 223 F(7, 153) = 18. 707 0. 000 0. 002 0. 539 0. 186 0. 036 0. 643 0. 116 F(7, 157) = 17. 721 0. 000 0. 005 0. 809 0. 567 0. 081 0. 554 0. 004 F(7, 160) = 16. 315 The analysis of variance results were: scenario 1: F(7, 153) = 8. 707, p < 0. 854; scenario 2: F(7, 157) = 17. 721, p < 0. 643; and scenario 3: F(7, 160) = 16. 315, p < 0. 554. Thus parents’ attitude toward food advertising was not related to their behavioral intentions relative to the food advertising targeted at children. Tables II and III display these ? ndings. H3 measured whether parents’ attitude toward the use of nutrition information is positively related to their ethical judgments of the food adve rtising targeted at children. The three scenarios tested did not indicate signi? cant differences. The ANOVA results were: scenario 1: F(7, 152) = 26. 35, p < 0. 093; scenario 2: F(7, 158) = 11. 334, p < 0. 822; and scenario 3: F(7, 160) = 21. 468, p < 0. 127. H4 measured whether parents’ attitude toward the use of nutrition information is positively related to their behavioral intentions relative to the food advertising targeted at children. There were no signi? cant differences regarding the ? rst two scenarios, but there were signi? cant differences on the third scenario among parents’ attitude toward the use of nutrition information and its relation to their behavioral intentions of the food advertising targeted at children. The ANOVA esults were: scenario 1: F(7, 153) = 18. 707, p < 0. 223; scenario 2: F(7, 157) = 17. 721, p < 0. 116; and scenario 3: F(7, 160) = 16. 315, p < 0. 004. H5 measured whether parents’ attitude concerning moral in tensity is positively related to their ethical judgments of the food advertising targeted at children. Moral intensity was measured by three separate dimensions: harm, social consensus, and proximity. There were signi? cant differences on the harm construct among three scenarios. The ANOVA results were: scenario 1: F(7, 152) = 26. 836, p < 0. 000; scenario 2: F(7, 158) = 11. 334, p < 0. 000; 306Aysen Bakir and Scott J. Vitell and scenario 3: F(7, 160) = 21. 468, p < 0. 000. Furthermore, there were signi? cant differences on the social consensus construct for the second and third scenarios. The ANOVA results were: scenario 1: F(7, 152) = 26. 836, p < 0. 095; scenario 2: F(7, 158) = 11. 334, p < 0. 037; and scenario 3: F(7, 160) = 21. 468, p < 0. 000. Finally, there were no signi? cant differences on proximity among three scenarios. The ANOVA results were: scenario 1: F(7, 152) = 26. 836, p < 0. 288; scenario 2: F(7, 158) = 11. 334, p < 0. 772; and scenario 3: F(7, 160) = 21. 468, p < 0. 55. Thus, boilers suit H5 was at least partially supported. H6 measured whether parents’ attitude concerning moral intensity is positively related to their behavioral intentions relative to the food advertising targeted at children. Parents’ attitude toward the harm and social consensus dimensions indicated signi? cant differences among three scenarios. The ANOVA results for harm were: scenario 1: F(7, 153) = 18. 707, p < 0. 000; scenario 2: F(7, 157) = 17. 721, p < 0. 000; and scenario 3: F(7, 160) = 16. 315, p < 0. 000. The ANOVA results for social consensus were: scenario 1: F(7, 153) = 18. 707, p < 0. 00; scenario 2: F(7, 157) = 17. 721, p < 0. 002; and scenario 3: F(7, 160) = 16. 315, p < 0. 005. On the other hand, parents’ attitude toward proximity did not indicate any signi? cant differences among three scenarios. The ANOVA results for proximity were: scenario 1: F(7, 153) = 18. 707, p < 0. 091; scenari o 2: F(7, 157) = 17. 721, p < 0. 539; and scenario 3: F(7, 160) = 16. 315, p < 0. 809. H7 measured whether parents’ idealistic moral school of thought is related to their ethical judgments of the food advertising targeted at children. Parents’ idealism was not signi? cantly related to their ethical udgments. The ANOVA results for idealism were: scenario 1: F(7, 152) = 26. 835, p < 0. 206; scenario 2: F(7, 158) = 11. 334, p < 0. 166; and scenario 3: F(7, 160) = 21. 468, p < 0. 633. H8 measured whether parents’ idealistic moral philosophy is related to their behavioral intentions of the food advertising targeted at children. Again the results were not signi? cant. The ANOVA results for idealism were: scenario 1: F(7, 153) = 18. 707, p < 0. 732; scenario 2: F(7, 157) = 17. 721, p < 0. 186; and scenario 3: F(7, 160) = 16. 315, p < 0. 567. H9 measured whether parents’ relativistic moral hilosophy is related to their ethical judgments o f the food advertising targeted at children. H10 mea- sured whether parents’ relativistic moral philosophy is related to their behavioral intentions of the food advertising targeted at children. H9 and H10 were partially supported. Parents’ relativism was signi? cantly related to ethical judgments and intentions for the second scenario. The ANOVA results for idealism were: scenario 1: F(7, 152) = 26. 835, p < 0. 200; scenario 2: F(7, 158) = 11. 334, p < 0. 006; and scenario 3: F(7, 160) = 21. 468, p < 0. 060. There were no signi? ant differences among parents’ relativism regarding the behavioral intentions for the ? rst and the third scenarios. The ANOVA results for relativism were: scenario 1: F(7, 153) = 18. 707, p < 0. 7162; scenario 2: F(7, 157) = 17. 721, p < 0. 036; and scenario 3: F(7, 160) = 16. 315, p < 0. 081. Discussion This paper examined parents’ views of the ethics of food advertising targeted at children. The marketing lit erature, surprisingly, has not examined this topic. This study attempts to ? ll this gap by examining how parents view various types of food advertising directed at children. Children as consumers have ecome signi? cantly more important to marketers in the last decade. Marketers have heavily promoted their products to this segment and spent millions of dollars on advertising to reach this segment (Jardine and Wentz, 2005). Food advertising represents a signi? cant portion of all advertising spending for marketers while food advertising targeted at children has received signi? cant criticism from both parents and public policy-makers. The ? ndings of the study provide interest insights. Parents were asked to respond to three different scenarios outlining various food advertising strategies directed at children.Furthermore, parents’ ethical judgments and behavioral intentions were measured for the three scenarios. unmatchable of the independent variables was parents’ a ttitude toward food advertising. The ? ndings indicated that parents’ attitude toward food advertising did not affect their ethical judgments and behavioral intentions concerning speci? c food advertising directed at their children. One of the reasons for not ? nding a signi? cant relationship might be due to the measurement of other food advertising practices targeted at children in the scenarios that was not included in the The morals of Food Advertising Targeted Toward Children cale measuring attitudes toward food advertising. This ? nding provides important implications for marketers which might indicate that parents evaluate speci? c food advertising targeted at children independently of their potential views on general food advertising directed at children. Thus, marketers who are assured of the potential harm of advertising to children might still be highly regarded by consumers even if the consumer, in general, has negative or skeptical views of advertising to child ren. Parents’ attitude toward the use of nutrition information displayed interesting ? ndings.The third scenario, in particular, focused on speci? c implications of a food product that might have unhealthy eating implications for children. Parents’ attitude toward the use of nutritional information for this scenario was related to their behavioral intentions. On the other hand, there were no signi? cant relationships between an attitude toward the use of nutrition and ethical judgments of food advertising targeted at children for any of the scenarios, including scenario 3. Parents might have not perceived using well-known characters to distribute food company products at schools and child care acilities to have any potential harm. The lack of a relationship between an attitude toward the use of nutritional information and ethical judgments of food advertising targeted at children should be considered on a scenario-by-scenario basis; for example, for the ? rst scenario, it might be that parents did not really think the advergames and the use of well-known characters to distribute food company products at schools and child care facilities presented any potential unethical practices. Particularly, advergames are new promotional tools used on the web to attract adults and children within a mark context.Advergames are somewhere between advertising and computer games and include product-related information from the companies with the use of games or part of a game (Nelson, 2002; Mallinckrodt and Mizerski, 2007). Past studies also suggest that advergames might be more persuasive for youth children than tralatitious advertising (Oanh Ha, 2004). agnate sense of advergames targeting children needs further investigation in emerging research. Future research should also examine how parents use nutritional information in their food purchase decisions to have a better understanding of the relationship between attitude 307 oward use of nutrition informat ion and ethical perspectives regarding food advertising. Moral intensity signi? cantly affected parents’ ethical judgments and behavioral intentions. This ?nding offers signi? cant implications for marketers and public policy-makers. Parents indicated concerns regarding the potential harm of various food advertising targeting children in the three scenarios. It is important that marketers should be more careful when they create their advertising tactics targeting children. It might also be that more regulations might be needed to address parental concerns regarding the potential make of food dvertising. The moral intensity measure of proximity was not signi? cantly related to the ethical judgments and behavioral intentions of parents. Proximity measures the ‘‘feeling of nearness (social, cultural, psychological, or physical)’’ (Jones, 1991, p. 376) that the individual has for those affected by the action in question. It might be that parents conside red the action taken unethical whether the results affected their friends/relatives or not. The ?ndings relative to social consensus and its effect on their ethical judgments and behavioral intentions were signi? cant, in most instances.Thus, parents did consider what others might think about a speci? c situation when forming their ethical judgments and intentions. The ethical perspectives of idealism and relativism also provide some insights regarding parents’ ethical judgments and behavioral intentions. Findings indicated that there is no signi? cant relationship between parents’ attitude toward idealism and their ethical judgments and behavioral intentions. Parents, in this study, may not have perceived the scenarios as situations that should carry universal moral absolutes. On the other hand, parents’ attitude toward relativism signi? antly affected their ethical judgments and behavioral intentions but only for the second scenario. Relativism might be more l ikely to in? uence opinions on a situation-by-situation basis. The second scenario in particular expressed potential unhealthy effects on children. Therefore, parents might have perceived this scenario as involving questionable ethical practices. Our study has some limitations. Although parents were instructed to ? ll out the questionnaire individually or as a couple, we could not verify whether or not they communicated with each other. This raises the 308 Aysen Bakir and Scott J.Vitell initiative of a potential demand artifact. Secondly, although survey methods provide important information on individuals’ perceptions and beliefs, soft methods would bestow more detailed information on parents’ perceptions and attitudes. Future research should focus on more qualitative techniques to have a deeper understanding of perceptions and attitudes. Third, our ? ndings provide insights only from parents in the Midwestern USA. These ? ndings are not yet generalizable to other cultures or subcultures. Understanding parents’ perspectives on advertising directed at children is important.Future research should focus on a more detailed parental perspective to uncover how parents make judgments on whether advertising directed at children is ethical or not. Qualitative studies might provide more in-depth understanding. Uncovering these issues might calumniate the discrepancy between parents and marketers. The debate on the effects of food advertising targeted at children has intensi? ed in the last several years among academicians, public policy-makers, and marketers. Companies need to respond better to the food-related debates in society, particularly to those related to healthy eating and ethical food marketing.In conclusion, our ? ndings assist both research and theory in the children’s advertising ? eld. With the increasing prominence of ethics in business/ marketing research, this study presents important ?ndings that onward motion our und erstanding of the potential antecedents to the ethical decision-making process for parents in situations involving advertising directed toward their children. We swear that the results generated by this research can be successfully used to guide future ethics research projects in this growing ? eld. Appendix A: scenarios Scenario 1 A food company whose products are, in part, argeted at children is planning to use ‘‘adver- games’’ (online games in which a company’s product or brand characters are featured). It is also considering encouraging children to contact their friends about a speci? c product or brand as part of their new advertising campaign. The company is considering using the internet, rather than more traditional media such as television, due to the highly debated relationship between aggressive food advertising and increased obesity among children. action mechanism: The company decided to use Internet advertising for their new campaign . Scenario 2An advertising style recommended that their client sponsor programs at schools and visit child care centers. These sponsored programs would make a ?nancial contribution to each school and child care center. During these visits the company would provide recreation with the company’s wellknown characters and provide a sample of the company’s food products to children. If they do this, children who are less than 5 years old would be introduced to a range of products that might be considered ‘‘unhealthy. ’’ serve: The sponsor decided to conduct these visits to the child care centers/schools and provide a sample of their products.Scenario 3 A candy and cereal company is considering selling books that spotlight the client’s brand. These children’s books provide sum on ‘‘counting and playing. ’’ Children can play checkers with various fruit-? avored candies and can learn to count using various forms of nutritionists calorie and sugar-? lled sweets and cereals. The books use the company’s brand as an example for the ‘‘counting and playing’’ content. Action: The candy and cereal company decided to sell these books to children. The ethical motive of Food Advertising Targeted Toward Children Appendix B: scale items 309 APPENDIX B continued Moral intensity 4.The overall harm (if any) through with(p) as a result of the action would be very sharp handicap 2 The action will harm very few people, if any psychic trauma 3 The action will not cause any harm in the immediate future Proximity If one were a personal friend of the person(s) harmed, the action would be wrong favorable most(prenominal) people would agree that the action is consensus wrong 5. Harm 1 6. 7. 8. Idealism 9. 1. A person should make certain that their actions neer intentionally harm some other even to a small degree 2. Risks to other should neer be tolerated, irrespecti ve of how small the risks might be 3. The existence of potential harm to others is always rong, irrespective of the bene? ts gained 4. One should never psychologically or physically harm another person 5. One should not perform an action which might in anyway threaten the hauteur and upbeat of another individual 6. If an action could harm an innocent other, then it should not be male parente 7. Deciding whether or not to perform an act by balancing the positive consequences of the act against the negative consequences of the act is immoral 8. The dignity and welfare of people should be the most important concern of any society 9. It is never necessary to sacri? ce the welfare of others 10.Moral actions are those which closely match ideals of the most ‘‘ consummate’’ action 10. Attitude toward food advertising 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 2. 3. There are no ethical principles that are so important that they should be part of any code of ethics What is ethical varies from one situation and society to another Moral standards should be seen as being individualistic; what one person considers to be moral may be judged to be immoral by another person There is too such(prenominal) food advertising directed at children Advertisers use tricks and gimmicks to get children to buy their products Advertising to children makes false claims about utrition content of food products There is too much sugar in the foods advertised to children Advertising teaches children deadly eating habits Advertising directed at children leads to family con? ict Attitude toward use of nutritional information Relativism 1. Different types of moralities cannot be compared as to ‘‘rightness’’ Questions of what is ethical for everyone can never be resolved since what is moral or immoral is up to the individual Moral standards are simply personal rules which indicate how a person should behave, and are not to be applied in making judgments of othersEth ical considerations in interpersonal relations are so complex that individuals should be allowed to vocalise their own individual codes Rigidly codifying an ethical position that prevents certain types of actions could stand in the way of better human relations and adjustment No rule concerning deceit can be formulated; whether a lie is permissible or not permissible totally depends upon the situation Whether a lie is judged to be moral or immoral depends upon the circumstances surrounding the actions 1. 2. 3. 4. 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