Marketing Ethics

Reading a fellow classmate’s recent blog post about how misleading an advertisement could be without reading the fine print made me think about marketing and its ethics. I understand Jordon’s frustration with McDonald’s sneaky promotion of its new buttermilk biscuits because I have been a victim of such misleading advertising by Rogers Wireless three years ago.

Are marketers trying to frustrate and anger people on purpose? Probably not. But then again, are they honestly concerned with the welfare of consumers or are they more concerned with the bottom line of the company? The goals of marketing shouldn’t be to simply increase short-term profits but also to establish strong long-term ethical relationships with the consumers.

The ethical relationship between marketing and the consumer is a key to the success of organizations. Consumers expect to be treated fairly and with respect. Consumers expect that the service they receive from organizations will be reliable, responsive, trustworthy, understanding, and that they are really receiving something of value. They do not want ‘lip service’, unrealistic promises, or misleading offerings. Consumers do not want to be sold products that are inherently bad for them.

All of the advertisements above all have some ethical issues to be considered. However, as long as marketers accept the challenge to become more socially responsible and consumers also bear some responsibility to research and learn about the products the purchase and use, this problem of misleading marketing should decrease.