IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/pra/mprapa/37766.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Evidence on the effects of mandatory disclaimers in advertising

Author

Listed:
  • Green, Kesten C.
  • Armstrong, J. Scott

Abstract

We found no evidence that consumers benefit from government-mandated disclaimers in advertising. Experiments and common experience show that admonishments to change or avoid behaviors often have effects opposite to those intended. We found 18 experimental studies that provided evidence relevant to mandatory disclaimers. Mandated messages increased confusion in all, and were ineffective or harmful in the 15 studies that examined perceptions, attitudes, or decisions. We conducted an experiment on the effects of a government-mandated disclaimer for a Florida court case. Two advertisements for dentists offering implant dentistry were shown to 317 subjects. One advertiser had implant dentistry credentials. Subjects exposed to the disclaimer more often recommended the advertiser who lacked credentials. Women and less-educated subjects were particularly prone to this error. In addition, subjects drew false and damaging inferences about the credentialed dentist.

Suggested Citation

  • Green, Kesten C. & Armstrong, J. Scott, 2012. "Evidence on the effects of mandatory disclaimers in advertising," MPRA Paper 37766, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    • Handle: RePEc:pra:mprapa:37766
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://mpra.ub.uni-muenchen.de/37766/1/MPRA_paper_37766.pdf
    File Function: original version
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Steven M. Shugan, 2006. "Editorial: Who Is Afraid to Give Freedom of Speech to Marketing Folks?," Marketing Science, INFORMS, vol. 25(5), pages 403-410, September.
    2. Danit Ein-Gar & Baba Shiv & Zakary L. Tormala, 2012. "When Blemishing Leads to Blossoming: The Positive Effect of Negative Information," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 38(5), pages 846-859.
    3. Ippolito, Pauline M & Mathios, Alan D, 1995. "Information and Advertising: The Case of Fat Consumption in the United States," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 85(2), pages 91-95, May.
    4. Mathios, Alan D., 1998. "The Importance Of Nutrition Labeling And Health Claim Regulation On Product Choice: An Analysis Of The Cooking Oils Market," Agricultural and Resource Economics Review, Northeastern Agricultural and Resource Economics Association, vol. 27(2), pages 1-10, October.
    5. Mathios, Alan D, 2000. "The Impact of Mandatory Disclosure Laws on Product Choices: An Analysis of the Salad Dressing Market," Journal of Law and Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 43(2), pages 651-677, October.
    6. Clifford Winston & Vikram Maheshri & Fred Mannering, 2006. "An exploration of the offset hypothesis using disaggregate data: The case of airbags and antilock brakes," Journal of Risk and Uncertainty, Springer, vol. 32(2), pages 83-99, March.
    7. JS Armstrong, 2004. "Peer Review for Journals: Evidence on Quality Control, Fairness, and Innovation," General Economics and Teaching 0412027, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    8. Clifford Winston, 2008. "The Efficacy of Information Policy: A Review of Archon Fung, Mary Graham, and David Weil's Full Disclosure: The Perils and Promise of Transparency," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 46(3), pages 704-717, September.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Elizabeth A. Minton & T. Bettina Cornwell, 2016. "The Cause Cue Effect: Cause-Related Marketing and Consumer Health Perceptions," Journal of Consumer Affairs, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 50(2), pages 372-402, July.
    2. Armstrong, J. Scott & Green, Kesten C., 2013. "Effects of corporate social responsibility and irresponsibility policies," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 66(10), pages 1922-1927.
    3. Cui, Geng & Chung, Yuho & Peng, Ling & Zheng, Wanyi, 2022. "The importance of being earnest: Mandatory vs. voluntary disclosure of incentives for online product reviews," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 141(C), pages 633-645.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Rosemary Avery & Donald Kenkel & Dean Lillard & Alan Mathios, 2007. "Regulating advertisements: the case of smoking cessation products," Journal of Regulatory Economics, Springer, vol. 31(2), pages 185-208, April.
    2. Susan Feng Lu, 2012. "Multitasking, Information Disclosure, and Product Quality: Evidence from Nursing Homes," Journal of Economics & Management Strategy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 21(3), pages 673-705, September.
    3. Hallstein, Eric & Villas-Boas, Sofia Berto, 2009. "Are Consumers Color Blind?: an empirical investigation of a traffic light advisory for sustainable seafood," CUDARE Working Papers 120535, University of California, Berkeley, Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics.
    4. Seth Freedman & Melissa Kearney & Mara Lederman, 2012. "Product Recalls, Imperfect Information, and Spillover Effects: Lessons from the Consumer Response to the 2007 Toy Recalls," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 94(2), pages 499-516, May.
    5. Villas-Boas, Sofia B & Taylor, Rebecca & Krovetz, Hannah, 2016. "Willingness to Pay for Low Water Footprint Food Choices During Drought," Department of Agricultural & Resource Economics, UC Berkeley, Working Paper Series qt9vh3x180, Department of Agricultural & Resource Economics, UC Berkeley.
    6. Hallstein, Eric & Villas-Boas, Sofia B., 2013. "Can household consumers save the wild fish? Lessons from a sustainable seafood advisory," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 66(1), pages 52-71.
    7. Kiesel Kristin & Villas-Boas Sofia B, 2007. "Got Organic Milk? Consumer Valuations of Milk Labels after the Implementation of the USDA Organic Seal," Journal of Agricultural & Food Industrial Organization, De Gruyter, vol. 5(1), pages 1-40, April.
    8. Kiesel, Kristin & Villas-Boas, Sofia B., 2013. "Can information costs affect consumer choice? Nutritional labels in a supermarket experiment," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 31(2), pages 153-163.
    9. Matsumoto Shigeru, 2004. "Consumers' Responses to Front vs. Back Package GM Labels in Japan," Journal of Agricultural & Food Industrial Organization, De Gruyter, vol. 2(1), pages 1-25, April.
    10. Moon, Wanki & Balasubramanian, Siva K. & Rimal, Arbindra, 2011. "Health claims and consumers' behavioral intentions: The case of soy-based food," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 36(4), pages 480-489, August.
    11. James Hilger & Eric Hallstein & Andrew W. Stevens & Sofia B. Villas-Boas, 2019. "Measuring Willingness to Pay for Environmental Attributes in Seafood," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 73(1), pages 307-332, May.
    12. Moon, Wanki, 2002. "Estimating The Effect Of Health Knowledge In The Consumption Of Soy-Based Foods," 2002 Annual meeting, July 28-31, Long Beach, CA 19681, American Agricultural Economics Association (New Name 2008: Agricultural and Applied Economics Association).
    13. Rimal, Arbindra & Balasubramanian, Siva K. & Moon, Wanki, 2004. "Two-Stage Decision Model Of Soy Food Consumption Behavior," 2004 Annual meeting, August 1-4, Denver, CO 20096, American Agricultural Economics Association (New Name 2008: Agricultural and Applied Economics Association).
    14. Christine Moorman & Rex Du & Carl F. Mela, 2005. "The Effect of Standardized Information on Firm Survival and Marketing Strategies," Marketing Science, INFORMS, vol. 24(2), pages 263-274, September.
    15. Bernard, Daria J. & Mathios, Alan D., 2005. "Factors Affecting Consumer Choice and Willingness to Pay for Milk Attributes," 2005 Annual meeting, July 24-27, Providence, RI 19366, American Agricultural Economics Association (New Name 2008: Agricultural and Applied Economics Association).
    16. Kiesel, Kristin & Villas-Boas, Sofia B., 2009. "Can Information Costs Confuse Consumer Choice?---Nutritional Labels in a Supermarket Experiment," Department of Agricultural & Resource Economics, UC Berkeley, Working Paper Series qt6st6d0rr, Department of Agricultural & Resource Economics, UC Berkeley.
    17. Fichera, Eleonora & von Hinke, Stephanie, 2020. "The response to nutritional labels: Evidence from a quasi-experiment," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 72(C).
    18. n/a, 2012. "Commentaries and Reply to "Unintended Nutrition Consequences: Firm Responses to the Nutrition Labeling and Education Act" by Christine Moorman, Rosellina Ferraro, and Joel Huber," Marketing Science, INFORMS, vol. 31(5), pages 738-755, September.
    19. Kiesel, Kristin, 2008. ""A Definition at Last, but What Does It All Mean?"—Newspaper Coverage of the USDA Organic Seal and its Effects on Food Purchases-," 2008 Annual Meeting, July 27-29, 2008, Orlando, Florida 6351, American Agricultural Economics Association (New Name 2008: Agricultural and Applied Economics Association).

    More about this item

    Keywords

    consumer protection; corrective advertising; decision making; government regulation; judgment;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • H11 - Public Economics - - Structure and Scope of Government - - - Structure and Scope of Government
    • M37 - Business Administration and Business Economics; Marketing; Accounting; Personnel Economics - - Marketing and Advertising - - - Advertising
    • K23 - Law and Economics - - Regulation and Business Law - - - Regulated Industries and Administrative Law

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:pra:mprapa:37766. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Joachim Winter (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/vfmunde.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.