A634.5.4.RB - Is Marketing Evil?

Just as individuals must balance the need to win with being ethical, so do companies. Companies must make ethical choices when hiring their workers and ensure ethical relativism plays a vital role in every business dealing, especially marketing initiatives. It is imperative that ethical marketing guidelines be put in place in every organization to create and promote kind of ethical organization that they aspire. Ethics training and guidelines can have a positive impact, especially if it is recurring. One example is initial and annual ethics training and signed commitment to code of conduct. Additionally, all management levels must enforce their standards in everyday conduct as well as marketing initiatives. 

The first time I felt deceived by a company was with the Disney Movie Club. I had just moved into my own apartment and received a brochure claiming I could get 4 Disney moves for $1 with Free shipping. All I had to do was agree to a minimum purchase agreement. I was fine with that except after two months I started receiving movies I never agreed to and being charged for them. What I failed to do is read the “fine print” about the Featured Title Offer. Every month, there is a Featured Title Offer mailed out for you to either receive or decline. “However, if you do not timely inform us of your choice by the date specified on the Featured Title Offer response card or Featured Title Offer email notification, the Featured Title will be shipped to you automatically, (Disney Movie Club, 2020). I quickly fulfilled my contract and cancelled my subscription, unpleased with my experience. A study found that 94% of consumers are likely to be loyal to a brand that offers complete transparency (Hyken, 2019). Though I love Disney movies, I always think twice about buying one for my children because of my experience.

Companies must also balance between ethics and profits. They must be willing to potentially lose money in order to stick to their ethical standards. Take Starbucks for example. In 2008 CEO Howard Schultz believed that Starbucks was beginning to lose its neighborhood feel. So, against profitability, he permanently shut down 900 stores and closed the other 11,000 stores down for a day to retrain all its employees (Hedges, 2012). Starbucks values are embodied in how they conduct business. In fact, one of their values in their mission statement (2020) is “Being present, connecting with transparency, dignity and respect”. 

As a leader, I must ensure that I don’t make mistakes in overlooking my employees’ behaviors and actions that are unethical regardless if the results.  Leading by example is a key to leading others in a way of practicing what I am preaching. For example, if I expect my followers to embody ethical decision making yet my actions are contradictory to my guidance just one time, all trust is lost. This is a recipe for a plausible slippery slope where “a relatively harmless and plausibly permissible action may increase the propensity of acting badly later. This propensity makes doing the initial actions immoral” (LaFollette, 2007, p. 135).


References:
Dincer, C., & Dincer, B. (2014). An Overview and Analysis of Marketing Ethics. International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Sciences, 4(11). doi:10.6007/ijarbss/v4-i11/1290

Disney Movie Club (2020). Disney Movie Club: Disney movies on Blu-ray, DVD & Digital Code. Retrieved July 04, 2020, from https://disneymovieclub.go.com/magic?catalogId=10051

Hedges, K. (2012, November 12). Why I'm stalking Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz. Retrieved from https://www.forbes.com/sites/work-in-progress/2012/04/10/why-im-stalking-starbucks-ceo-howard-schultz/3/#33ad27ba454f

Hyken, S. (2019, August 09). Unethical Marketing Destroys Customer Experience And Brand Reputation. Retrieved July 04, 2020, from https://www.forbes.com/sites/shephyken/2019/08/11/unethical-marketing-destroys-customer-experience-and-brand-reputation/

LaFollette, H. (2007). The practice of ethics. Malden, MA: Wiley-Blackwell.

Mission Statement. (2020). Retrieved July 04, 2020, from https://www.starbucks.com/about-us/company-information/mission-statement