Voluntary self regulation of the advertising industry : an evaluation of the Better Business Bureau efforts to promote business and educate consumers

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the status of self regulation of advertising at the Knoxville/East Tennessee Better Business Bureau. Specifically, the complaint handling procedures for answering to businesses and consumers in the area of advertising were analyzed. The Knoxville Bureau was chosen for this study because of its unique ability to serve the business community and consumers for 25 years.

Data were gathered by studying the daily operations of the Knoxville Bureau from March, 1983 to June, 1983. The author of this study evaluated official publications, newsletters, pamphlets, and tele-phone recordings. In addition, complaints, inquiries, file information, and correspondence to and from the Bureau were analyzed. Personal interviews were conducted with the staff, members of the board of directors, and the Better Business Bureau president, BrendaLee Pritchard.

The major findings of the research were that ethical advertising and selling practices of the Knoxville community were of high priority by the Bureau staff. Advertising complaint handling and regulation, however, were not as important as other problems areas handled by the Bureau for the local community. The Bureau lacked strength and large scale operation in its ability to police, control, or change problems in the area of local advertising. Ability to enforce advertising standards and ethical practices were the most pronounced weaknesses in the Bureau's complaint handling organization.

The Knoxville/East Tennessee Better Business Bureau remains a visible, concerned, and community-oriented organization. And, despite the weaknesses of this Bureau discovered by the research presented in this thesis, the Bureau continues to have a positive and increasingly important influence on businesses and consumers in the Knoxville/East Tennessee areas.