Ethics and Policy Issues for Internet Advertising: Targeting Multicultural Consumers in the Digital Marketing Era

Abstract

Given the technology use among ethnic populations, advertisers are allocating greater percentages of their multicultural advertising budgets towards the internet. The association between an organization’s multicultural and internet advertising is explained through the size of its total advertising expenditures. African Americans and Hispanics can be seen as vulnerable consumers in the context of food & beverage and restaurant industries; given their pre-disposition to diet-related health maladies. Food & beverage marketers spending more on multicultural advertising, expend more on internet advertising. As an organization has societal moral obligations that increase with its size, public policy and managerial implications is discussed.