Study of Mission Statement as a Marketing Strategy:

An Analysis of Amazon.com and Wal-Mart Mission Statement

BUS 5112 - Marketing Management

Marketing and Ethics

Portfolio Activity Unit

Dr. Frank Billingsley

Professor

In this Marketing Management course, you have learned advanced concepts and
tools for marketing products and services. These are the same concepts and tool
which marketing managers around the world use. However, it is important to
consider how marketing is perceived in different parts of the world and what the
ethical dimensions of marketing strategies are.

Assume that you are a marketing manager in your country and provide reflective
responses to the questions below:

• Give some specific examples of where you think marketing “crosses the line”
into unethical behavior,
• Then make some recommendations on what should change.

For assistance with reflective writing, read How to Write a Reflective Paper.

The Portfolio Assignment entry should be a minimum of 500 words and up to 750

words. Use APA citations and references if you use ideas from the readings or other

sources. This assignment is graded by the instructor.

 Introduction

Marketing ethics are the moral principles and values that guide behaviour in the

marketing field. They cover topics like product safety, truthfulness in marketing

communications, honesty in customer and distributor relationships, pricing issues, and the

impact of marketing decisions on the environment and society. However, there is a difference

between legality and ethicality when it comes to marketing initiatives.

Ethics are personal moral beliefs and values, whereas laws are courts enforced rules

representing society's ideals and norms (Jobber, Fahy, & Kavanagh, 2006).

Ethical considerations affect every component of the marketing mix and by statutory

rules. Consumers, consumer groups, and environmentalists have attacked marketing methods,

accusing marketing executives of harming consumers', society's, and environment's interests.

The following is an assessment of the marketing mix in terms of ethical considerations:

Unethical Marketing Behaviour

1. Product: product safety - Customers anticipate that products will be safe to use.

However, there have been several occasions of neglect regarding product safety.

Tobacco and some food sectors are two classic examples. Authorities

and the public chastised tobacco corporations for selling lung cancer-causing

cigarettes. The public eye also calls out some food sectors for promoting high-

fat foods to children, leading to obesity, while the drinks industry irks the market

for marketing sugar-rich fizzy drinks to children, which can contribute to tooth

decay and obesity.

2. Pricing: antitrust legislation and price-fixing – Price-fixing happens when two

or more corporations conspire to raise the price of a product. Price fixing is

 unethical since it restricts the consumer's freedom of choice and artificially

raises prices.

3. Promotion: deceptive advertising - Exaggerated statements or omitted facts are

examples of deceptive advertising. An example of an overstated claim is when

a diet product claims to be capable of 1 kilogram of weight reduction each week

while it is significantly less.

4. Place: slotting allowances - A slotting allowance is a price a manufacturer pays

to a retailer in exchange for the shop agreeing to position a product on its

shelves. Slotting allowances are frequent in the supermarket industry because

of the necessity of obtaining distribution and the expanding power of merchants.

This kind of practice is immoral because they distort competition by favouring

large suppliers who can afford to pay them over small suppliers offering

exceptional items.

Recommendations to Avoid Unethical Marketing Behaviour

Whether an organization controls its marketing tactics or hires someone to do it, it must

stay on top of the material it produces. There is no excuse for disseminating unethical marketing

messaging, and even if it was a genuine mistake, prospective buyers are unlikely to forgive.

The business must deeply consider corporate and social responsibility marketing to

avoid unethical marketing behaviour.

The stakeholder theory contends that companies should not solely focus on the interests

of their shareholders. Corporate social responsibility refers to the ethical principle that an

organization should be accountable for its behaviour to affect society and the environment.

According to the stakeholder theory, companies should not just concentrate in the interests of
their shareholders. Instead, various organizations (stakeholders) have a legitimate interest in

the company (Donaldson and Preston, 1995).

Rather than focusing on short-term consumption, societal marketing addresses the

interests of customers and society. It seeks to resolve any conflicts between consumers' short-

term needs—for example, for fast food with high fat, sugar, and salt content—and their long-

term needs—in this case, health. As a result, organizations become better prepared to meet the

standards of triple-bottom-line reporting, which analyses financial and environmental and

social challenges by merging sustainable principles with societal marketing strategies.

Conclusion

Concerns about marketing mix application to consumers and societal, environmental,

and political challenges are all ethical dilemmas in marketing. Product safety, price-fixing,

deceptive advertising, invasion of privacy through direct and online marketing operations, and

the use of promotional and slotting allowances are just a few examples.

The business must guarantee that its actions and impact on society will not cross to

unethical behaviour. An organization must reaffirm its concern for the people, society, and

environment with whom it does business and where it does so. The corporation must engage

in socially responsible marketing, which entails taking moral activities that benefit all

stakeholders, including employees, the community, consumers, and shareholders.

Word Count: 706

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