An objective evaluation of ethics in modern marketing practices

Ethics have been recently embodied in the marketing field. Businesses that show social and environmental sensitivity are considered to have a competitive advantage. At the same time, consumers’ interest for moral consumption is increasingly growing. A typical example is that of the Body Shop. In this example, the display of great social sensitivity led the company profits to dramatically rise. Some of the examples for practices considered unethical in modern marketing are Misleading Advertising outright false advertising is illegal. For example, reporting that your product is safe for people to use when it isn’t can land you in serious trouble. Misleading advertising might not rise to the level of false advertising, but it’s unethical and can hurt your reputation with the public. While it’s important to put your best foot forward in marketing, avoid crossing the line by making dishonest or exaggerated claims.

Exploitation: Manipulating people by exploiting their fears is unethical. For example, exaggerating the risks people face so you can sell them insurance is a form of manipulation, as is tricking your customers into buying overpriced or useless extended warranties. This approach is called the “fear-sell” tactic and is especially nefarious when it targets people who are disadvantaged in some way.

Spam: Delivering a sales message to potential customers is part of a marketer’s job, but it's unethical to flood consumers with an onslaught of advertisements -- especially when they have not given you express permission to contact them.

The opponents of marketing accuse it for being unethical, ruining the natural environment, attacking the public with absurd advertisements and encouraging materialism in many ways. On the other hand, marketing policies and practices have been largely responsible for the high standard of living today. The advocates of marketing also points out that the ultimate goal of marketing is customer’ satisfaction. It is difficult to get a clear conclusion and to specify precisely whether marketing is ethical or unethical. The intense accusations could be only accepted as a belief of demarketing. Demarketing is the activity that tries to reduce the demand for a product or service on a temporary or permanent basis. It aims to the reduction of consumption, as it believes that marketing leads to the distraction of the society.

Marketing is a balanced serving of the combined interests of sellers, buyers and citizens. It has to be admitted that marketing does not support all the accusations for being unethical as there are no evidence for proving these statements and additionally there are research studies and arguments that confirm the opposite. The modern consumer is well-informed and well-educated and has the ability to choose and judge marketing practices. However, despite these view, markers should try to promote more the ethics of marketing. Social and environmental issues could be more widely incorporated in business’s products and services. Companies should adopt ethical strategies because the benefits are numerous. Additionally, ethics would improve their market position compared to their direct competitors. On top of that, ethical strategies could improve the society’s welfare and make a better world to consume.