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Stakeholders chart new course for outdoor advertising

Though the maiden edition of the African Outdoor Advertising Conference and Exhibition, organised by the Lagos State Signage and Advertising Agency (LASAA) has come and gone, not a few, however, believe that the just-concluded three-day event would go down as one of the high moments in the nation’s outdoor advertising space this year.
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For instance, besides providing a platform for stakeholders to vent their views on issues affecting the industry, it was also an opportunity for them to come up with a common front with a view to surmounting challenges facing the industry.

The Managing Director, LASAA, Mr George Noah, argued for the sector to fully harness its huge potential, stakeholders must be ready to work together and come up with innovative and creative approaches in dealing with challenges confronting the sector.

He identified loss of market share to other advertising media, including electronic and online platforms, wrong perception of the public about the intent of regulators, activities of charlatans and indiscriminate pasting of posters as some of the challenges presently facing the sector.

The LASAA boss stated that the signage agency had put together price incentives as well as new innovations such as the water projection digital display sign in Africa, with a view to spur growth in the sector.

He also hinted on plans to designate certain areas in Lagos as sites approved specifically for pasting posters

Quantifying the value of the outdoor sector in Lagos, Noah said it accounts for an annual turnover of N50 billion.

According to him, Lagos accounts for about 60 percent of the nation’s out-of-home advertising industry with 146 registered out-of-home advertising companies, being the commercial nerve center of the nation.

“So far, it has also employed not less than 100,000 people in various advertising and signage companies and regulatory agencies,” he stated.

In his paper...

Stakeholders chart new course for outdoor advertising Though the maiden edition of the African Outdoor Advertising Conference and Exhibition, organised by the Lagos State Signage and Advertising Agency...

Moral Issues Related to Consumers
by William Shaw.

The responsibilities of business to consumers

Businesses have at least the following two general ethical duties to consumers, according to any theory of justice or morality that recognizes (a) that contractual relationships give us obligations and (b) that we have a right to non-injury:

Businesses must give us what we pay for. Whenever we trade, we are exchanging goods and services within an implicit or explicit contract. One person is obligated to give one thing in exchange for another. People should not be deceived about what they are buying. For example, when we buy a TV set we expect (i) to get the TV set, (ii) that the TV set will function, (iii) that the TV set has minimally sufficient quality, and (iv) that the TV set will not harm us when used in ordinary ways.
Businesses must not harm anyone, including consumers.

Additionally, businesses can make moral decisions that are not necessarily “ethical duties.” Some moral decisions are morally favorable and some are morally unfavorable. For example, utilitarians will argue that a business ought to help people flourish and live better lives, even though it’s not necessarily obligated to do so. One popular argument for a free market that allows trade unrestricted by a government is the “invisible hand argument”—that free trade between rational self-interested and profit-seeking individuals leads to competition, and a productive and flourishing society. However, this implies that consumers are rational and informed and yet consumers tend to know very little about the products they buy despite requiring them. For that reason it seems preferable for companies to be open and honest about the products and services they sell. Consumers need ways to be informed about the products and services they buy without becoming experts, or we have no reason to expect free trade to lead to a prosperous society.

The facts that (1) consumers are no longer well-informed...

Moral Issues Related to Consumers There are many moral issues in the business world relevant to consumers. In particular, businesses have moral duties to consumers and some actions...