It is essential for companies to identify who their target market is, and to not only correspond their products or services to targeted consumer wants and needs, but also to their established ethics. However, the term “ethics” is difficult to define universally, and consumers in different parts of the world can hold varied judgments on what constitutes as “ethical.”
For example whether a society places greater emphasis on individualistic importance, or cooperation and collectivism is a crucial factor that businesses need to acknowledge and understand before implementing or even developing a promotional campaign. An add like this, would pertain more to countries like Canada and the U.S where individuals are encouraged to look after themselves, as opposed to a country like India where collective culture is a major part of tradition, and the interests of the group often triumphs over the interests of the individual. Such an ethical factor can shape and determine how a company plans to position its product in a particular geographical segment.
Another important ethical consideration is gender roles and societal placement. In places like Japan, Palestine and Iraq, males are generally viewed as the dominant authority, in comparison to places such as Sweden, Canada and the U.S. Consequently an advertisement such as this, would commonly be considered more acceptable, correspond better to societal humor, and strike less controversy in the latter stated countries.
Evidently, in order to successfully globalize the market and appeal to a wide geographical range of consumers, companies need to carefully evaluate and develop an understanding on how consumer ethics differ across the globe; failure to do so can result in rejection of product promotions, not to mention offending consumers through cultural insensitivity, and violation of their ethical code.
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