Affirmative Disclosure: Perspectives on FTC Orders William L. Wilkie This article reports findings of a comprehensive analysis of the Federal Trade Commission's affirmative disclosure orders during the 1970-1977 period. The project was undertaken as an endeavor complementary to that of the FTC's Consumer Information Task Force, which recently presented its report, Consumer Information Remedies. That report was oriented toward rule-making issues; the present report focuses on case orders against single sellers and systematically assesses the background, contents, and results of each of these FTC orders. WILLIAM L. WILKIE is the Walter J. Matherly Professor of Market- ing at the University of Florida. The author wishes to acknowl- edge the support of the Federal Trade Commission and the Pub- lie Policy Research Center of the University of Florida for his re- search on this topic. He also wishes to thank Kenneth Bern- hardt, Thomas Kinnear, Michael Mazis, and William Sanger for their encouragement and useful suggestions. The Evaluative Framework The affirmative disclosure orders of the Federal Trade Commission have dealt with a wide range of problems, and the ordered disclosures have em- ployed various elements. This article provides an overview of the types of disclosures, cases, and orders that have recently emerged. Further, in order to describe and evaluate the effectiveness of these disclosures, it was neces- sary to develop an "evaluative" framework into which each individual case order could be classified. The nature of this framework will first be sum- marized, followed by some key findings, conclusions, and recommenda- tions for improvements. An appendix, referencing each affirmative disclo- sure order, is included for readers interested in locating specific cases. The evaluative framework consists of five basic categories; within each cat- egory a number of dimensions are included. A brief description of each major category follows. Category I: Nature of the Problem. The first category represents the back- ground facts of each case, as these will have a major influence on the most appropriate form of the affirmative disclosure remedy. Its emphasis is upon the characteristics of the seller, the nature of the transaction, and the char- acteristics of consumers involved in the purchase of the particular product or service. Category II: Objectives for the Remedy. This category addresses the com- plex area of the FTC's objectives in resolving a given case. Basically, the at- tempt here is to infer what the commission was attempting to achieve in terms of an altered consumer environment. These objectives, in turn, should playa major role in specific decisions as to the order requirements. Category III: Strategy for the Disclosure. This category stresses the basic directions that were followed in decisions about the nature of the affirma- tive disclosure order. It is composed of dimensions concerned with the order's fit with the problem context, the role of the seller in carrying out the order, and the intended role of the consumer in receiving the ordered disclosure. Category IV: Tactical Disclosure Decisions. This category extends the stra- tegic issues into more specific and detailed order decisions. It is divided into dimensions reflecting highly situation-specific issues, tactics reflecting communication management, and tactics accounting for consumer charac- teristics in a given case. Journal of Marketing & Public Policy 95