Selling the ware at other's cost' does not constitute ethical marketing. While combating competitors through commercials, today's advertisers have to imbibe the maxim `your freedom ends where my nose begins,' opines Deepak.

As per AMA (American Marketing Association), Comparative Advertising (CA) comprises of an advertisement in which there is specific mention or presentation of competing brand(s) and a comparison is made or implied. It is also defined as an approach to the advertising message that persuades the audience by comparing the performance of two or more brands of a product or service. The reference brand may be the previous formula used by the advertiser, an unnamed competitor of the advertiser, or a specific and named competitor of the advertiser. According to ASAAdvertising Standards Authority (New Zealand)comparative advertising, or advertising that identifies a competing product or service, is characterized by three distinct features:

It is natural for humans to compare ideas, brands, and products and to do this, they recollect from their memorysubstitutes, similar objects and unconsciously compare both in order to pass their judgment. A consumer who has gone through the buying process, in terms of need evaluation, searching for information, shortlisting of brands etc., may be stuck because he is unable to make comparative evaluation between the shortlisted brands. At this stage, CA can help him take a better decision and persuade him to buy a product by inducing confidence in the product and creating a positive impression. CA updates customers on the comparative features of two competitive brands and serves as a positioning tool as well.