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 (ethics of advertising and promotion) overlap with media ethics.
Is marketing inherently evil? Yes, the feeling comes from the argument that marketing necessarily commits at least one of (the first) three wrongs:
Damaging personal autonomy. The victim of marketing in this case is the intended buyer whose right to self-determination is infringed.
Causing harm to competitors. Excessively fierce competition and unethical marketing tactics are especially associated with saturated markets.
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Manipulating social values. The victim in this case is society as a, whole, or the environment as well. The argument is that marketing promotes consumerism and waste. Marketing has a major impact on our self-images, our ability to relate to one another, and it ruins any knowledge and action that might help to change that climate.
Marketing/Advertising creates artificiality and influences sexual attitudes. In today’s competitive global marketing, ethics play a vital role, because marketers are dealing with human values and beliefs. Business spreads beyond boundaries.
The marketer has to deal with cross country culture. Many MNC’S like McDonald and Nestle had faced lot of problems because of neglecting ethical issues in their marketing practices. They have incurred billions of dollars in monetary values and above all losing thousands of valuable hybrid customers due to the adaptation of unethical advertising & promotional strategies.
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Marketing is viewed as human conduct and is subject to academic analysis and public scrutiny. Ethics is about the application of moral principles that guide the conduct. Some of the important changes happening in marketing are – first, the practice of “Let the buyer beware”(caveat empter) has changed to “Let the seller beware” (Vendor empter). Second, the marketers do not talk of maximising profits, but talk of optimising the profits. Third, Corporate Governance and Social Responsibility have become buzz words for corporate players.
Ethical dilemmas facing marketing professionals today fall into one of three categories: tobacco, alcohol, and pornography promotion, consumer privacy, and green marketing.