Ross D. Petty and J. Craig Andrews
Executive Summary
Masked marketing—one form of covert marketing—involves marketing communications that appear to be from independent third parties rather than from product marketers. This article presents a typology of masked marketing practices illustrating whether they may be deceptive to consumers. To accomplish this, the authors apply the Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC’s) three-part definition of deception (i.e., misleadingness, reasonable consumer, and materiality) in the evaluation of such practices. Some masked marketing practices clearly violate FTC rules or guides.
The article recommends that the FTC update its Deception Statement and Endorsement Guidelines to include more examples of masked marketing practices. It also should clarify both its policy position on when a connection between a marketer and a purported consumer is unexpected and should be disclosed and its enforcement policy on undisclosed product placements in entertainment media.
Biography
Ross D. Petty is Professor of Marketing Law at Babson College. Before joining Babson College, Professor Petty practiced consumer protection and antitrust law with the Federal Trade Commission. He was the founding legal developments editor for Journal of Public Policy & Marketing and is the founder and executive secretary of the Marketing Law section of the Academy of Legal Studies in Business. His research encompasses the broad area of marketing law, with interests including legal aspects of brand strategy and advertising law. Professor Petty has published numerous articles on marketing law and has been recognized as one of the most prolific contributors to Journal of Public Policy & Marketing. He received the 2005 “best-paper” award from the journal. He is also the author of The Impact of Advertising Law on Business and Public Policy (Quorum Books, 1992).
J. Craig Andrews is Professor and Charles H. Kellstadt Chair in Marketing at Marquette University. Professor Andrews received his PhD in Marketing from the University of South Carolina. His research interests focus primarily on advertising and public health issues. He recently served on the Behavior Change Expert Panel for the National Youth Anti-Drug Media Campaign and has been editor of Journal of Public Policy & Marketing, consumer research specialist in the Division of Advertising Practices with the Federal Trade Commission, and chair of the Marketing and Society Special Interest Group of the American Marketing Association. Professor Andrews currently serves on four editorial boards. His work has appeared in the Journal of Marketing, Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Public Policy & Marketing, Journal of Advertising, Journal of Current Issues and Research in Advertising, Journal of International Business Studies, Journal of Retailing, and American Journal of Public Health, among others.
Journal of Public Policy & Marketing, Vol. 27, No. 1, Spring 2008
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