Ethics in Marketing

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Ethics in Marketing
Trademark for Cocaine Is it ethical to call a
product Cocaine? Market it to young people?
Lawsuit to stop it based on immoral and
scandalous, a standard for refusing trademarks.
Bud light
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The Nature Of Business Ethics

• SCSU Employee Code of Ethics
• Cell Phone Use.
• Gifts
• Nepotism
• Influence staff/students
• Frequent Flyer Miles
• Use of SCSU name
• Discussion of values, policy, law.

• Unethical Behavior May Be Legal. Law does not
  codify all ethical responsibility
• Moral Values. Business ethics are created from
  moral values
• Law Reflects Society. The law reflects societys
  convictions on what constitutes right or wrong
  behavior.

Do you agree with recent attempts to introduce
anti-gouging laws for gas stations?
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Ethical QuestionWriting a false review for
product on a website
Source Web Site No Author Stated
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ure01.html
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Corporate Social Responsibility

• Corporations are perceived to hold duties to the
  following groups, duties that often come into
  conflict

Consumers
Shareholders
Duty
Employees
Community
Society
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Possible Ethical Issues

• Product
• Price
• Promotion
• Place

Use the 4 Ps to Brainstorm Potential Ethical
Issues
Assign groups of 3-4 students each group
assigned a category (4Ps) and brainstorm at least
one potential ethical issue for that category
two groups per category - discuss with class
introduce yourself to classmates 4 minutes
extra time find more or move to another
category.
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Possible Ethical Issues
Laws Regulating Activity

• Product
• Product Safety
• Environmental Concerns
• New Product Proliferation
• Product Obsolescence
• Market Segmentation and Target Markets
• Copying a competitors product
• Price
• Price Fixing
• Price Discrimination
• Price Gouging
• Misleading Pricing
• Predatory Pricing
• Promotion
• Deception
• Spamming
• Hard-Sell Techniques
• Propagating Myths and Stereotypes
• Using a competitors intellectual property

Consumer Protection Laws, Antitrust,
Environmental Law, Common Law Torts, Warranty
Law, Intellectual Property
Antitrust, Consumer Protection
Consumer Protection Laws, Common Law Torts,
Intellectual Property
Antitrust
Source Web Site No Author Stated
http//www.877webteam.com/MARKETING20205540/lect
ure01.html
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Other Real World Ethical Issues

• Surveillance Group. Copying Another Companys
  Product for Resale. Advanced Surveillance Group
  company that investigates potential infringers
• Copying a companies product for use
• Movies
• Music
• Aggressive Marketing
• Consultant to write reviews on himself in 3rd
  person?
• Get together with competitor and agree to
  price/market?
• Code of Ethics
• A formal statement of ethical principles and
  rules of conduct.
• 80 (est) of U.S. companies have an ethics code
• One of every five large companies have corporate
  ethics officers.
• Market research HP Example

Despite your best efforts, you are unable to
shorten a personal interview questionnaire to
less than 30 minutes in order to ask all the
questions needed to address your client's
research objectives. You know that most of your
subjects won't participate if you are honest with
them about the time commitment. Your boss
suggests that you simply state the survey will
"only take a few minutes." Do you take this
advice and hope that once the interviews begin
people will be reluctant to stop? Is this
ethical?
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• 1. Striving for Products and Services of the
  Best QualityWe will strive to provide our
  customers with satisfying products and services
  of the highest quality.2. Respect for
  Relationship with StakeholdersWe will respect
  our relationships with our stakeholders,
  including shareholders, investors, customers,
  consumers, vendors, suppliers, local communities
  and employees, and will strive to maintain
  relationships that are both appropriate and
  friendly.3. Fair, Transparent and Free
  CompetitionWe will engage in fair, transparent
  and free competition in the market and will
  maintain sound and appropriate business
  relationships with our competitors.4. Respect
  for Dignity of IndividualsIn all of our business
  activities, we will respect human rights, dignity
  and individuality. We will respect the dignity
  and individuality of our employees and strive to
  provide a safe and worker-friendly environment
  for them.5. Disclosure of Information and
  Proper Handling of Confidential and Personal
  Information We will disclose information
  regarding our business activities and management
  that is genuinely required by society in a timely
  and appropriate fashion. At the same time, we
  will exercise due care in the acquisition, use
  and disclosure of important proprietary
  information, trade secrets, personal information
  and customer information.6. International
  Cooperation and Respect for Different CulturesAs
  our business activities become increasingly
  international, we will respect the integrity of
  the cultures and customs of the countries where
  we engage in business activities and comply with
  applicable laws and regulations. 7. Positive
  Approach to Safety and Environmental
  MattersBased upon our understanding that
  addressing safety and environmental issues is
  critical to our corporate existence and
  activities, we will make safety our goal and
  strive actively to protect the environment.8.
  Respect and Stress on Social JusticeAs good
  corporate citizens, we will comply with laws and
  regulations and demonstrate our commitment to
  social justice by taking action against
  anti-social behavior and organizations acting
  against the public interest.9. Penetration and
  Full Execution of this Policy Based upon our
  understanding that realization of the goals
  described in this Policy is essential to the
  management, existence and prosperity of the MRC
  group companies, our top management will take the
  initiative in establishing internal organizations
  that will have responsibility for the execution
  of the Policy and will keep people throughout the
  MRC group informed regarding the Policy.

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Non-Legal Risks to Unethical Behavior

• 1 increased risk of doing business and the
  possibility of bankruptcy and severely damaged
  company brand and image.2 decreased
  productivity. 3 increased misconduct and
  conflict internally. 4 decreased performance
  levels of employees. 5 increased employee
  turnover and more challenging employee
  recruitment.6 decreased productivity. 7
  increased absenteeism and presenteeism..8
  decreased probability of reporting misconduct and
  unethical behavior of others.9 increased
  dysfunctional behaviors such as not paying
  attention to details, scapegoating, withholding
  information, under delivering over promising,
  not giving credit to others, lowering goals,
  misrepresenting results, etc. 10 decreased
  value of the company. Ten Most Significant
  Risks and Costs of Unethical Behavior in
  Business, According To Your Strategic Thinking
  Business CoachBy J. Glenn Ebersole, Jr.,
  Chief Executive of J. G. Ebersole Associates and
  The Renaissance Group

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Marketing Your Ethical practices
Company called Ethos formed to help companies
develop social responsibility claims
One day of coffee sales to pay for poor kids
summer camp
social responsibility is a way for a company to
differentiate itself from its competition
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Ethics Video Fake Firm Wormwood Bayne