SOCIAL CRITICISM IN MARKETING, BUSINESS AND

CONSUMER ACTIONS IN SUSTAINIBILTY, MARKETING

ETHICS AND SUSTAINABILITY

PRESENTED BY GROUP A4
 SOCIAL CRITICISM IN
MARKETING
 High prices : Products widely accepted across different groups of people and geographic boundaries often have high prices.
For example : iPhone
 Deceptive : Marketing can lead to malpractices.
For example a bag of potato chips
 High Pressure Sales : Marketing can put pressure on the entire distribution chain including the manufactures, whole seller and retailors.
For example HUL sends truckloads of salt to the distributors even if the latter protests.
 Harmful/Unsafe Products : Sometimes marketing leads to selling of toxic and harmful products that may be unsafe for humans especially
children.
Ex : Air Freshers and mosquito repellent
 Planned Obsolesce : Products are designed in such a manner that they will last for a specific amount of time after which they need to be
replaced. Sometimes the products are designed in a manner that the entire product or parts of the product cannot be replaced. Once
damaged the customer will need to buy a new product in it’s place.
Ex: Apple has been deliberately slowing down old iPhones
 Poor Service to disadvantaged customers : Often customers across different groups or places are not offered the same levels of service.
Ex: For example Buying a MSI laptop in Kolkata 
 SUSTAINABILITY IN MARKETING

Sustainable marketing calls for socially and environmentally responsible actions that meet the present needs of consumers and businesses while also
preserving or enhancing the ability of future generations to meet their needs.

The marketing concept recognizes that organizations thrive by determining the current needs and wants of target customers and fulfilling them more
effectively and efficiently than competitors do. Sustainable marketing calls for socially and environmentally responsible actions that meet both the immediate
and future needs of customers and the company.

Under the sustainable marketing principle, the marketing of an organisation should promote the maximum long-term success of the marketing system. It
should be driven by five sustainable marketing principles, which are as follows: -

 consumer-oriented marketing
 Customer value marketing
 innovative marketing
 sense-of-mission marketing
 societal marketing.
 MARKETING ETHICS

Marketing Ethics is the area which deals with the moral principles of marketing. Ethics in marketing applies to different
positions such as product, pricing, place, promotion, advertisement, etc.

Ethical marketing is important because it creates values, trust and positive attitude about the product and services of the
company.

Some unethical practises can be explained with the help of 4P’s of marketing:

 Product-Hide Information, Duplicate product, Bad quality, Duplicate Brand.

 Price-Manipulative pricing, Price Fixing, Deceptive Pricing, Price Skimming

 Placing (Distribution)-High Cost of distribution, Storage of Products,

 Promotion (Advertising)-Deceptive Advertising, False claim, Harm to children, High pressure to sell.
PROJECT METHODLOGY
 SOCIAL CRITICISM IN
MARKETING
DECEPTIVE ADVERTISING

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E3PnX-t0yls https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZuxsXEp4kTw
 SOCIAL CRITICISM IN
MARKETING
GROUP ANALYSIS
 

LAYS

 The ad uses popular celebrities like Alia Bhatt and Ranbir Kapoor to endorse their product so as to appeal to the especially younger generation.

 The packaging of the product is done in an attractive way so as to gain more traffic but the packet itself only contains 20 grams of chips.

 Thus in a way Lays is exaggerating the contents of their package to lure in more customers which is misleading and deceptive.

Dominoes

The ad accomplishes two things:

 It showcases the kind of pizza that one might expect when ordering at dominoes

 It shows how dominoes follows the necessary safety measures while preparing food so as to care for their customers.

Thus incorporates the concept of moment marketing perfectly.

However the only criticism here is that the crust of the pizza and the cheese content is nowhere close to the one that a customer gets while ordering at
dominoes.
 SOCIAL CRITICISM IN MARKETING

QUESTIONAIRE

1. What was your initial perception on the ad?

2. Thinking about the ad overall, which of the following best describes your feelings about it. (Like it very much, like
it somewhat, feel neutral, dislike somewhat, dislike very much)
3. Do you think the company is living up to what it is advertising? (yes or no)
4. What is the reason for your answer in the previous question?
5. Did your personal opinion regarding the ad impact your buying behaviour for the product? (yes or no)
6. After viewing the ad would you recommend the product to a new customer? (yes or no)
7. If you could change one thing about ad what would it be?

8. What is your single key message in one sentence?

 SOCIAL CRITICISM IN MARKETING

AUDIENCE RESPONSE

Question 1

Most people found the ad catchy, fun to watch and did a good job of showcasing the product. Only one or two respondents found the ad
to be a little misleading.

Question 4

A good chunk of the people were of the opinion that the quality and quantity of the actual products were not in line with what was
shown in the ad.
 SOCIAL CRITICISM IN MARKETING
AUDIENCE RESPONSE
Company Expectations
Feelings about the Ad

Yes No Maybe
Like it very much Like it somewhat Feel neutral
Dislike somewhat Dislike very much

Recommend the product

Buying Behavior

Yes No
Yes No Maybe
 SOCIAL CRITICISM IN MARKETING
HARMFUL PRODUCTS

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hOmO1uktqkE
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5OtLafaYeac
 SOCIAL CRITICISM IN MARKETING

GROUP ANALYSIS

Pan masala-
 Pan masala add acts as a surrogate for tobacco products bearing the same name which has adverse effect on
our health.
 In the advertisement there was no disclaimer about the adverse effect of eating pan masala
 They were trying to promote eating pan masala which is not sustainable in the long run.
.
  
 
Mosquito repellant-
 They are not advertising statutory warning of the adverse effects on health caused by their product
 they are using children in the add while the are the worst affected by mosquito repellant
 SOCIAL CRITICISM IN MARKETING

QUESTIONAIRE

1. What is your initial perception on the ad?

2. Are you aware of the harmful effects of the product? (yes/no)
3. After knowing about the harmful effects of the product will it affect your buying behaviour?
4. Would you like to change the way the ad is being portrayed in the ad? (Yes/No)
5. If yes what is the reason for your answer?

6. What is your single key message in one sentence?

 SOCIAL CRITICISM IN MARKETING

AUDIENCE RESPONSE

 Question 1
after the pandemic many people have became conscious about there health and now think twice before buying any
product so many people knew about the harmful effect of these product and moved on to a better alternative which
is naturally available and less harmful to the health. Where as some people are still in ignorance and don’t care about
the adverse effect of these product.

 Question 5
Statutory warning should be there in add and in front of the package in which they are sold

 Question 6
When asked about providing a single key message for this kind of ads, the response consumers mixed opinion.
Some said that this kind of ads are dangerous as it cause adverse affect to there health to them and to there
family.
 SOCIAL CRITICISM IN MARKETING

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ch9-YL0GAA
 SOCIAL CRITICISM IN MARKETING

GROUP ANALYSIS
ESCOBER FOLD

The ad showcases only showcases the Escober phone and it’s price but does not display the features of the phone.
In addition the ad appears to be fraudulent as the phone is being offered at an exceedingly low price.
If we were to compare it to a similar model like the Samsung galaxy Fold that phone is priced at $2000 (approx).

CORONIL

The ad depicts that coronil is capable of curing corona and thus has the potential to end the pandemic. However
their claims do not have the necessary source or the scientific evidence to back it up.
This makes the ad questionable and it appears that the brand is trying to mislead it’s customers.
 SOCIAL CRITICISM IN MARKETING

QUESTIONAIRE

1. What are your initial perception on the ad?

2. How believable is the ad? (Extremely, very, somewhat, not so, not at all)
3. Do you think the product will be able to live up to what it claims? (yes/No)
4. What is the reason for your answer to the previous question?
5. After seeing the add were you convinced to buy the product?
6. After viewing the ad would you recommend the product to a new customer? (yes or no)

7. What is your single key message in one sentence?

 SOCIAL CRITICISM IN MARKETING

AUDIENCE RESPONSE

 Question 1

Most of the respondents didn’t feel that the ad was advertising a phone and felt the ad was unethical and deceptive.

For the second ad, most respondents agreed that the advertisement itself was convincing enough but it wasn’t backed up by medical
proof so they found it difficult to trust the product.

Question 4

For the first ad, most of the respondents stated their reason for their mis-belief in the ads claim was either their bad previous
experiences or the lack of information about the product in the ad.

For the second ad, respondents found it difficult to believe in a product before the medical examination or assurity of results.

Question 7

The single key message is that not all ads are trustworthy and one should do his research before buying the product.
 SOCIAL CRITICISM IN MARKETING
AUDIENCE RESPONSE
 SOCIAL CRITICISM IN MARKETING

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4C15fGYzTcQ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MYPa5xEzwoc
 SOCIAL CRITICISM IN MARKETING
GROUP ANALYSIS

White Hat Jr Ad
 The ad is making false claims that a 5 yr. old can make an app and hence is also deceptive in nature. Coding is a really complex topic and usually
requires a certain amount of maturity. And making an app requires even more expertise in the field which is impossible for a 5-year-old.
 It is using pressure tactics on parents and using the Fear of missing out (FOMO) on Indian parents. It is making the Indian parents believe that if
his/her kid is not learning coding from the age 6 then they will be lagging behind his/her peers.
 It is also not ethically correct to target kids at an age which is meant for playing then for learning coding.
 The falsified claim of a kid named Wolf Gupta getting 1.2 Crore package from Google is another fraudulent act which was committed by them.

Glow and Lovely

 Earlier the brand used to attribute a women’s success with respect to the skin tone. It used to depict that a woman can only become successful if
she is fair in complexion.
 Recently because of the black lives matter movement they changed their product name from Fair and lovely to Glow and lovely. But the purpose of
the product is still the same i.e. for skin whitening.
 The product is also not disclosing the harmful side effects of the ingredients present in the product. This comes under unethical practises of product
placement where the manufacturer is hiding information.
 SOCIAL CRITICISM IN MARKETING

QUESTIONAIRE

1. What is your initial perception on the ad?

2. How realistic are the claims depicted through the ad? (Extremely, very, somewhat, not so, not at all)

3. What is the reason for your answer to the previous question?

4. After seeing the ad were you convinced to buy the product? (Yes/No)

5. After viewing the ad would you recommend the product to a new customer? (yes or no)

6. What is your single key message in one sentence? (conclusion)

 SOCIAL CRITICISM IN MARKETING

AUDIENCE RESPONSE

Question 1
The initial perception that most of the respondents had after watching the advertisements was - they were sceptical
and thought that the ads are misleading and totally unacceptable specially in 21 st Century.

Question 3
As for Whitehat Junior is concerned most of the respondents believe that while coding for children is not a bad
thing but the ad itself is not the right way to do it and is mainly to acquire and manipulate Indian Parents.
In case of Fair and lovely too, most respondents found the ad disturbing and that it promotes unhealthy beauty
standards and tries to manipulate people.

Question 7
Most respondents believed that the advertiser knew exactly, what the weaknesses of Indian Customers specifically
are and just tried to capitalize on that. Although to a rational customer, the ads would appear deceptive and
misleading but to those who can be easily manipulated are the reason for the success of these products.
 SOCIAL CRITICISM IN MARKETING

AUDIENCE RESPONSE
 ETHICAL MARKETING

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aRo69b1wTNg&t=30s
 ETHICAL MARKETING

GROUP ANALYSIS

Instead of focusing more on the features of the phone, this ad used emotional marketing to advertise their
product. As their ad just talked about the Indo-China border problem and nothing directly about the
features of the product, they were trying to use the Indian people's feelings to market their product. The
sentimental aspect dominated the major portion of the ad that was not needed. The brand was trying to
cash in on a national issue in order to promote their product which was not necessary.
 ETHICAL MARKETING

QUESTIONAIR
E
1. What is your initial perception on the ad?

2. Thinking about the ad overall, which of the following best describes your feelings about it. (Like it very much, like
it somewhat, feel neutral, dislike somewhat, dislike very much)

3. Is the ad manipulating in any way? (yes, no)

4. What is the reason for your answer in the previous question?

5. After viewing the ad would you support/recommend the brand? (yes/no)

6. If you could change one thing about ad what would it be?

7. What is your single key message in one sentence? (conclusion)

 
 ETHICAL MARKETING

AUDIENCE RESPONSE

Initial thoughts - Out of the five answers, some of them thought that this ad used emotional marketing to promote
their product instead of concentrating more on the phone's features. This was a great ad that brought up the true
story and was persuaded by the ad, some other respondents thought.

Was the ad manipulating Some of them said that they were trying to use the sentiments of the Indian people to sell
their product as their ad only spoke about the Indo-China border issue and nothing specifically about the features of
the product whereas some people had no issues regarding it and did not find it manipulative.

Change anything about the ad The ad was perfect and it will sell , few of them gave this as a feedback but some of
them also felt that the sentimental factor was dominating the major part of the ad which was not necessary.

One line about this ad The brand was trying to cash in on a national issue in order to promote their product which was
not necessary but many people did get influenced and carried away by their emotions and sentiments and found the
ad perfect and related it to atma-nirbhar bharat and patriotism.

 
 
 ETHICAL MARKETING

AUDIENCE RESPONSE
Feelings about the ad
Is the ad manipulative

Like it very much like it somewhat Feel neutral

Yes No Dislike somewhat Dislike very much

Would you recommend the brand

Yes No Maybe
BRAND WAR
 BRAND WAR
GROUP ANALYSIS

 Marketing ethics is an area of applied ethics which deals with the moral principles behind the
operation and regulation of marketing.

 Comparative advertising is defined as advertising that compares alternative brands on objectively

measurable attributes or price, and identifies the alternative brand by name, illustration or other
distinctive information. It’s Promotional technique in which an advertiser claims the superiority of its
product over competing product(s) by direct or indirect comparison.

 Here it is seen that in the billboard war of Dairy Milk and 5Star, 5Star is barbing Dairy milk over its
ad but not by directly indulging the competitors name whereas in the billboard war of OnePlus and
Mi, it is observed that Mi is directly stabbing OnePlus by calling out its name and also by calling the
name of the celebrity that is endorsing the former brand.
 BRAND WAR
Questionaire

1. What is your initial perception on the ad?

2. Are you in favour of this kind of advertising? (Like it very much, like it somewhat, feel neutral, dislike
somewhat, dislike very much)

3. Do you find any difference between the two ads?

4. Do you feel that it is justified to pull another brand’s name in order to promote your own brand?

5. Do you think this kind of your brand helps either one of the companies or both the companies? (one/ both).

6. Why do you think so?

7. What is your single key message in one sentence?

 BRAND WAR
AUDIENCE RESPONSES

 Q.1) MOST OF THE CONSUMERS FELT THAT THAT ADS WERE INNOVATIVE, INGENIOUS, COMPETITIVE
AND EYE-CATCHING WHERE AS VERY FEW FELT THAT THESE FORM OF ADVERTISING WAS CUNNING
AND UNHEALTHY.

 Q.6) WHEN ASKED THAT WHETHER THESE KIND OF ADVERTISING HELPS EITHER ONE COMPANY OR
BOTH THE COMPANIES, MOST OF THEM WERE OF THE OPINION THAT THESE KIND OF
ADVERTISEMENTS HELP BOTH THE COMPANIES AS BOTH OF THEM ARE GETTING PUBLICITY AND
CONSUMERS CAN ACTUALLY COMPARE THE PRODUCTS BEFORE BUYING AND THIS REDUCES
MONOPOLY. WHERE AS A SINGLE RESPONDER STATED THAT COMPANIES SHOULD REFRAIN
THEMSELVES FORM THESE KIND OF BRAND WARS AS IT IS A MEAN TO BELITTLE ANY COMPANY
AND ITSELF OVER THE OTHER.

 Q.7) WHEN ASKED ABOUT PROVIDING A SINGLE KEY MESSAGE FOR THIS KIND OF ADS, THE
CONSUMERS VARIED IN THEIR OPINION. SOME SAID THAT THIS KIND OF ADS ARE HEALTHY FOR
MARKET, WHEREAS SOME SAID THIS KIND OF ADS ARE CUNNING AND THE MAIN MOTIVE OF THE
ADS ARE NOT CONVEYED PROPERLY. ONLY A SINGLE RESPONDER WAS A BANG ON STATING THAT
THIS KIND OF ADVERTISEMENT WAS UNETHICAL.
 BRAND WAR
AUDIENCE RESPONSE
 SUSTAINABLE MARKETING

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=So16ZBPK6mo https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_e8XLnMiCOE
 SUSTAINABLE MARKETING

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q4nAPrA0M28 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rl5Nb3wcgVU&t=29s
 SUSTAINABLE MARKETING

GROUP ANALYSIS

Uber
 Promoting social awareness
 Not thinking about their own company’s gain and rather thinking about the future generation
 Trying to create brand goodwill through Societal Marketing.

Not Just a Cadbury ad

 Promoting healthy competition
 Thinking about the greater good of the society by promoting and keeping alive local shops during these uncertain
times.
 Thinking out of the box (Innovative Marketing)
 SUSTAINABLE MARKETING

GROUP ANALYSIS

Savlon –
 Being differently-abled doesn't constraint an artist from practicing good hand-hygiene and a glimpse through her
everyday life.
 The ad evokes an emotional response to the simple appeal to so as promote awareness and to highlight the benefits of
washing hands.
 It is a step forward in reiterating the culture of hand hygiene for a healthier nation and augments the core belief of
Savlon to continue encouraging behavioural change towards washing hands.

Levis –
 Promotes the concept of environmentalism
 Using Lesser amount of water and recycled materials in order to save resources for the future generation
 Trying to reduce disposable hazards which are created while making jeans.
 SUSTAINABLE MARKETING

Questionaire

1. What is your initial perception on the ad?

2. Do you find the ad unique? How is it different from other ads?

3. What is this ad about? What idea is it selling?

4. How well is the message conveyed through the ad? (Extremely, very, somewhat, not so, not at all)

5. After viewing the ad would you support/recommend the brand? (yes/no)

6. What is your single key message in one sentence?

 SUSTAINABLE MARKETING

AUDIENCE RESPONSE

Q. What is your initial perception of the Ads?

The ads are unique and promotes important issues like safety at the time of pandemic and promoting a eco friendly
environment by reducing carbon footprint.

Q. Do you find the ads unique? How is it different from other ads?
A-The ads are unique in nature and has avoided to use emotional marketing. Instead they have focused not only on
promoting their products but also highlighting important issues. Add to that an overall aesthetic appearance coupled
with Stunning graphics and detailed camera work and we have an almost perfect ad that speaks to the customers.

Q. What idea is it about? What idea is it selling?

A-The ads mainly talks about promoting a sustainable environment by means of reducing waste, recycling materials,
using sustainable materials like cottonized hemp and also supporting local brands that have suffered due to the
pandemic .
 SUSTAINABLE MARKETING

AUDIENCE RESPONSE

How well was the message delivered After seeing the ad,will you recommend the
ad?

27%
7%
7% Extremely Well
Very well
Well
47% Not well

7%
40% 67%

Yes No Maybe
THANK YOU