First, they evaluate the truthfulness of the message. Next, they evaluate the authentic of the persuader. Third, they determine the persuader's level of respect for the persuadee. Fourth, they examine the equity of the persuasive appeal. Finally, they look at the social responsibility for the common good of the action they are being urged to take. Combining all five elements together, a person is able to make a judgment about a persuader's ethics. Personally, I feel that ethical judgments are most effectively made at a situational level. I do not believe that universal ethics apply, but instead feel that situations can help determine the ethicality of a particular action. For example, I do not feel it would be unethical for an American President to lie to the American people about a planned attack on foreign country if being honest would jeopardize the soldiers on the mission. Likewise, I do not feel that it was very unethical for President Clinton to lie about his affair with Monica...

However, I would find it very unethical for a President to promise to support a tax cut and then, with no change in circumstances, immediately sign legislation that included a tax hike, because that be lying to the people about something related to his presidency with no compelling reason to obscure the truth.
Individuals can play a critical role in influencing how our culture makes ethical discussions. Ethical judgments are made at the cultural, organizational, and personal levels and people at all levels of society discuss those judgments. A person who makes a questionable ethical judgment might change their opinion after hearing other people's opinions. The example in the text is Calvin Klein choosing not to run a series of children's underwear ads because people mentioned concerns that they would appeal to pedophiles.