Our concern for good behaviour. We feel an obligation to consider not only our own personal well being but also that of others. Albert Schweitzer
Marketing consist of the performance of business activities that direct the flow of goods and services from producer to consumer. A number of distinct function is coming under this broad characterization which include: 1) Product Development 2) Distribution 3) Pricing 4) Promotion 5) Sales Marketing is a societal process by which individuals and groups obtain what they need and want through creating, offering and freely exchanging products and services of value with others Philip Kotler
Marketing ethics addresses principles and standards that define acceptable conduct in the market place. Marketing usually occurs in the context of an organization, and unethical activities usually develop from the pressure to meet performance objectives. Some obvious ethical issues in marketing involves clear cut attempts to deceive or take advantage of a situation The law and regulations are generally designed to protect the consumer from unethical practices by businesses These law and regulations recognizes that consumers have certain basic rights in the market place Each marketer must relay on his/her own value system to determine what is and is not ethical
AMA has established a codes of ethics to provide guidelines for ethical conduct. It says, in part, that, Marketers shall uphold and advance the integrity, honour and dignity of the marketing profession, by being honest in serving consumers, clients, employees, suppliers, distributors, and the public. Honesty: to be truthful and forthright in our dealings with customers and stakeholders.
Responsibility: to accept the consequences of our marketing decisions and strategies.
Fairness: to try to balance justly the needs of the buyer with the interests of the seller.
Respect: to acknowledge the basic human dignity of all stakeholders.
Openness: to create transparency in our marketing operations. Citizenship: to fulfill the economic, legal and societal responsibilities that serve stakeholders in a strategic manner. I. CRITICISM OF THE FORMER : Promotion of morally bad values such as the excessive consumption of private rather than public goods and services comes under this. II. CRITICISM OF SPECIFIC PRACTICES : These are frequently based on assumptions drawn from system level critiques. The criticism are: Advertisement : that gives false information, penetrating to wrong values. Eg: Indulekha Personal selling : the ethics of the relationship of sales people to customer Packaging and labelling practices : irregularities of package size and shape ecological issues Pricing practices Provision of intelligible labelling information Most advertisements are socially responsible Some advertisements are willfully misinformed the public Deceptive Advertising: Advertising that give false info: Corrective Advertising: company publicly correct a false impression created by past advertising
False and misleading presentation of facts. Deliberate omitting of required information. Implying a benefit that hardly exists. Trade puffing and exaggerations Open criticism of competitors.
: Deceptive Pricing: Where a salesperson tries to influence lure customers into a store. Thereafter, a salesperson tries to influence to buy a higher-priced item. Unfair Pricing: When competitors are driven out by low prices the company raises price back to their former level.
Price Discrimination: It can be unethical if similar buyers are charged different prices for the same based on their ability to pay. Price fixing: It is an agreement among firms in an industry to set up prices at certain levels.