Philosophy 323

1
Philosophy 323

• Marketing and Advertising
• Some Basics

2
Moral Dimensions of Marketing and Advertising.

• The aim of all marketing strategies or techniques
  is the sale. Producing and pricing goods is an
  important element of this, but advertising and
  product placement are the means by which the sale
  is promoted.
• We often assume that these aspects of marketing
  are a relatively benign aspect of contemporary
  business. After all, they involve no violation of
  employee rights or responsibilities, and no
  obvious abdication of corporate responsibility.
• Furthermore, advertisement is directed at free
  individuals who are not externally coerced to
  accept the claims made by the advertisers.
  Despite these facts, there are significant
  ethical issues that arise in these contexts.

3
A Question of Influence

• The aim of marketing and product placement is to
  influence the purchasing decision of the
  consumer.
• Clearly, there are ethically acceptable and
  unacceptable means of influencing consumer
  behavior.
• Acceptable means include persuading, asking,
  informing and advising.
• Unacceptable ways include threats, coercion,
  deception and lying.

4
Influence and Manipulation

• The unacceptable means of influencing people
  share a common feature they all aim at
  manipulating the consumer.
• Manipulation seeks to guide behavior without the
  consent or awareness of the target.
• Manipulation is not control its more subtle.
• The better you understand how people think, the
  more effectively you can manipulate them.
• Manipulation should be contrasted with forms of
  rational influence like persuasion.

5
Manipulative Marketing

• It should be easy to see that critics of
  advertising and product placement techniques
  focus on instances where the intent of the
  techniques is clearly manipulative.
• Another area of concern is marketing research, in
  particular research aimed at consumer psychology.

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Is There Anything Wrong with Manipulation?

• Before we examine some of the particular concerns
  raised by ethicists and business people, we
  should answer this question.
• All of the general ethical approaches weve
  examined raise important objections to many forms
  of manipulation.
• Manipulation is characterized by a failure to
  treat others with respect by treating them as a
  means rather than an end.
• Manipulation thus tends to decrease overall
  utility by making social interaction more
  difficult.
• Manipulation conflicts with many of the most
  commonly articulated virtues (ex. honesty).

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Deceptive and Unfair Marketing

• Some marketing techniques are obviously
  unethical.
• Prominent among these are techniques that seek to
  deceive consumers or seek an unfair advantage
  over competitors.
• Is the Sales at World Camera and Electronics
  case (336) and example of deceptive or unfair
  marketing.
• What was its intent?
• Was the customer harmed?

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Deception and Manipulation in Advertising

• Given the harms that arise from deceptive and
  unfair advertising, society has good reasons to
  target these forms of advertising.
• The focus on intent seems promising. Perhaps we
  could target advertising that intends to deceive.
• Given the difficulty of measuring intent, some
  have argued that we should focus on effects.
• In both cases, it seems necessary to agree on
  some definition of the qualities of a reasonable
  consumer.

9
Galbraith and the Dependence Effect

• Economist John Kenneth Galbraith argued that
  contrary to common assumptions, advertisement
  doesnt just respond to demand, it in large
  measure creates it. Galbraith labeled this
  capacity the Dependence Effect.
• Galbraith went on to argue that there are three
  negative consequences of the DE
• It reverses the law of supply and demand, making
  demand a function of supply.
• It creates and encourages irrational consumer
  desires, which limit the efficiency of markets.
• Advertising that creates demands undercuts
  consumer autonomy.

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Some Implications of the Dependence Effect

• If Galbraiths concerns are legitimate, there are
  a number of important consequences.
• Undercutting consumer autonomy would violate
  traditional ethical standards.
• Market exchanges which appear to increase overall
  satisfaction would actually not do so.
• The reversal of the law of supply and demand
  significantly undercuts the democratic nature of
  markets and makes it difficult to justify the
  accumulation of wealth by a few individuals on
  the ground of their supposed responsiveness to
  consumer demand.

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The Dependence Effect and Autonomy

• The thin wedge of this issue is the question of
  autonomy.
• Is it the case that common forms of advertising
  undercut consumer autonomy?
• Answering this question requires a distinction
  prepared for in our analysis of manipulation.
• We saw there that undercutting autonomy does not
  require actually controlling a person.
• That is, a person can act without constraint, but
  still not be acting autonomously.

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Autonomous Behavior vs. Autonomous Desire

• We can account for the gap between action and
  autonomy, by noting a difference between
  autonomous behavior and autonomous desires.
• If I act without constraint, I can in one sense
  be said to be acting autonomously.
• However, if the desires upon which I act are not
  autonomously chosen, then the lack of constraint
  does not guarantee autonomy.
• Is the drug addict acting autonomously when they,
  without external interference, use drugs?

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A Framework for Understanding Desire

• A way of understanding the apparent conflict
  lived by an addict it to draw a distinction
  between first-order and second-order desires.
• A first-order desire is any desire I have at the
  moment. A second-order desire is one I have on
  the basis of a reflective consideration of my
  interests.
• Autonomy requires this capacity for reflection.
• It is thus the capacity to form and act in
  accordance with second-order desires which makes
  a person autonomous.

14
Autonomy and the Addict

• The addict may have strong first-order desires
  for that to which they are addicted, but any
  reflective individual in that situation is going
  to have strong second-order desires to be free of
  the addiction.
• Given the analysis just offered, to the extent
  that the addict acts on their first-order desires
  rather than their second-order desires, they act
  non-autonomously.

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Autonomy and Advertising

• Under what conditions are the desire-creating
  capacities of advertising going to be consistent
  with the autonomy of consumers?
• Only in that situation where the creation of
  first-order desires does not conflict with
  legitimate, reflectively established second-order
  desires.
• This is reflected in the cooling-off periods
  common in consumer protection law.
• In other words, the fact that consumers often
  respond favorably to desire creating marketing
  techniques is no evidence of their acceptability.
  
• Willingly participating in therapeutic shopping
  is not enough. The individual would have had to
  reflect upon the nature of such an enterprise and
  determined its appropriateness.

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Further Complications

• Even this picture may fail to address the full
  complicity of advertising in undercutting
  consumer autonomy.
• Persuasive advertising actively contests the
  development of the critical, reflective skills
  necessary for the formation of autonomous
  second-order desires.
• Sheer volume of advertising which bombards us
  everyday renders even the most critical and
  reflective individuals incapable of immunizing
  themselves from autonomy-limiting first-order
  desire creation.

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Target Marketing and Manipulation

• Our analysis of advertising and autonomy
  suggested that directing advertising at
  reflective established desires is ethically
  appropriate.
• On the other hand, advertising aimed at desires
  not so established is ethically inappropriate.
• Such desires would seemingly include those
  grounded in fears, anxieties, and whims.

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Nature and Types of Vulnerability

• Vulnerability refers to a susceptibility to harm
  more specifically it refers to factors that
  individuals possess that makes them more
  susceptible than their fellows.
• Individuals exhibit General Vulnerability when a
  physical or psychological feature they exhibit
  makes them susceptible to some harm.
• Elderly, addicts.
• Individuals exhibit Consumer Vulnerability to the
  extent that their ability to participate in
  rational exchanges is impaired.
• Children

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Marketing to Vulnerability

• Marketing techniques can target general
  vulnerabilities or consumer vulnerabilities.
• Clearly techniques that target consumer
  vulnerabilities are illegitimate, on the grounds
  of our analysis of autonomy.
• Just as clearly, many general vulnerabilities
  make individuals vulnerable as consumers.
• Elderly, infirm are vulnerable to ads that play
  on their anxieties. Low income people vulnerable
  to high priced consumer goods.

20
Arrington, Advertising and Behavior Control

• This article considers whether or not advertising
  illegitimately interferes with consumer autonomy
  via manipulation.
• The author argues that generally it does not.
• His argument rests on

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Puffery

• Puffery is the practice of a seller making
  exaggerated or fanciful claims about a product or
  service.
• Some argue that the use of puffery constitutes
  manipulation.
• Examples Better ingredients, better pizza.
• http//www.youtube.com/watch?vfT6IWAIf580

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Arrington on Autonomy and Desire

• Autonomous Desire
• We act autonomously when we act in a manner
  consistent with our second-order desires.
• Autonomous Desire and Choice
• Based on knowledge of information relevant to
  choice. Desire is only autonomous when its
  rational (ensures consistency).
• Free Choice (Acting Freely)
• We act freely when we do things for a reason.

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What about Manipulation?

• As Arrington understands it, manipulation
  involves
• Intention
• Causality
• Guaranteed Control of Outcome

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Arringtons Conclusion

• Arrington argues that persuasive advertising
  typically does not undermine autonomy.
• Consumers typically act freely (on reasons).
• Consumers typically act on reasons they take to
  be good ones.
• Consumers typically act on their second-order
  desires.
• Consumers typically are not manipulated.

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Holley, Information Disclosure in Sales

• This essay defends a rule or principle of
  disclosure for ethical sales.

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How much information are sales people ethically
required to disclose?

• Five levels of disclosure
• Minimal Information buyer is solely responsible
• Modified Minimal Information disclose only what
  is necessary to avoid risk
• Fairness Rule safety information plus
  unavailable information
• Mutual Benefit Rule safety information plus
  information needed for a reasonable judgment
• Maximal Information Rule all relevant
  information.

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Whats Required?

• The mutual benefit rule allows the salesperson to
  meet his or her ethical obligations.

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Brenkert, Marketing and the Vulnerable

• This essay defends the view that some consumers
  lack market competency and that such vulnerable
  individuals should not be targeted by marketers
  in ways that take advantage of their
  vulnerability.

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Market Competency

• The knowledge that one should shop around.
• Ability to determine differences in quality and
  the best price.
• Knowledge of legal rights.
• Knowledge of the products and their
  characteristics.
• Appropriate resources.

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An Account of Vulnerability

• Vulnerable individuals operate with conditions or
  incapacities that impede their ability as normal
  market participants.
• Physical vulnerabilities
• Cognitive vulnerabilities
• These vulnerabilities are magnified when we think
  about their implications.
• Less able to protect their interests
• Possess these vulnerabilities due to factors
  beyond their control
• Often unaware of their vulnerabilities
• Vulnerabilities render them susceptible to harm

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Justified Market Relations

• Morally justified market relations require that
  all participants be capable of exhibiting market
  competency.
• Individuals who are simply lazy should not count
  as vulnerable.
• It is not morally acceptable to market goods to
  especially vulnerable people with the intention
  of taking advantage of their vulnerability.