Ethics have been a controversial topic for many years. Every business must encounter situations where they are required to find solutions to fix a problem. There must be standards set by a business and these standards are expected to be a symbol of representation from leadership straight to its employees.
In marketing, problems will arise. It is up to the individuals or parties involved to decide how they will act or react when the problem faces them or the business. An individual with strong ethical background will sense when something is not right and seek the best ways to deal with an issue. While an individual with a shallow ethical background may make bad decisions and end up paying the price for it in the long-run. This theory also
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We must clearly understand that each area or marketing, has ethical issues that must be addressed.
In this paper, four critical points will be addressed relating to marketing ethics. There are also many other issues that relate to this topic, but these four areas namely, marketing research, market audience, advertising and promotion and pricing, are very important points for potential/current marketers to be precise and knowledgeable, so as to practice ethical values within themselves and their organization.
Marketing Research
Market research is a key component of marketing because it involves conducting an analysis of how consumers respond to a particular product or service and how the business can adapt to the ever-changing trends. Market research is important in order to gain feedback so that marketing managers can make the right decisions for their business. Sometimes in market research, ethical issues may arise where stereotyping and invasion of privacy is violated.
Stereotyping
Stereotyping in marketing research is a common issue faced. Hence, when analyzing data collected from research and individual participants, the information should be handled responsibly and correctly so as to avoid any accusations of stereotyping the results (Ethical and Legal Issues in Marketing, n.d.).
Privacy
Privacy
Marketing Ethics: The Marketers standards of conduct and moral values. The 5 areas of ethical concerns for Marketers are: Marketing Research – ex: Gathering marketing information in exchange for money or free offers. Product Strategy – ex: Product quality, planned obsolescence, packaging. Distribution – ex: Determining the appropriate degree of control over a channel. Promotion – ex: Gifts and Bribes Pricing – Most unethical pricing behaviours are also illegal. Social Responsibility: involves marketing philosophies, policies, procedures, and actions whose primary objective is the enhancement of society. The 4 levels of Social Responsibility are: Economic – Be Profitable; the foundation upon which all others rest Legal – Obey The Law; Play by the rules of the game Ethical – Be Ethical; Obligation to do what is right, just, and fair. Philanthropic – Be a Good Corporate Citizen; Contribute resources to the community, improve quality of life.
Marketing research is very important component of a business used to identify and define the opportunities and problems that they will encounter on the market. The aim
The author Robert Solomon argues that ethics has to an integral part with regard to business management. He does not believe that business management must include unethical or illegal methods to be able to succeed. Solomon preaches that business management is not as simple as obtaining revenue. “Businesses need to abide by fair policies and their owners have to be ethical in dealing with their customers” (Shaw p. 37). The author acknowledges that while illegal practices in business management could bring positive results at first, eventually the business is bound to fail. This is why Solomon recommended eight important policies that can help businesses in integrating ethics into their operations.
A wide-range of marketing research tools is available to market researchers and organizational decision makers. The following focuses specifically on data collection methods for conducting both primary and
Marketing research is the method/methods that connect the clients, buyers and users to the marketer through data found from research to find and outline marketing opportunities and dilemmas. The general aim of marketing research is to recognize and evaluate how altering the marketing mix which is comprised of 4 features: product, price, promotion and place, influences customer behaviour.
Under this task I will explain the ethical issues that business needs to consider in its operating activities and how a business they could improve the ethical of their operations and also I will evaluate the influence of stakeholders exert in one company.
Ethics are integral in the 21st century due to the evolution of business, technology, and government oversight. There is a legal responsibility to do what is right by the customer – if you produce a product knowing that there is a high risk of harm to the consumer, you will be eventually be found out, prosecuted, and held liable.
4) Why is ethics an important consideration in marketing decisions? Explain your answer with an example.
The problem to be investigated is the application of business ethics. In the business world, ethics are extremely important. Ethics are prime elements that help a business to grow and to become more productive. It is by applying proper business ethics that a business can operate in a moral or ethical business environment and managed to conduct all activities in a manner that maximizes profits while not compromising all other non-economic concerns(Schwab, 1996). Businesses have over the years failed to nurture business ethics in order to fulfill shareholders' interests and to have a culture that is oriented towards profit maximization and high performance(Jennings, 2012; Sims & Felton, 2006). This has led business to have gray areas in their activities. Gray areas are those situations or problems that do not fit exactly into any ethical analysis. These are the activities which may be represented to be immoral as a result of lying and false representations on the part of the business.
This will be an over view of ethics as it relates to business in our society. Concepts from Philosophy will seek to describe the correlation between actions that are classified as morally right or ethical in our dealings with each other as human beings. Clear and concise examples will be given as well as ways in which to improve upon business ethics.
Ethical standards in business are important for every leader to know and understand. The book Ethics 101: What Every Leader Needs to Know by: John C. Maxwell discusses ethics in the world today. When people make unethical choices, the reason they do because of three main pitfalls. People do what is most convenient to them, people tend to do what they must do to win, and people rationalize their choices with relativism. In this summary, Maxwell’s definition of business ethics will be framed, examples of ethical standards and guidelines, the meaning and contrast of ethical thinking and ethical behavior, and how to avoid these major pitfalls to live an ethical life. The
The implementation of a new ethics program would involve a great deal of communication (Ruddell, 2004). Assessing the common ethical concerns within an organization helps to create a more tailored plan for the organization (Belhaven, 2015). Initially sharing the code of conduct, training employees on the steps to resolve ethical problems, and providing guidelines to report concerns could be communicated multiple ways (Belhaven 2015). Another task is to identify a group to investigate
The American Marketing Association follows three main norms within their code of ethics. The rules include: do not harm, foster trust in the marketing system, and embrace ethical values. Norms are present to assure no intentional harm is done to others. It creates a safe environment for all stakeholders. If an individual follows these norms, honesty, responsibility, fairness, respect, transparency and citizenship values will coincide. This is what keeps relationships strong throughout the company.
In their personal and professional lives, people can and, unfortunately, sometimes do go against their moral and ethical standards. Ethical standards are what it means to be a good person, the social rules that govern our behavior. Ethics in business is essentially the study of what constitutes the right and wrong or the good or bad behavior in the workplace environment. A business is an organization whose objective is to provide goods or services for profit. The organization has a group of people that work together to achieve a common purpose. The moral challenges that these men and women face each day along with a whole range of problems that could occur, are why ethics plays such an important
Businesses have been relatively passive in investigate their in marketing ethics and are still operating according to traditional business models and process that do not reflect consumer interests and ethical implications of their activity often continue afterthought and are yet to be thoroughly incorporated into management decision-making. The contingency framework can accelerate this pre-emptive approach to ethical decision-making. To embed ethics into firms planning and strategy formulation process , marketers should learn from consumers ethical evaluation of their marketing techniques (Smith and Cooper-Martin 1997). An “ethical execution of the marketing program. In addition to financial , market, and competitive objectives, marketers should include consumer concerns and ethical integrity as important criteria for management decision making . Furthermore, ethics must be matched throughout the marketing planning process from product development, market selection , advertising and promotion execution.