Etika u oglašavanju se odnosi na moralne obrasce ponašanja organizacija pri njihovom tržišnom nastupu, s ključnim naglaskom na oglašavanje kao jedan od oblika cjelokupnog spleta tržišnog komuniciranja poduzeća. Zbog utjecaja koje oglašavanje ima na pojedinca te u konačnici i na cjelokupnu zajednicu, potreba za izučavanjem etike u oglašavanju se nameće sama od sebe. Primarni cilj izučavanja je ukazivanje na etičke standarde i profesionalizam koji bi trebali biti ispoštovani od strane oglašivača, medija i oglasnih agencija. No, nažalost, realnost dokazuje suprotno. Današnje kompanije često posežu za radikalnim i neetičnim postupcima prilikom prodiranja do određene ciljne skupine i zadobivanja pažnje potencijalnih kupaca, a kao izlike navode visoku konkurentnost tržišta, mnoštvo poruka te dinamičan medijski razvoj poduzeća čime je uvelike otežana mogućnost diferencijacije. Postavlja se pitanje kakvu ulogu neetično oglašavanje ima na kreiranje stavova potrošača i njihovo kupovno ponašanje, a ovaj rad se upravo time bavi. Prvi dio rada posvećen je teorijskom aspektu oglašavanja i njegovoj etičnosti, dok je drugi dio posvećen istraživanju. Istraživanje je provedeno na uzorku od 140 ispitanika, a za potrebe rada kreiran je vlastiti mjerni instrument – anketni upitnik. Na kraju rada navode se ograničenja istraživanja, zaključci dobiveni uvidom u rezultate istraživanja, ali i postojeću literature vezanu uz navedenu problematiku, te odgovarajuće preporuke oglašivačima i regulatornim tijelima.

Advertising ethics refers to the moral patterns of the organization΄s behaviour in their market appearance, with a key emphasis on advertising as one of the forms of the entire business market communication. Because of the impact that advertising has on an individual and ultimately on the entire community, the need to study ethics in advertising is imposed by itself. The primary objective of the study is to point to ethical standards and professionalism that should be respected by advertisers, media and advertising agencies. But, unfortunately,reality proves the opposite. Today΄s companies are often involved in radical and unethical procedures when reaching a certain target group and gaining attention from potential buyers, and as a excuses they are using high competitiveness, a multitude of messages and a dynamic media development of the companies. All of the above make it much more difficult for companies to differentiate. It raises the question of the role played by unethical advertising in creating consumer attitudes and their purchasing behaviour, and this paper is just about to deal with it. The first part of the paper is devoted to the theoretical aspect of advertising and its ethics, while the second part is devoted to research. The survey was conducted on a sample of 140 respondents, and for this paper was created self-made measuring instrument – a questionnaire. At the end of the paper, there are limitations of the research, conclusions obtained through insight into the results of the research, as well as existing literature related to the mentioned issue, and appropriate recommendations to advertisers and regulatory bodies.