Chapter 7 Summary

Chapter 7 is concerned with the peculiar moral problems posed by sales, marketing, and advertising. Is advertising always good, or is it sometimes bad for us? What are the peculiar moral pressures felt by persons engaged in the practice of persuading others to purchase their product? What moral (and legal) constraints should such persons feel and be governed by?

The chapter opens with an excerpt called “Conspicuous Consumption,” by Thorstein Veblen. In it, Veblen discusses how the changing structure of society has rendered the desire to impress others a powerful motive in our decisions as consumers.

John Kenneth Galbraith develops the notion of “the dependence effect,” the idea that advertising not only provides information about products we want but also creates wants within us for products we did not previously desire. Advertising does not simply serve our desires; it manufactures them. Friedrich von Hayek responds to this argument in his essay by pointing out that virtually all of our desires are “manufactured” in this way: we desire things because we see other people like ourselves enjoying them, and advertising is simply a part of that process.

Alan Goldman argues that advertising should not be unnecessarily regulated, but that we should keep a close eye on advertising to be certain that it serves social needs rather than interfering with or undermining them. He is especially concerned about persons who are not fully capable of exercising free choice in the face of persuasive advertisement, such as children.

Leslie Savan takes it almost as established fact that advertising controls many of our decisions. Our souls are already “bribed,” according to her. What we must do, therefore, is personally exercise prudence in the way we think about and respond to advertising. She suggests several helpful rules to follow in dealing with the coercive effects of advertising.

By the close of Chapter 7, you should:

Understand several arguments for and against the notion that advertising is always a good in a market economy
Understand some of the social and psychological pressures that drive people to consume
Understand the “dependence effect” and why it might be a “non sequitur”
Understand the idea of “the bribed soul” and what a smart consumer can do about it
Understand what constitutes “good” and “bad” selling practices
Understand the moral pressures faced by marketers and salespeople

Chapter 7 Summary

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