Social Issues of Advertising

Advertising is something which we are exposed to from a young age and which can affect us in many different ways. Centered around the question “Does advertising improve society?” this volume explores the impact and issues of advertising and questions its social responsibility, with a focus on Hong Kong society. The collection of essays offers a broad view of the interaction between society and advertising, from an introduction to semiotic studies, exploring the use of gender stereotypes to the employment of brand placement as a new form of product promotion.

Written by professors of advertising with experience from both within the industry and from international research, this is a senior level textbook designed to augment any studies in advertising, marketing, public relations or media studies.

Kara Chan (PhD, City University of Hong Kong) is a Professor at the School of Communication, Hong Kong Baptist University. She worked in the advertising business and as a statistician for the Hong Kong Government before she moved into academia. Her research areas are cross-cultural consumer studies and health communication. She has published seven books as well as over 140 journal articles and book chapters. She was a Fulbright scholar at Bradley University, Illinois as well as a Visiting Professor at Copenhagen Business School, Aarhus University and Klagenfurt University. Her journal articles have won five Emerald Literati Network Awards for Excellence. She received awards for Outstanding Performance in Scholarly Work at Hong Kong Baptist University in 2006 and 2014.

1. An Overview of the Indicators of Advertising Performance
2. The Hong Kong Advertising Scene
3. Meanings of Creativity among Advertising Practitioners
4. Branded Contents: Public Attitudes and Regulation
5. Controversial and Offensive Advertising
6. Advertising Regulations in Hong Kong
7. Personal Loan Advertisements in Hong Kong: A Semiotic Study
8. Gender Portrayal in Advertising
9. Responses to Gendered Advertisements
10. Children and Advertising
11. Advertising Medical Services
12. Advancing Social Causes through Video Games
13. Political Advertising and Public Service Advertisements

Advertising, as a form of communication, has a process which is very similar to that described in the traditional human communication model (Arens et al., 2013). In the traditional human communication model, there are a total of six components: the source/sender, the encoding process, the message, the channel, the decoding process and the receiver (Peter and Olsen, 1994). Applying this model to advertising communication, the source is equivalent to the advertisers/creatives who are involved in the creation and production of advertising and promotional messages (the encoding process). These advertisements and commercials (the message) are then carried by different advertising media (the channel) to the general audience/consumers (the receiver) who may actively and/or passively engage in the interpretation exercise (the decoding process). Therefore in analyzing the effectiveness of advertising communication, we can focus on examining three key indicators: the production, the distribution and the reception (Chan and Lee, 1992). This chapter centers the discussion around these indicators in order to reveal the big picture of advertising communication in Hong Kong.


Production of Advertising Messages
Advertising production can be measured by examining three areas. The first
indicator of productivity is the investment in advertising production; this can
be seen in the level of advertising expenditure in different commercial sectors.
The second productivity indicator is the capability of advertising production
which is reflected by the manpower engaged in the advertising industry. The
quality of advertising production represents the third productivity indicator.

Investment in Advertising Production
Nielsen (2015), the world’s leading provider of marketing research, compiles figures of advertising expenditure by different product categories. In the past, reports on advertising expenditure by product category and by brand were prepared in hard-copy format on a monthly basis. However, as the advertising market is becoming increasingly competitive, clients require timely reports on an interactive platform: admanGo was founded in 1999 to provide such a service. It works closely with major advertisers, advertising agencies and media to develop an extensive online advertising archive. Its advertising intelligence database documents advertising creatives and spending data over more than fifteen years. Its competitive advertising monitoring service is updated on a daily basis. A wide range of media types are covered including television, newspapers and magazines, radio, outdoor and in-transit displays, digital and mobile advertising, among others. Detailed reports about advertising expenditure by different product categories, media, brands and campaigns are available by subscription. By clicking on the thumbnails of advertisements on the platform, subscribed users can see the two-dimensional print advertisements, can hear the radio spots, as well as watch the television or digital commercials. Users may also subscribe for enhanced features to keep track of new media types and their adoption levels in the market.

Capability of Advertising Production
In addition to advertising expenditure, the hardware of advertising production lies in the manpower engaged in the advertising industry. The first survey of advertising and public relations manpower was conducted in 1987 by the Vocational Training Council. It covered all advertising agencies, public
relations agencies, media agencies and selected in-house advertising and
public relations departments in Hong Kong. The manpower of the advertising
and public relations industries were surveyed every two years and figures
were reported. The formal training requirements and qualifications were also
examined. However, the statistics were reported by job level (i.e. managerial,
supervisory, executional and supporting/technical) instead of by function
(e.g., account servicing, creative, media planning). Other than advertising
manpower, the number of advertising programs offered by local institutions
and the respective intakes every year can also serve as an indicator of the
capability of advertising production. This information indicates the potential
supply of advertising manpower and the amount of formal training that
individuals receive before joining the advertising profession. Moreover, the
analysis of relationship dynamics between advertisers and advertising agencies may also signal the capacity of advertising production (So, 2005).

Quality of Advertising Production

Another indicator of advertising productivity is the quality of production which is reflected in the number of awards and the recognition and complaints received by the industry. In Hong Kong, no official bodies are designated to censor advertising production. In other words, the advertising industry is largely self-regulated. The Association of Accredited Advertising Agents of Hong Kong (HK4As) has published a code of practice for its members to follow in order to preserve standards and ethics in the advertising profession. The high quality of advertising production was illustrated in the number of awards and positive recognition earned both locally and internationally. These include the Most Popular Television Commercials Award organized by local television broadcasters and the Hong Kong Advertisers Association (HK2A), and the Kam Fan Awards (formerly known as the HK4As Creative Awards) organized by the HK4As every year. Some creative advertisements also received renowned international awards such as the Cannes Lions International Advertising Awards, the Effie Awards and the Clio Awards, among others. Chapter 3 discusses the encoding process of advertising creativity.

Some substandard advertisements or advertisements expressing bad taste or inappropriate values were punished by the Communications Authority (formerly known as the Broadcasting Authority). These advertisements received advice, warnings or even fines from the Authority. When a member of the public feels annoyed by an advertisement, they can lodge a complaint with the Communications Authority. The Authority will then launch an investigation and file the case into an online archive which documents all the complaint cases since 2012 (Communications Authority, 2015a). Currently, there is no official body to deal with complaints on print or outdoor advertising in Hong Kong. The media themselves are responsible for the quality of advertisements that they carry.
In summary, investment, capability and quality are the three key indicators of advertising productivity. Together, they determine the distribution of advertising messages and the volume of advertising carried by different media which are discussed in the next section.