Any unethical behaviour is not necessarily illegal. Indeed some companies’ ethical initiatives have not achieved the desired effects simply due to the absence of effective communications. Medioimages/Photodisc/Photodisc/Getty Images. Perpetuating unflattering stereotypes of groups to scare consumers, or draw attention to your small business through the use of humor, is considered in bad taste in some circles. The man later raped a woman and assaulted her fiancee. Ethical marketing is about continued standards of conduct, not a singular goal or fixed set of principles. Author(s): Seungho Cho The current research investigates how marketing professionals perceive an ethical issue of viral marketing and what factors are associated with their moral judgment on an ethical problem of a power blogger. Marketing ethics, regardless of the product offered or the market targeted, sets the guidelines for which good marketing is practiced. The current research investigates how marketing professionals perceive an ethical issue of viral marketing and what factors are associated with their moral judgment on an ethical problem of a power blogger. get custom paper. What Are the Differences Between Persuasive & Misleading Advertisements? ETHICAL ISSUES IN MARKETING COMMUNICATION 2 Ethics in our context involves matters of right and wrong, or moral, conduct pertaining to any aspect of marketing communications 3. Practicing ethics in marketing means deliberately applying standards of fairness, or moral rights and wrongs, to marketing decision making, behavior, and practice in the organization. Marketing’s increased technology sophistication has enabled the development of communication models generating tangible impacts on their selected audiences. The American Marketing Association promotes the highest ethical standards for its members. She is also a Certified Professional Coach (CPC) known as The Personal Eco-nomist, who specializes in helping people live healthy, abundant lives on a budget. Ethics is a slippery topic – it’s hard to define its … Image via World Fair Trade Organization Ethical marketing refers to the process by which companies market their goods and services by focusing not only on how their products benefit customers, but also how they benefit socially responsible or environmental causes. For example, businesses that only assemble a few components of a product that is primarily manufactured in another country might advertise the product as “Made in America.” Laws mandating the use of this phrase set parameters for it use, setting strict guidelines as to how much of the product must be made or assembled in the United States to qualify for this distinction. According to the American Psychological Association, children view more than 40,000 commercials each year. Although food items may appear fresh, many ingredients are present in such small quantities that they are not listed. Ethics provide the groundwork for right and wrong, allowing two parties to communicate with a basic understanding of what is expected. The third part of the course relates to new and emergent topics and challenges regarding communication and marketing ethics: Among the most recent examples are ethical views on dynamic pricing, predictive algorithms or communication of product responsibility discussing the role of certificates/labels. The main ethical issues in advertising are puffery, bad taste, stereotyping, targeting children, promoting unhealthy products and subliminal advertising. The core values are honesty, responsibility, fairness, respect, transparency, and citizenship. The American Marketing Association has a statement of ethics that requires its members to do no harm, foster trust in the marketing system, and embrace ethical values. Communicating fact-based messages honestly and accurately is central to ethical communication. Examples of this range from sexism to racism and can often trigger a backlash from a company's target market. Value-oriented framework, analyzing ethical problems on the basis of the values which they infringe (e.g. Words 858 (3 pages) Views 429. BUSINESS ETHICS IN MARKETING COMMUNICATION Seungho Cho, Soong-sil University ABSTRACT The current research investigates how marketing professionals perceive an ethical issue of viral marketing and what factors are associated with their moral judgment on an ethical problem of a power blogger. In communication, ethics work to enhance credibility, improve the decision-making process and allow for trust between the two parties. Marketing Issues That Have Ethical Implications. But using psychological methods is not only the single connection. Commercials often portray fast food and frozen food options as fresher, larger and more appealing than the actual product. Principle 2 – Advertising, public relations, and all marketing communications professionals have an obligation to exercise the highest personal ethics in the creation and dissemination of commercial information to consumers. ETHICS IN MARKETING COMMUNICATION As well as the entire business world, marketing has its own ethics problems. Downloadable! If you plan on using customer data to inform your digital marketing, you have a responsibility to use that data in an ethical way, without resorting to intrusive or manipulative tactics. Then we discussed ethical issues in various marketing communication instruments like advertising, sales promotions, etc. Any other advertising that advertisement that conforms to good practice, promotes business fairly and incorporated corporate social responsibility is generally considered ethical. Some marketers confuse consumers by overloading them with technical information, using phrases that sound different from their true meaning and otherwise misleading consumers without telling a lie. Advertorials, native advertising, sponsored content, paid links and other forms of "pay-for-play" content must be disclosed, based on content platforms' requirements (such as Google's terms of service) or the U.S. Federal Trade Commission's guidelines for native advertising. ETHICS IN MARKETING COMMUNICATION As well as the entire business world, marketing has its own ethics problems. Marketers must understand the impact ethics have on marketing communications and develop Integrated Marketing Communication (IMC) strategies accordingly. Parties involved in marketing transactions have a set of expectations about how the business relationships will take shape and how various transactions need to be conducted. Food companies often target lower income groups, college-age youth, or children, appealing to their need for affordable food, convenience or trendiness. According to the Advertising Educational Foundation, 80 percent of Americans say they feel better about purchasing from companies whose values align with their own. Ethical values differ between societies and individual relationships, therefore a company must decide on an ethical communication strategy and portray it as consistently as possible. The word "puffery" was used by an appeals court case that addressed this. Something similar might be said of ethical marketing. For example, if you pay a volleyball team to place your sports drink company’s towels over the backs of their chairs -- in view of television cameras -- while they are playing a match sponsored by your competitor, you are taking away from the benefit your competitor hoped to receive from sponsoring the tournament. 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