ETHICAL AND UNETHICAL ISSUES IN THE MARKETING

ETHICAL ISSUES IN MARKETING

 Ethical issues in marketing

• Market Research Ethical Problems
• Ethics in Advertising and Promotion.
• Deceptive Marketing Policies
• Anti-Competitive Tactics.
• Perpetuating Hurtful Stereotypes
• Using Subliminal Messaging
• Exploiting Social Paradigms
• Manipulating Vulnerable Audiences

 One of the most effective ways to improve your marketing strategy is to consistently abide by certain ethical principles. Some marketing strategies may be able to draw in customers by using shady practices (such as spamming, which no one appreciates) – but the cost here is serious.

By using shady marketing tactics, you damage the long-term reputation of the company. Brand image is not something to be taken lightly, as it drives loyal customers.

If you focus on ethical marketing instead, you will be able to maximise customer satisfaction and maintain consumer trust and brand credibility.

Ethical marketing should always aim to be honest and fair. Unethical practices will not guarantee you more sales or necessarily cut costs in the long-term. What it does do, though, is put your company’s viability at risk.

Ethical marketing, on the other hand, is always the wisest route to success.

The Five Dos Of Ethical Marketing

Be Transparent 

Whenever you are marketing a product or service to customers, ensure that you are fully transparent about it, including key information about its safety and effective use.

Protect Consumer Data And Privacy

Consumers are becoming increasingly concerned about entrusting their personal data with companies. For this reason, it’s important to emphasise the company’s commitment to consumer privacy.

Commit To Sustainability And Human Rights 

Ethical consumerism is becoming a bigger priority for many customers. People want to feel assured that what they are purchasing is sustainable and ethically produced. Be honest about your ingredients, product components, and your supply chain.

Respond Meaningfully To Consumer Concerns

If customers have safety concerns about a product or service, then this should be seen as a company’s top priority. Always seek to protect consumer rights and immediately investigate any complaint.

Maximise Benefits And Minimise Risks

Every ethical marketing strategy should try to benefit as many people as possible while creating as little harm or cost as possible. Making an overall and lasting positive impact should always be the aim.

The Five Don’ts Of Ethical Marketing

DON'T Exaggerate

When you exaggerate the benefits of a product or service, you are making a false claim. You are promising a customer a level of quality that cannot be delivered.

Don’t Make False Comparisons

This is an unscrupulous tactic that involves making false, inaccurate, or misleading statements about a competitor’s products.

Don’t Make Unverified Claims

This involves promising to deliver results (e.g. improved skin) without providing any scientific evidence to back this up.

Don’t Stereotype

This involves the promotion of stereotypes (e.g. portraying women as sex objects) in order to sell a product. The harm here is that this sort of marketing helps to maintain a sexist culture.

Don’t Exploit Emotions

Getting an emotional reaction from consumers is one of the most effective ways to generate interest. However, if you evoke negative emotions such as rage, fear, sadness in a tasteless way, this could be seen as exploitative. Customers want their emotions to be sympathised with, not manipulated.

Unethical Activities in the Field of marketing

“As marketers, we recognize that we not only serve our organizations but also act as stewards of society in creating, facilitating and executing the transactions that are part of the greater economy. In this role, marketers are expected to embrace the highest professional ethical norms and the ethical values implied by our responsibility toward multiple stakeholders (e.g., customers, employees, investors, peers, channel members, regulators and the host community).”

Unethical Practices in Marketing

Avoiding unethical marketing practices can also help a business avoid other consequences, such as losing the good faith and loyalty of customers, and jeopardizing profitability. The worst practices of the bunch are:

• *Misleading statements, which can land a business in legal trouble with the Federal Trade Commission and its truth in advertising provision. The FTC expects advertising claims to be supported by evidence, which proved to be a tough standard for some cigarette manufacturers when they originally promoted their products as being “healthy.” Of course, not all claims are provable, and this is where some marketers deliberately try to blur the line with exaggerated claims and puffery, which are other forms of unethical marketing. Consumers may turn a deaf ear to a product that claims to be “the best,” and they're known to disdain marketing that promises to “transform their life” or “make them the envy of all their friends.” Distorting facts to intentionally confuse or mislead consumers. A classic example: stamping a product as sugar- or calorie-free when it does in fact contain some sugar and calories, or touting a product as “healthy” when it is loaded with carbohydrates and sodium.
  
  
  
• Making false or deceptive comparisons about a rival product. Much more prevalent 20 years ago among general consumer products, you still might see this crop up in the tech sector. (Think smartphones.) Competition tends to be fierce when rivals resort to side-by-side comparisons. And consumers may find such a technique helpful, as long as the information is accurate and truthful.
• *Inciting* fear or applying unnecessary pressure. “Limited time offers” are notorious for the latter, which is fine if a deadline really exists and the tone doesn't sound threatening.
• Exploiting emotions or a news event. Such instances pop up every once in a while, then make a quick exit when consumers complain about feeling manipulated. Such was the case after the September 11 terrorist attacks, when some advertisers tried to evoke sympathy – for New Yorkers, firefighters and survivors – while also selling their products.
• Stereotyping or depicting women as sex symbols merely to draw attention to a product. "While it might be intuitive to use models in adverts for beauty products and cosmetics, having half-naked models in adverts for generators, heavy machinery, smartphones and other products not strongly related to women is both nonsensical and unethical,” says Profitable Venture.
  
  
  

• *Disparaging references to age, gender, race or religion. Many professional comics have learned the hard way that the line between humor and bad taste can be painfully thin. It might be easier to see if the humor packs an insult or a put-down that makes you grimace. *Doctoring photos or using photos that are not authentic representations. Most people expect professional photographers and videographers to make the most of lighting and close-ups. But the finished products should be accurate depictions that are free of touch-ups and other enhancement techniques that are designed to mislead. *Plagiarizing* a competitor. For a small-business owner, discovering that a competitor has copied or impinged on a tagline, blog post or promotion can be painful –

  
  
  

  or infuriating. The reality is, plagiarism probably happens more often than most businesspeople will ever know, because of the internet. *Spamming, or sending unsolicited emails to potential customers.