The Handbook of International Advertising Research

20

International Advertising Law and Regulation

A Research Review and Agenda – the Devil Is in the Details

Ross D. Petty

Introduction

With the exception of the European Union (EU), which has been harmonizing advertising law among its member states for over 25 years, there is very little formal international advertising law. Like most areas of law, advertising law is conducted at the national level, causing most of the research to be focused on one rather than across nations (Grimes, 1971). In contrast to formal law, advertising self-regulation has taken more of an international approach. The International Chamber of Commerce developed its first model code for advertising self-regulation in 1937 (International Chamber of Commerce, n.d.). Its provisions over the years have undoubtedly influenced both industry self-regulation and formal laws and regulations in many countries. The International Advertising Association has conducted country surveys of self-regulation most recently in 1989 (Boddewyn, 1992). Horvath, Villafranco et al. (2009, pp. 771–780) present a more recent cursory review of advertising self-regulation in 27 countries.

In contrast to these comparisons of self-regulation, there has been less research comparing formal advertising law across countries. This chapter examines such research by developing a tripartite model to examine three crucial issues of advertising law and policy: the level of consumer protection to be provided, deception, and unfair/aggressive advertising ...