Contemporary Ethical Issues In Marketing.

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Contemporary Ethical Issues In Marketing

HNC - Business

Marketing Option - Marketing Planning

Tutor - Jeff Perry

Mary Dineen

Q1

Ethics have gone up in the business agenda in recent years and are a potentially powerful influence on consumer decisions.

Ethics relate to moral evaluations of decisions and actions as right or wrong on the

basis of commonly accepted principles of behaviour. Marketing ethics are moral principles that define right and wrong behaviour in marketing. The most basic ethical issues have been formalised through laws and regulation's to provide conformity to the standards of society. At the very least, marketers are expected to conform to these laws and regulations. However, it is important to realise that marketing ethics go beyond legal issues, ethical marketing decisions, ethics foster mutual trust among individuals and in marketing relationships. Ethical issues typically arise because of conflicts among individuals' personal moral philosophies and the marketing strategies, policies, and organisational environment in which they work, they may stem from conflicts between a marketer's attempts to achieve organisational objectives and customers' desire for safe and reliable products.

There is little doubt that ethical considerations are a powerful influence on consumer purchasing decisions e.g. Nike with its cheap labour sourcing policies. If a brand gets its ethical stance wrong it can be very bad for business. Brands like the Body Shop have shown that showing you are ethical can do wonders for business. Whether its specific issues such as environmental impact, exploitation of child labour or a more general pressure on corporations to "give something back" to society through charitable donations, contributions to local communities or support for the sports and arts, every brands are needing to take a conscious decision as to what sort of ethical stance to take.

For example:

The Reliant Robin became highly controversial in the 1970s after consumer advocates ("That's Life" on BBC television) Claimed that Reliant had saved money in the design of the car's steering system and that Relaints ran a greater risk of being involved in accidents.

Similarly, organisation objectives that call for increased profits or market share may pressure marketers to 'steel competitors secrets, knowingly put an unsafe product on the market, or some other questionable activity.
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For example:

In South Korea, Lucky Goldstar Group markets a detergent packaged in an orange box with a whirlpool design just like- Procter & Gambles Tide brand. The product is called Tie, and Procter &: Gamble does not make it or license it to Goldstar. Obviously, the attempt to develop a Tide look-alike without Procter & Gambles permission creates an ethical issue.

QUESTION 2

A number of recently publicised incidents in marketing, such as deceptive or objectionable advertising, misleading packaging, questionable selling practices, manipulation, corruption, and pollution, have raised, questions as to whether specific ...

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