Introduction
Ethics refers to moral code of conduct and values that guides an individual when in a moral dilemma. They help individuals determine what is wrong and what is right in making decisions. Laws on the other hand are standards set by legislators of a country and enforced in courts. Ethical standards such as buyer beware have been established to provide buyers with caution when buying products. However, most standards have not adequately protected consumers from unethical practices in advertising and promotions (Brenkert, 2008). Establishment of bills of right for consumers was a major boost to ethical behavior in advertising and promotion. The rights consist of guidelines that prevent the consumers from malpractices by entrepreneurs.
The right to information is commonly violated in advertising and promotion. As an ethical practice, consumers should be provided with adequate information for every product on sale to help them in making their decisions. The information provided should nothing else but the truth about the product in question. Communication in marketing should always uphold honesty, comply with the laws of the land and promote fair competition in the market. Any marketing communication that does not build consumers confidence as well as encouraging professional responsibility is a violation of ethical standards in advertising and promotion. As a guiding factor, advertisements should contain pictures and statements that uphold decency so that consumer’s confidence is not impaired (Kelley, & Jugenheimer, 2009). Anything in an advert that would influence the decisions made by consumers should be put across in a manner that is easily understood. It is unethical to use adverts that exploit the misfortunes of consumers at the expense of the advertising company. Advertisements that condone illegitimate business practices such as omitting relevant information or are ambiguous in nature constitute unethical advertising and promotion practices. Advertisements dome on a medium meant for making news such as an editorial column should be capable of being recognized as an advert and the advertising agent should be easily identified by placing contact details to enable the consumer reach the advertiser.
Advertisements that aim at persuading customers to use their product over the product of a competitor by making comparisons should conform to fair competition practices. They should base their advertisements on facts that the customer can easily substantiate and not false or unfairly chosen features. It is unethical to promote your products denigrating a particular community, an individual or a group of people. In addition, unless an endorsement or a testimonial has been verified by relevant authorities and approved as a genuine one, advertisers should keep off from such adverts. Further, any promotion that imitates that of another advertiser in a manner likely to confuse or mislead consumers is unethical (Hackley, 2005). Marketing surveys that aim at collecting information from consumers should contain privacy document that should be made available to consumers to protect the identity of respondents. Full disclosure is required if an advertisement in social networking sites puts across an opinion which could influence decision of customers or benefit the author financially.
In conclusion, business people should attend ethics workshops organized by consumer protection bodies to help them in keeping ethical practices in advertisements as well as promotion. In addition reading blogs that challenge unethical standards will provide them with a good understanding of lawful codes of ethics to apply in making adverts and promoting their brands. This way marketing and communicating industry will be based on ethical standards that take care of customers.
References
Brenkert, G. G. (2008). Marketing ethics. Malden, MA: Blackwell Pub.
Hackley, C. E. (2005). Advertising and promotion: Communicating brands. London: SAGE Publications.
Kelley, L. D., & Jugenheimer, D. W. (2009). Cases in advertising management. Armonk, N.Y: M.E. Sharpe.
