Advertising Ethics and Consumer Trust: A Study of Reactions to Deceptive Advertising Among IMT Enugu Students

Deceptive advertising practices continue to erode consumer confidence in Nigerian markets, with regulatory frameworks struggling to keep pace with the sophistication of misleading commercial communications across broadcast, print, and digital platforms. This study investigated how exposure to deceptive advertising affects consumer trust and purchasing decisions among students of the Institute of Management and Technology (IMT), Enugu. The study was anchored on the Theory of Planned Behaviour, which posits that attitudes, subjective norms, and perceived behavioural control jointly determine consumer intentions and subsequent actions. A descriptive survey design was adopted, with a population of 3,400 students from business and communication-related departments. A sample of 345 respondents was selected through stratified random sampling, and a structured questionnaire was administered. Findings revealed that 78 percent of respondents reported prior exposure to advertising content they later identified as misleading, with mobile data advertisements and food product endorsements identified as the most deceptive categories. Exposure to deceptive advertising significantly reduced brand trust and increased scepticism toward advertising in general, though peer recommendations and social proof partially mitigated distrust. The study concluded that deceptive advertising has a measurable and lasting negative impact on consumer trust among young educated consumers in Enugu, with implications for long-term brand loyalty. It was recommended that the Advertising Practitioners Council of Nigeria (APCON) strengthen enforcement mechanisms and that IMT Enugu incorporate advertising ethics modules into its communication curriculum to produce ethically grounded graduates.
Keywords: deceptive advertising, consumer trust, advertising ethics, IMT Enugu, planned behaviour