Ethics in marketing

DEBATE ISSUE- TAKE A STAND

Is Google Violating Users' Privacy?

With two billion Google searches a day, Google is the preferred search engine for many consumers. Much of its popularity
is due to the superior services it offers. Although Google does not charge for its services, critics point out that Google's
services may actually be costing users their right to privacy. Google keeps all of its users' search queries forever, although
after 18 months these queries become "anonymized." In other words, they cannot be traced back to the user. Google
maintains that it uses these searches responsibly to refine its search engine. It also has privacy disclosures fully visible on
its main page. On the other hand, the Third-Party Doctrine and the Patriot Act allow the government access to users'
Internet information without a judge's oversight for national security purposes. Google has been subpoenaed in the past by
investigators for user information. Even anonymized data have been used to track a specific person or computer.

1. Google's storage of user data is legitimate and does not constitute a violation of user privacy.

2. Google should not store users' data as this data can be misused or accessed by the government.
Issues of ethics in marketing

• The ethicality of products and services being marketed

• The ethicality of the process and means of marketing
• The ethics in advertising and product promotion
• The ethical conduct of marketing personnel
• The ethicality of marketing goals and targets
• The ethical responsibility for the sales made
Ethical issue in
marketing strategy
• A true marketing minded firms tries to
create values-satisfying goods and
services which the consumers will want
to buy (Levitt) .

• Marketing strategy is designed to attain The original Nestlé boycott started

the marketing objectives of a firm.
• Strategies to deal with competition
in 1977 in protest of Nestlé’s
unethical, aggressive and
harmful marketing of artificial baby
milk in Third World countries. The
company engaged women to
dress up like nurses and distribute
free samples ...
Ethical issues in using communication and IT
in marketing
False and misleading product advertisements in electronic and cyber
media
Exploiting social paradigms for market promotion(fairness creams)
Predatory pricing by the big and mighty organizations to wipe
competition in the market
Surrogate advertisements (alcohol , cigarettes)
Intrusive service promotions, compromising the confidentiality of
company-client relationships and violating the privacy of customers
( freebies b y telecom companies to collect personal data)
Ethical issues in trans-world business relating to national, local , and
cultural sensitivities
Ethics in 5 Ps of marketing
• Products – are the products ethically right for the consumers and
beneficial to the society?
• Price – is the price commensurate with value (utility) it offers? Is it fair and
competitive?
• Promotion – do the promotional features give a truthful presentation of
the products in offer? Or the campaign exploits the consumers’ ignorance?
• Process – Is the marketing process ethically right and legal ?
• People (consumers) – does the marketing effort harm or hurt the
consumers, the competitors or the society in any known or unknown
manner?
Product
• Unhealthy products, harmful products , not stating the detailed composition of the
product, exaggerating facts
• Unethical product - Cigarette, Government's ban on tobacco advertising
• Safety of the product - Pepsi and Coke Pesticide controversy, Cadbury chocolates
• Product Updating- Availability of spare parts after updating products
Price
• charging higher for a product which is in high demand
• Reducing the price of products, which are not so healthy, for
generating more demand
• Price vs. value

• High prices – taking advantage of patents- Pharma products

• Arbitrary pricing – Cement companies
• MRP- not the final price
Place
• Appropriateness of the places for the promotion

• Avoid selling certain products in some specific places – Liquor near

schools and places of worship
Promotion
• Exchange Offers
• Misleading claims

• Unfair practices – Airlines cancellation scheme

• Have I made it large (Royal Stag) vs. Make it
different (McDowell's No. 1)
• Loreal Hair color
• Cello Maxriter pen is capable of writing 4000 words
Consumer protection – what does it mean
• Date of manufacturing and MRP , weight
• Major ingredients, precautions about harmful effects
• Methods of preservation, date of expiry
• Complete information about the products
• After sales service
• Recalling defective products
• Warranty period
• Free market with many sellers and many buyers
• No hidden cost
Ethical issues in internet marketing
• General responsibilities -
• Compliance with professional ethics of marketing
• Adherence to all applicable laws and regulations to ensure that internet marketing
is not illegal
• Honesty , fairness, and transparency in dealings in deals and taking responsibilities
for actions
• Disclosure of risks
• Respect to the rights and transparency in transactions
• Privacy – customers’ information to be kept confidential and to be used only
for expressed purposes.
• Ownership - information obtained from internet need to be properly
authorized and documented.
• Access – internet marketers should treat access to accounts, passwords, and
other information as confidential and disclose only to the responsible parties.