Department of Advertising

Advertising Regulation by the FTC

BIBLIOGRAPHY:

As this web site develops, in the space below we will provide a bibliography of articles and books relevant to this topic. To the extent practical, bibliographic references will be annotated.

Anyone interested in submitting additional bibliographic material for this reference page, or for any of the others at this site, is welcome to send such material via e-mail to jef@mail.utexas.edu. Please type the references in the same format as is used here, and keep the annotations to a few sentences.

Deception

  1. Ivan L. Preston (1994). The Tangled Web They Weave: Truth, Falsity, and Advertisers. Madison, WI: The University of Wisconsin Press.

  2. J. Howard Beales and Timothy J. Muris (1993). State and Federal Regulation of National Advertising. Washington, DC: The AEI Press.

  3. Ross D. Petty (1992). The Impact of Advertising Law on Business and Public Policy. Westport, CT: Quorum Books.

  4. Ivan L. Preston (1989). The Federal Trade Commission's Identification of Implications as Constituting Deceptive Advertising. Cincinnati Law Review, 57: 1243.

  5. Ivan L. Preston (1987). A Review of the Literature on Advertising Regulation, 1983-87. Current Issues and Research in Advertising, 10 (2): 123-152.
    This is an update of the author's previous (1983) review on the same topic. Books or journal articles published from 1983 to 1987, which deal with the issues concerning advertising regulation, are covered.

  6. Gary J. Gaeth and Timothy B. Heath (1987). The Cognitive Processing of Misleading Advertising in Young and Old Adults: Assessment and Training. Journal of Consumer Research, 14 (June): 43-54.

    Results from three experiments are presented to discuss the age-related cognitive differences in processing misleading advertising. In the first two experiments, a sample of old and young adult consumers are evaluated in terms of subsceptibility to misleading advertising techniques and ability to discriminate between nonmisleading and potentially advertising claims. The study reveals no differences when subjects respond from memory. When ads are available during assessment, young adults are found less subceptible to misleading techniques. Responsiveness is also examined in the third experiment to an interactive training designed to increase critical thinking, acquaint the consumers with some common misleading advertising techniques, and lead then to try to abstract valuable information from ads. Results indicate that while the training reduces susceptibility in both age groups, it also reduces discrimination in young adults.

  7. Philip Gold (1987). Advertising, Politics, and American Culture: From Salesmanship to Therapy. New York: Paragon Publishers.

    This book provides a history of advertising and policy from the yet also examines cultural implications. Chapter 18 is entitled "The FTC" and focuses on the 1970s.

  8. Gary T. Ford and John E. Calfee (1986). Recent Developments in FTC Policy on Deception. Journal of Marketing, 50, (Fall): 82-103.

    This article discusses the origins, substance, and likely implications of the FTC's 1983 policy statement on the meaning of deception and its relations to the unfairness and advertising substantiation policy statements and FTC opinions in consumer protection cases.

  9. John Liefeld and Louise A. Heslop (1985). Reference Prices and Deception in Newspaper Advertising. Journal of Consumer Research, 11 (March): 868-76.

    This study investigates the impact of price statements on consumer belief about the ordinary prices of products in an experiment with 275 adult shoppers at a shopping mall in Toronto, Canada. The consumers are exposed to actual newspaper ads for four products (home stereo equipment, interior house paint, designer jeans and propane gas barbeques) and one of five different price representations--regular price alone, sale price alone, regular price with Manufacturer's Suggested List Price (MSLP), sale price with regular price, or sale price with MSLP. Findings indicate that perceptions of the ordinary prices of the products are not affected by the presence or type of reference price, but that consumers, regardless of recency of their shopping experience for the products, perceive the ordinary price to be lower when the sale price is also present.

  10. James D. Gill and Sanford Grossbart (1985). Influence of Deceptive Claim Strategy and Product Class Involvement on Beliefs Induced by Deceptive and Corrective Commercials. Current Issues and Research in Advertising, 8 (1): 129-160.

    In a classroom setting, a sample of 328 college students is shown television commercials embedded in a 30-minute general interest program. The study tests deceptive claim strategy varying in terms of whether the ad contains both objective and subjective claims or subjective claims only. Product class involvement (how connected a product class is to a consumer's values) are measured using a multiple-item scale. Findings indicate deceptive ads with objective and subjective claims influence beliefs more than those with only subjective claims, and that more involved individuals are more influenced by deceptive claims than those less involved. Involvement, but not deceptive claim strategy, is found to affect the extent to which beliefs are altered by corrective commercials.

  11. Ivan L. Preston (1983). A Review of the Literature on Advertising Regulation. Current Issues and Research in Advertising, 6 (2): 1-37.

    This paper provides a review of works concerning advertising regulation, published in scholarly books and journals between 1970 and the time of its publication. Discussed are a variety of topics concerning: efforts to incorporate the expertise of consumer experts into regulatory proceedings, various types of actions subject to regulation such as the First Amendment, deceptiveness, and children's advertising, regulatory efforts to get consumer information into ads such as affirmative disclosure, advertising substantiation, and comparative advertising, and more.

  12. Michael Pertschuk (1982). Revolt Against Regulation: The Rise and Pause of the Consumer Movement. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.

  13. Jef I. Richards and Richard Zakia (1981). Pictures: An Advertiser's Expressway Through FTC Regulation. Georgia Law Review, 16: 77-134.

    The FTC has a long history of regulating the verbal claims made by advertisements. However, it has very limited experience with visual communications. These authors argue that this bias does not result from greater deception through words, but rather from the verbally-oriented expertise of lawyers at the agency. They posit that pictures can and should be regulated with the same vigor as words.

  14. Allen Hyman and M. Bruce Johnson, eds. (1977). Advertising and Free Speech. Lexington, MA: Lexington Books.

    These are papers from a Liberty Fund Conference on "Advertising vs. Free Speech: Dilemma or Invention." They provide the free market, or law and economics, perspective on regulation of advertising.

  15. S.F. Divita, ed. (1974). Advertising and the Public Interest. American Marketing Association, 1974.

    This book is a compilation of papers from the American Marketing Association's conference on Advertising and the Public Interest. Most of the papers are reacting to the FTC's hearings and proposals concerning advertising regulation in the early 1970s.

  16. John A. Howard and James Hulbert (1973). Advertising and the Public Interest: A Staff Report to the Federal Trade Commission. Chicago: Crain Communications.

    This is a report by two marketing professors on the Federal Trade Commission's hearings on advertising during 1971. It summarizes everything that the FTC learned.

  17. Earl W. Kintner (1971). A Primer on the Law of Deceptive Practices: A Guide for the Businessman. New York, NY: Macmillan Publishing Co., Inc.

  18. Edward F. Cox, Robert C. Fellmuth, and John E. Schulz (1969). Nader's Raiders: Report on the Federal Trade Commission.

  19. Alexander (1967). Honesty and Competition.

  20. Note (1967). Developments in the Law - Deceptive Advertising. Harvard Law Review, 80: 1008.

  21. Earl W. Kintner (1966). Federal Trade Commission Regulation of Advertising. Michigan Law Review, 64: 1269.

  22. Ira M. Millstein (1964). The Federal Trade Commission and False Advertising. Columbia Law Review, 64: 439.

  23. Weston (1964). Deceptive Advertising and the Federal Trade Commission: Decline of Caveat Emptor. Federal Bar Journal, 24: 548.

  24. Note (1963). Rapid Shave in the First Circuit Court of Appeals - Television Advertising and the Federal Trade Commission. Notre Dame Lawyer, 38: 350.

  25. Note (1962). A New Antitoxin to Advertising Artifice - Television Advertising and the Federal Trade Commission. Notre Dame Lawyer, 37: 524.

  26. Note (1962). Illusion or Deception: The Use of "Props" and "Mock-Ups" in Television Advertising. Yale Law Journal, 72: 145.

  27. Baker & Baum (1962). Section 5 of the Federal Trade Commission Act: A Continuing Process of Redefinition. Villanova Law Review, 7: 517.

  28. Holbrook (1959). The Golden Age of Quackery.

  29. Note (1956). Columbia Law Review, 56: 1018.

  30. Turner (1953). The Shocking History of Advertising.

  31. Milton Handler (1931). Jurisdiction of the Federal Trade Commission Over False Advertising. Columbia Law Review, 31: 527.

  32. Henderson (1924). The Federal Trade Commission.

  33. Samuel Williston (1911). Liability for honest misrepresentation. Harvard Law Review, 24: 415.

Materiality

  1. Jef I. Richards and Ivan L. Preston (1992). Proving and Disproving Materiality of Deceptive Advertising Claims. Journal of Public Policy and Marketing, 11(2): 45-56.

    This article traces the historical genesis of the FTC's materiality requirement. It then explores the Commission's assumption that any deceptive claim in an advertisement is inherently material, and the difficulties in disproving that assumption. The evidence presented in the Kraft case is analyzed. And, a proposal is made for an improved method of testing materiality.

Puffery

  1. Ivan L. Preston (1996). The Great American Blow-Up: Puffery in Advertising and Selling (Revised Edition). Madison, WI: The University of Wisconsin Press.

  2. Jef I. Richards (1990). A "New and Improved" View of Puffery. Journal of Public Policy and Marketing, 9: 73-84.

    This article traces the background of the FTC's treatment of puffery. It suggests that rather than a single definition, puffery actually has both a broad colloquial definition and a more narrow legal one. It concludes that the many allegations that puffery is deceptive are mistaken, because under the legal definition puffery and deception are mutually exclusive.

  3. Michael A. Kamins and Lawrence J. Marks (1987). Advertising Puffery: The Impact of Using Two-Sided Claims on Product Attitude and Purchase Intention. Journal of Advertising, 16 (4): 6-15.

    Advertising puffery in a one-sided appeal and a two-sided refutational form is studied in an experiment with a sample of college students. Print ads for a fictitious brand of a ball point pen are used. The study finds a higher rating of advertising truthfulness and a lower degree of negative post-trial disconfirmation for the two-sided refutational appeal relative to one-sided appeal. Results regarding post-trial evaluation and purchase intention show that although these measures decline directionally with increasing levels of puffery for the one-sided appeal, they tend to remain relatively constant under the same conditions for the two-sided appeal.

  4. Gerald A. Schorin, Bruce G. Vanden Bergh, and Keith Adler (1984). Is Puffery in Automotive Advertising on the Road Back? Proceedings of the 1984 Convention of the American Academy of Advertising, (ed.), Donald R. Glover: 112-114.

    A content analysis is undertaken to replicate the previous research which indicates a sharp decrease of puffery from 1960 to 1970 in automotive ads and leveling off in 1980. The research also attempts to determine the impact of current regulatory policy relaxation on the use of puffed headlines, illustrations, and copy. 211 automobile ads appeared in 1983 issues of Time magazine are analyzed. This study indicates a smaller portion of ads and components employing puffery in 1983 than in 1980. Possible explanations for the reseults are discussed.

  5. Gary Kurzbard and Lawrence C. Soley (1984). Puffery and Industrial Advertising Readership and Evaluation. Proceedings of the 1984 Convention of the American Academy of Advertising, (ed.), Donald R. Glover: 104-7.

    The effects of headlines and illustration puffery are examined on the readership scores of 595 AD-CHART studied industrial advertisements. Results of this study indicate that the use of headline and illustration puffery have no significant effects on "noticed," read half or more," or "informativeness" scores.

  6. Bruce G. Vanden Bergh, Dean M. Krugman, and Michael B. Salwen (1983). The Temptation to Puff: Puffery in Automotive Advertising, 1930 to 1980. Journalism Quarterly, 60 (4): 700-4, 769.

    A content analysis is undertaken to investigate the incidence of puffery over time in automotive advertising. The analysis consists of 891 ads appeared in 1930, 1940, 1950, 1960, 1970, and 1980 issues of Time magazine. Results indicate that a dramatic shift toward the use of less puffery in the ads has occurred between 1960 and 1970 and the decline tends to level off in 1980.

  7. Bruce G. Vanden Bergh and Nancy Fink (1983). Is Believability of Puffery Affected by Brand Credibility? Journalism Quarterly, 60: 344-48.

  8. Bruce G. Vanden Bergh and Nan Bartlett (1982). Puffery and Magazine Ads. Journalism Quarterly, 59: 645-48.

  9. Herbert J. Rotfeld and Kim B. Rotzoll (1981). Puffery vs. Fact Claims - Really Different? Current Issues and Research in Advertising, 1981: 85-103.

  10. Bruce G. Vanden Bergh and Leonard N. Reid (1980). Puffery and Magazine Ad Readership. Journal of Marketing, 44: 78-81.

  11. Bruce G. Vanden Bergh and Leonard N. Reid (1980). Effects of Product Puffery on Response to Print Advertisements. Current Issues and Research in Advertising, 1980: 123-34.

© 1995, 1996, 1997 Jef I. Richards
Some material here may be subject to copyrights of other contributors.