Marketing and Truth Ethics
It is possible for marketers to tell the truth about their products because that’s what the market demands. Failing to tell consumers the truth about products offered for sale will lead to future downfall of respective company’s sales. First few months or years of telling lies to consumers could, however turn profits for the company.
But as consumers understand the real truth by using the products and getting different results than the ones advertised on the media or printed on the product labels, the most logical for them to do would be switching to competitors products. Competitors’ also would have understood the weaknesses of the said company’s products and thus put aggressive campaigns to educate consumers, which will mean loss of market for the lying company. Truth in the market is thus a vital input in a companies attempt to popularise its products; going away from truth is tantamount to committing suicide at the market place.
Telling the truth to consumers is desirable because it helps in cultivating loyal customers. It’s common to see that most of company revenues accrue form repeated business other than from new customers. Therefore keeping the current customer base should be every company’s goal. These customers are crucial marketing tool because they can influence their friends and families into purchasing certain products. Further, the internet has necessitated easier access to information.
Consumers can therefore get all the information they need regarding products. Any discrepancies in quality or results will be shared all over the internet, which will result to the truth being found. It is, however, a little hard for the marketers to tell the entire truth about their products to consumers, especially because not all people will take the information that way marketers intended. As a result, marketers do their best to tune their advertisements in ways that most consumers would relatively understand.
Marketers do not have any problem while doing their works in lines with the truth statement on their organisation’s code of conduct. They sometimes deviate from the statement, but there exists a large margin between the ethical point and the point that will lead to serious repercussions in their work. Deviating from the truth ethical statement has actually become a second nature to them, because it makes advertising more easily, which is done through exaggerating on what their products can achieve. Marketers are however keen not to go beyond the boundaries, because they pay a heavy price though loss of customer base and heavy fines from authorities.
Racial Marketing
Racial marketing could only go too far when it declares that certain products could only be used by such and such cultural group. Racial marketing does exist, especially on medicine—where some diseases affect various racial groups more than others. Marketers should be keen enough to understand the limits of their advertising tools. Some blatant utterances could lead to some serious backlash.
Marketing should be done in a clever manner that will not attract negative sentiments from various racial groups (Pires & Stanton, 2005, p. 228). The boundary in racial marketing thus appears at the point where marketers could start uttering how products go well with this racial group but bad with the other group. This is because there is little difference between the products that are altered so as to fit with al racial groups. Even drugs in the pharmaceutical field, where racial marketing of subscription drugs have been used, have little difference. Keenly drafted marketing plans are needed while dealing with market segmentation that will involve racial divides.
Racial marketing can effectively be used by marketers, as it has happened in many localities. For instance, the neighbourhoods dominated by certain racial groups see all marketing being directed to that specific group. Almost all billboards use people for that race to, TV and radio ads, too. The restaurants to be found in that area are the ones serving the said racial group’s delicacy. This is a way of marketers to provide what the market is demanding. Companies would be burning their advertisement reserves buying wrong ads for the wrong market. People in these neighbourhoods could end up being identified with certain products that are found in their localities. This has especially happened in the food industry; it has resulted to some cultural groups being identified with certain diets.
Racial marketing uses researchers from their target group to collect information. It can also be seen that distribution stores for companies with presence in those areas are manned by individuals from that racial group; this scenario is however waning rapidly. This is not by accident, but marketers’ master plan use people who know the market to work closely with. It actually works well because it would be of no use to bring somebody from outside, who has never been in the area before to collect data on some sensitive issues that could be regarded as racially ruse. This tactic is totally ethical and provides the best data, which is then used to provide the society with what it needs most.
Were companies had to use a person from another race, chances are that the person would have provided the wrong data, which would have resulted to provision of unneeded goods or services to the people, loss to the company and the economy at large. This system thus benefits all parties: company gets revenue, the racial groups gets wide variety of goods a, jobs and the nation benefits from increased productivity.
A “Bad” Product
A “bad” product can only be determined by the end users after being informed and researching on themselves the benefits and hazards that comes with the usage of the said product. Information regarding products described as bad is readily available on government information portals, producing companies’ advertisement and product labels, on interest groups’ materials that are supplied to many localities, and on uncountable websites and networking portals that most individuals have unlimited access.
Individuals should therefore collect as much information as possible regarding products they are intending to use. The government could declare certain products like cigarette and alcohol illegal but cannot force any individual at gun point not to consume the; companies may put large warning signs everywhere telling potential customers that the products could hurt their health or damage property but cannot force those individuals to use the products.
Marketer for Caesar’s Palace casino in Las Vegas is not behaving unethically. However, much of the society regards as services being provided by the casino as immoral. But there are people in the same society that are demanding those services. What the marketer for the Casino does is providing a segment of the society with the services they demanded, however immoral the other part of the society takes that service. Despite society’s view of the Casino’s business, the people who really count in that specific market are the patrons and entertainment providers.
These two groups willingly come to the casino without being forced. It is the work of the Casino marketer to balance between the needs of entertainment providers and clients. A sin product that this writer will never market is human beings, commonly referred to as human trafficking. This is the most unethical trading that is taking place in the world today. This has been referred to as the modern day slavery that close to a million people are subjected to every year (US Department of State, 2004). It is a total disregard of human life and liberty.
Consumer and Marketing Ethics
The most important ethical responsibility for consumers involves the use of cost benefit analysis before they make the choice of utilizing certain products or not. That is, they should consider the costs being loaded to the society against their own personal gains. This is because the self interest on consumer minds sometimes leaves the society worse–off. Consumers should also avoid following the band wagon of purchasing products anyhow. Most of them use products because it is fashionable and that many people in eth society are doing so. They should instead get all information regarding products before embarking on purchasing and utilizing them.
Venerable consumers are the ones who listen to listens to marketer’s information about certain products goes ahead to perform own research regarding the said products before buying and utilizing them. These consumers fell completely knowledgeable regarding the products they are about to purchases and use. But as in turns out in some cases, the same products end up hurting them despite the information they had collected on those products.
Such consumers cannot be blamed on any effect that products could have on their health or property; the marketing company is the one liable for product liability, because it was the distributor or manufacturer’s failure to perform enough tests before selling defective products (Tarrant, 2005). Irresponsible consumers are the ones who listen to marketers’ advertisements and information regarding certain products, and go straight away to purchasing those products without or with little research (Belk, Devinney & Eckhardt, 2005, p. 23). The products could have already been declared unfit for consumption or use, but these irresponsible consumers go ahead to purchase and use, which results to much harm that could have been avoided with little responsibility on consumers’ side.
Marketers usually pay the cost of selling defective products despite irresponsible consumers’ failure to pay attention. Authorities rarely blame consumers for any mistake made in their consumption processes. To escape this blame, marketers should provide much information as possible regarding the products they advertise and sell. Marketers should also be knowledgeable enough regarding their products so they can advise consumers on any effects that could accrue from the use of their products. Information about their products could be posted on online portals among other media. It is also advisable for marketers to maintain working customer relations lines of communication (email, fax, and phone) that could be used to access product information or certain usage clarifications.
References
Belk, R. Devinney, T. & Eckhardt, G. (2005). Consumer Ethics Across Cultures. Berkeley, University of California.
Department of State, (2004). Facts About Human Trafficking. Web.
Pires, G. & Stanton, J. (2005), Ethnic Marketing. London, UK: Thomson Learning.
Shiply, M. (2004). Truth is the New Lie. Web.
Tarrant, D. (2008). Consumer ethics across cultures: Why consumers don’t care. Web.