Deception by Implication: A Typology of Truthful but Misleading Advertising and Labeling Claims

Abstract

The authors develop a new typology of truthful but misleading advertising and labeling claims. Although several typologies of deceptive or misleading advertising appear in the literature, the authors’ typology relies on legal cases as well as a diverse set of psychological theories to provide a richer and more comprehensive understanding of why consumers are likely to be misled by a particular type of deception. The goal is to generate a better appreciation of how consumers process various types of potentially misleading information and to explore implications for further research.