Internet marketing standards: institutional coherence issues

This paper reflects upon the mosaic of institutional issues associated with gaining credibility for internet marketing standards. Strong claims for a predominantly self-regulatory approach are reviewed in conjunction with other factors that inhibit credibility, namely: competing internet worldviews, weak moral coherency and offline ambiguity about respective institutional roles, especially as regards moral dimensions of notions of regulation and self-regulation. The nature of the internet does not alleviate or weaken the need for either formal regulation or ethical responsibility. Rather, enhanced institutional coherence between regulatory and non-regulatory systems is needed to ground credibility in internet marketing standards.