Ethical marketing refers to applying ethics to the marketing process in order to benefit society both in the short and long term. It involves honestly and factually representing products and marketing them in a socially responsible way. Ethical marketing aims to win customer loyalty through community involvement, honesty, and fairness rather than manipulation. It overlaps with media ethics and examines issues like whether marketing damages autonomy or manipulates values.
1. What is ethical marketing?
Ethical marketing refers to the application of
marketing ethics into the marketing process
Marketing ethics has the potential to benefit society
as a whole, both in the short- and long-term
Study of Ethical marketing should be included in
applied ethics and involves examination of whether or
not an honest and factual representation
Marketing ethics has influenced companies and their
response is to market their products in a more socially
responsible way
The increasing trend of fair trade is an example of the
impact of ethical marketing
2. cont…
The philosophy of marketing is not lost with this
newfound ethical slant, but rather hopes to win
customer loyalty
Ethical marketing should not be confused with
government regulations brought into force to improve
consumer welfare
Marketing ethics is the area of applied ethics which
deals with the moral principles behind the operation
and regulation of marketing. Some areas of marketing
ethics overlap with media ethics.
5. Is marketing inherently evil?
Damaging personal autonomy
Causing harm to competitors
Manipulating social values.
Marketing has a major impact on our self-
images,
People are spending tons of money and are
usually more depressed.
Marketing/Advertising creates artificiality and
influences sexual attitudes.
8. Involvement in the community
Honesty, truthfulness and fairness in marketing
Use of animals in product testing
Agricultural practices e.g. intensive faming
The degree of safety built into product design
Donation to good causes
The extent to which a business accepts its alleged
responsibilities for mishaps, spillages and
leaks
The selling of addictive products e.g. tobacco
Involvement in the arms trade
Trading with repressive regimes
Ethical issues and society - examples
9. Ethical issues arising from internal and industry
practices - examples
Treatment of customers - e.g. honouring the spirit as
well as the letter of the law in respect to warranties
and after sales service
The number and proportion of women and ethnic
minority people in senior positions
The organisation’s loyalty to employees when it is in
difficult economic conditions
Employment of disabled people
Working conditions and treatment of workers
Bribes to secure contracts
Child labour in the developing world
Business practices of supply firms
10. Unethical practices in marketing - examples
Pricing lack of clarity in pricing
Dumping
Price fixing cartels
Encouraging people to claim prizes when they phoning
premium rate numbers
“Bait and switch” selling
High pressure selling
Counterfeit goods and brand piracy
Copying the style of packaging in an attempt to mislead
consumers
Deceptive advertising
Irresponsible issue of credit cards and the irresponsible
raising of credit limits
Unethical practices in market research and competitor
intelligence
15. What is an Ethical code?
This is a set of principles governing morality and
acceptable behaviour. It is likely to cover the following:
Notes de l'éditeur
Bid rigging is a form of fraud in which a commercial contract is promised to one party even though for the sake of appearance several other parties also present a bid. This form of collusion is illegal in most countries. It is a form of price fixing and market allocation, often practiced where contracts are determined by a call for bids, for example in the case of government construction contracts.
In economics, "dumping" can refer to any kind of predatory pricing. However, the word is now generally used only in the context of international trade law, where dumping is defined as the act of a manufacturer in one country exporting a product to another country at a price which is either below the price it charges in its home market or is below its costs of production.
Price discrimination or price differentiation[1] exists when sales of identical goods or services are transacted at different prices from the same provider eg DVD
On 1 August 2007 it was reported that British Airways has been fined £121.5 million[1] for price-fixing. The fine was imposed by the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) after BA admitted to the price-fixing of fuel surcharges on long haul flights
