Free Ethics In Marketing Essay Example

Ethics can be described as conduct, behaviour, principles or values which are morally upright in the society. These principles are used to govern and control a group of people, individuals or certain activities that are undertaken. In marketing, ethics is important in protecting consumers and other stakeholders in an industry or a company.
There are different approaches or ethical perspectives that exist. To begin with, the utilitarian perspective describes the best ethical action as the action that provides maximum good for the greatest number of people. For example, mangers come up with policies that are aimed at benefiting majority of stakeholders even though a minority may get disadvantaged. The second approach which is known as the rights perspective, which deems an action as ethical if it does not violate the basic human rights of the individuals involved. In using the justice perspective, an action is considered ethical if it does not exercise undue favouritism or discrimination to a particular group of people.
The stakeholder theory is a theory that outlines the morals and business ethics when it comes to managing an organization. It is important for management to know the different stakeholders of a business in order to understand their needs and appropriately attend to them. For example, establishing good relations and making payments on time to suppliers ensures the company continues to enjoy consistent supplies or goodwill discounts since suppliers are external stakeholders of a company.
As a business comes up with the best strategies to propel it to growth and higher profits, it is important to ensure that these strategies are morally upright and ethical for all involved stakeholders. The agency theory of management is an ancient economically based theory that establishes a principal-agent relationship between the management and stakeholders of the company. On the other hand, stewardship theory of management is a recent sociology based theory that establishes management as stewards of stakeholder interests. The disadvantage of the principal-agent relationship is that management may act to satisfy selfish interests at the expense of stakeholders’ interests. However, stewardship is good since management will always seek to satisfy the needs of stakeholders first without regard of their individual or selfish interest.
In terms of strategy, carefully implementation of corporate social responsibility (CSR) is beneficial to a company. Primarily, CSR helps a company to increase profits by winning new customers because of good publicity. The company is also able to win loyalty of consumers by depicting a picture of care and responsibility instead of a profit conscious business. Lastly, social responsibility is able to inspire innovation within a business such as coming up with goods that do not pollute the environment.
Predatory pricing is an unethical strategy where a company sets the price of its products or services at a very low price compared to other companies in the market. The aim of this strategy is to force other competitors out of the market or simply discourage other potential market entrants from venturing into the market. For example, after a minimum fuel price is set by regulatory bodies, a fuel company may decide to sell below that price in order to attract more customers than other market players.
Deceptive advertising is making false or misleading claims about a product with the aim of attracting unsuspecting consumers while unfairly beating the competition. In order to avoid deceptive advertising, a marketer should ensure that they give true information that can be clearly supported by facts or tests. A marketer can also review advertisements to ensure they do not send a wrong or unintended message to consumers.
The lessons learnt in this class are suitable in my career as an aspiring entrepreneur. Ethics in marketing will help me be an upright business person and avoid falling victim to law suits. Making good strategies will help me have a sustainable business while taking care of needs of all stakeholders. Lastly, engaging in corporate social responsibility will enhance the image of my business enterprise.