Page 340 - DMGT408DMGT203_Marketing Management

Unit 15: Sustainable Marketing

15.1.2 Marketing Related Ethical Issues Notes

Ethics in marketing practices is an important issue and needs developing understanding and
awareness to bring improvement in its application. Ethical issue refers to some situation, problem,
or opportunity that can be recognised and requires a person or organisation to select from
among different actions that must be evaluated as right or wrong, or ethical or unethical. For
instance when marketing managers or consumers feel manipulated or cheated, it becomes an
ethical issue, irrespective of the fact that the action happens to be legally right.

Whatever the reasons for unethical instances, what is necessary after the issue is identified is that
marketing managers must decide how to resolve it. This requires knowing most of the ethical
issues related to marketing that often arise. In general, most issues relating to unethical behaviour
occur in case of products and promotions.

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Caution Product-related ethical issues may include little or no information about safety,
function, value, or use instructions. One example can be used of inferior materials, or
components to cut costs without any information to customers. It is ethically wrong not to
inform customers about the changes in product quality, as this failure is apparently a form
of dishonesty. Issuing false medical certificates is unethical for medical practitioners as it
raises questions about their honesty in general.

Promotion of products and services, etc., often furnishes a number of instances of a variety of
situations that involve ethical issues, such as false and misleading advertising, and manipulative
or deceptive sales promotions. There have been instances of misleading ads about obesity
control and weight reduction programmes that mislead customers – and some went to the
courts.
Many ads are criticised for using excessive nudity to attract an audience. Use of bribery or false
promises in personal selling situations is an ethical issue. Occasionally, media reports highlight
cases of unethical practices by organisations involved in offering bribes to procure large orders.
Such practices damage trust and fairness and ultimately harm the concerned organisation and
tarnish its image.

Example: Set Wet Deodorant ads, Amul Macho ads, VIP innerwear ads, etc. were called
unethical for showing excess nudity. Even advertisers, such as Calvin Klein, and L’Oreal etc.,
have been criticised for using overt sex appeals showing women as sex object in their ads. A few
years ago, Calvin Klein was even boycotted for featuring objectionable snapshots of teenagers
in states of undress.

Task Mention five brands whose ads were banned due to ethical issues. Analyse
any one of those ads and explain what was wrong with it.

15.1.3 Encouraging Ethical Behaviour

American Marketing Association has its codes of ethics, and member organisations agree to
abide by them. Individual organisations in India develop their own code of ethics.

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