Advertising and the Consumerism Movement in Europe: The Case of West Germany and Switzerland
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INTRODUCTION
ism movement.2 Consumerism, as defined in various sources, encompasses many issues in marketing. As one might expect, some of the issues are more important than others. To date, no attempt has been made to measure the level of importance of various issues of consumerism in different European countries or in an overall study of Europe. Arndtet al., however, did attempt to measure the significance of 20 marketing issues in Norway.3Based on the Norwegian responses, these issues were reduced to six: personal safety and security, credibility of advertising, confidence in corporate responsibility, relations with retailers, conflict of interest between industry and consumer, and the right to choose.4 This study suggests the importance of advertising in the overall European consumer movement. Further, this research found statistically significant differences between businessmen and students (college and high school) regarding the quality and role of advertising in Norway. Several other sources also point out the significance of advertising in the European consumerism movement5; for example, a recent study which was spon-
*Saeed Samiee is Assistant Professor of Marketing and International Business in the Graduate School of Management, Kent State University. He is a consultant to foreign and domestic companies and has published articles in the areas of international marketing and productivity. **John K. Ryans, Jr., is Professor of Marketingand InternationalBusiness in the Graduate School of Management, Kent State University. A frequent consultant to industry and government, Dr. Ryans is the author of several books and numerous articles on international marketing and business topics. Journal of International Business
Studies, Spring/Summer 1982
109
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sored by the International Advertising Association (IAA)examined the current state of advertising and consumerism in the international marketplace.6 Inaddition, the EuropeanCommunity(EC)has shown a great deal of interest in controlling misleading advertising in member states. The EC is currently considering such issues as advertising directed toward children. Similarly, the United Nations has recently been involved in developing advertising related codes, such as, the one dealing with breast milk substitutes. The raison d'etre for the study reported here, therefore, stems from two sources. First, there has been continued critical attention, including regulatoryefforts, directed toward advertising issues by the EC, the UN, consumerist associations, other public organizations, and national governments. Second, private groups, such as, the IAAand the International Chamber of Commerce, have been concerned with developing appropriate responses to the negative criticisms of advertising. THESTUDY The purpose of this study was to determine (1) the attitudes and perceptions of advertisers and advertising agencies to
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