The Virtual lobby group: online petitions as a means of advertising regulation

This study examines how the general public, individually or in lobby groups, are using online petition sites to complain about advertisements and compares this activity with the use of established self-regulatory organisations. More specifically, it presents the results of a content analysis of petitions relating to advertising that have appeared on change.org and considers these actions in line with our understanding of online consumer empowerment and ethical judgement. The results indicate that people are aggregating, sometimes in large numbers and often complaining about different issues from those received by the SROs. The implications for the work of SROs are discussed.