As social beings we rely on rules for direction towards a framework of mutual success. The rules that apply to us vary depending on various general and specific factors including culture, community and gender. Within the business community the rules that guide sustainable long-term success are called ethics. As with any rules, breaking them can result in short-term payoffs yet these benefits are rarely justifiable when facing the consequences of getting caught.
Let us consider in the field of marketing what kinds of unethical behavior might occur and what the consequences for using them would be. Consider a company like MacDonalds. In the age of information consumers are much more difficult to fool and yet if you were to see a photo of any menu item that is being promoted by a fast food chain like MacDonalds and compare it with the product that they actually produce and sell you would find quite a significant difference.
http://www.mcdonalds.ca/ca/en/menu/full_menu/sandwiches.html
MacDonalds is a company that is not known for it’s credibility perhaps this should not come as a surprise. They have even been widely accused of purchasing patties from a company called All Beef in order to be able to falsely advertise. While these claims are in fact false, they do serve to illustrate the point very well that if you lie to your consumer they will naturally grow distrustful. The fast food giant must find that despite these long-term losses to it’s reputation it is still better off driving higher sales at the point of sale by bombarding the hungry customer with an array of gorgeously produced images that represent the perfection of what there menu could be yet is not. It is quite possible that these unethical marketing tactics served the food retailer better in it’s past which would explain the dramatic rise in MDC stock decades ago, however, the long-term effects can be seen as the more recent slow down and finally the drop in value seem this past year. http://www.google.ca/finance?q=NYSE%3AMCD&ei=RvH8UMCFE-OviAL44QE
How do you think McDonald’s is being perceived in terms of ethical marketing after their efforts to further inform consumers? For example, they have recently began putting nutrition info on their packaging and providing mroe healthy choices for consumers
I guess it depends if your perceptions have been affected by these moves. Personally, I am more afraid to have a salad from McDonalds then a burger. In fact, I rarely eat fast food but I have never tried one of the so-called healthier options from a restaurant that offers drive-thru. There is little doubt that McDonald’s business has suffered as people’s awareness and health concerns have grown and they have successfully taken measures to stay competitive. I guess for me, though, these efforts have done little to dissuade my mistrust. When I eat McDonalds it is because they are pretty much my only option. I am more concerned with the ethics as a whole then the ones they’d like me to notice. I guess it still relates back to those phoney pictures that still have me perceiving phoney food. Thanks for the comment and reading my blog.