Canadian advertising agency executives and their ethical concerns: a cross-national replication

This study adopts the Hunt et al. (1984) framework to examine the ethical issues faced by advertising agency executives in English Canada. The results indicate that, while advertising professionals in the United States and English Canada encounter similar ethical issues, American professionals are more concerned with issues that affect the general public, while Canadian professionals are more concerned with issues that affect their clients. Further, this study examines Canadian advertising executives' perceived frequency of unethical behaviour, opportunities for unethical behaviour, and the relationship between success and unethical behaviour. The implications of the findings for the Canadian Code of Advertising Standards and future research on advertising ethics are addressed.