Marketing Ethics

Marketing Ethics
Practicing ethics in marketing means applying

standards of fairness, moral rights and wrongs to marketing decision making, behavior and practice in organization.

Role of Marketing
The purpose of marketing is to create a

competitive advantage Achieved when company does a better job than its competitors at satisfying the product and service requirements of its target markets

Why practice ethics in marketing?

As economic systems have become more successful

at providing for needs and wants, there has been greater focus on organizations' adhering to ethical values rather than simply providing products organization behaves ethically customers develop more positive attitudes about the firm, its products, and its services When marketing practices depart from standards that society considers acceptable, the market process becomes less efficient Not employing ethical marketing practices dissatisfied customers, bad publicity, a lack of trust, lost business, or, sometimes, legal action

Unfair Or Deceptive Marketing Practices

Practices are deceptive if customers believe they will get more value from a product or service than they actually receive. Deception, can take the form of a misrepresentation, omission, or misleading practice

1. Product
. Selling hazardous or defective products without

disclosing the dangers .Poor quality in construction and content .Failing to perform promised services .Product does not contain what is being promoted

Packaging When packages are intentionally mislabeled as to contents, size, weight, or use information, that constitutes deceptive packaging

2. Pricing
Deceptive pricing practices cause customers to

believe that the price they pay for some unit of value in a product or service is lower than it really is.
The deception might take the form of making false

price comparisons, providing misleading suggested selling prices, omitting important conditions of the sale, or making very low price offers available only when other items are purchased as well Price discrimination etc

3.Distribution Practices
Some common examples of ethical issues in

distribution practices are:

pressuring retailers to buy more than they need pushing items that will result in higher commissions. Exerting influence to cause retailers to reduce display

space for competitors' products, promising shipment when knowing delivery is not possible by the promised date, paying retailers to carry a firm's product rather than one of its competitors are also unethical
Endangers free market competition, drives away consumer choice or may even result in establishing monopoly

4.Promotion
These practices are deceptive when:
The seller intentionally misstates how a

product is constructed or performs, Employs bait-and-switch selling techniques

a technique in which a business offers to sell a product

or service, often at a lower price, in order to attract customers who are then encouraged to purchase a more expensive item.

False or greatly exaggerated product or

service claims are also deceptive.

Advertising Ethics
Advertisements are supposed to persuade

you to buy a product. Advertising may attempt to educate you or entertain you Ultimate goal is always to sell you.

Advertising Strategies
Celebrity endorsements using well known

people to promote their product Product comparison showing how their product is superior to another Price comparison showing how their product is a better deal than another Selling a dream or lifestyle showing how their product will make your dreams come true Selling with gender showing how their product will make you popular with the other gender Selling sentiment - connecting their product to cherished emotions

Ethical Concerns
Advertising is manipulative stimulates psychological desire for the

product without consumers knowledge Advertisements make consumers associate unreal social fulfillment with a product

Advertising about questionable products

e.g. alcohol, tobacco Advertisements aimed at children Stereotypes may negatively affect people's perceptions of themselves or promote socially undesirable behavior.
E.g. The stereotypical portrayals of women,

affluence and ethnic groups are examples of major areas of debate.

Distorting cultural values Negative Advertising

techniques, such as attack adds. highlights the disadvantages of competitor

products rather than the advantages of their own.

Ethical Questions
What responsibility, if any, does a company

have for honestly educating the consumer about its product? Should advertisers be allowed to suggest that a product will make a person more attractive/interesting/beautiful/successful/etc ? Is it ethical to use celebrities to sell products they probably dont even use themselves? Is it the buyers responsibility to be aware of these strategies and not allow them to manipulate their emotions?