A634.5.4.RB - Is Marketing Evil?

Most organizations exist to deliver a service or product to their customers.  That is the purpose of being in business.  Marketing is the means by which an organization can connect with their customer base.  Bonini (2012) indicated that there are 4 core objectives to a successful marketing campaign: building brand awareness, engaging with the target audiences, generating customers and sales, and proving industry expertise.  Expertly created marketing campaigns are memorable and create a feeling that is associated with a product.  Those who grew up in the 80s and 90s as I did will never be able to hear “Just Do It,” “You quiero Taco Bell,” or “They’re Grrrreat!,” without thinking about Nike shoes, Taco Bell, or Frosted Flakes.  

Organizations have to walk a fine line when it comes to marketing.  They must balance the business need to generate revenue with the ethical demands of honesty and integrity.  Some organizations have crossed the line; they have used dishonesty and unfairness in their marketing campaigns to earn an extra dollar.  False advertising has cost companies millions of dollars in damages and destroyed their reputations (Weinmann & Bhasin, n.d.).  Most consumers are skeptical about advertising.  As many as 96 percent of consumers don’t trust advertisements and marketing (Shane, 2019).  Ethical marketing has been defined as “practices that emphasize transparent, trustworthy, and responsible personal and organizational marketing policies and actions that exhibit integrity as well as fairness to consumers and other stakeholders” (Murphy, Laczniak, Bowie and Klein, 2005).  For marketing to be ethical it must accurately present the product, generate trustworthiness in the organization, and be equitable to all stakeholders.

I follow a vlogger on YouTube named Matt Carriker.  By trade he is a veterinarian, but he has started a merchandising company named Bunker Branding that produces “merch” for Youtubers.  There have been a few times over the years he has been in business that he has openly come out on YouTube and admitted that he made a mistake.  In one instance he announced that the ink on a batch of t-shirts had not been cured properly.  He apologized for the mistake and asked anyone who had received a flawed t-shirt to contact the company so they could make it right  (Carriker, 2019b).  In another instance he sincerely apologized after launching a line of pocket knives that turned out to be much lower quality than initially advertised.  He not only apologized for the mistake but he cut the price of the knives in half and refunded money to those who had purchased them at full price (Carriker, 2019a).  Through transparency and honesty Bunker Branding has proven to be an ethical organization that values integrity and fair treatment of their customers.

A leader’s personal values influence his or her marketing ethics.  “From the individual perspective personal values and moral philosophies are the key to ethical decisions in marketing. Honesty, fairness, responsibility, and citizenship are assumed to be values that can guide complex marketing decisions in the context of an organization” (Caner & Banu, 2014, p. 152).  Of primary concern as a leader will be my personal values, morals, and ethics.  As I maintain a high moral and ethical standard in my personal interactions with others I can be confident that I will be marketing myself, my skills, and possibly someday, my products, ethically.


References

Bonini, J. (2012, November 2). What is the Purpose of Marketing? Retrieved from https://www.impactbnd.com/blog/what-is-the-purpose-of-marketing

Caner, D., and Banu, D. (2014). An Overview and Analysis of Marketing Ethics. International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Sciences., 4(11). https://doi.org/10.6007/IJARBSS/v4-i11/1290

Carriker, M. (2019a, January 18). Sorry… [Video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m5PhlQTBQJU

Carriker, M. (2019b, September 26). We Are So Sorry...(NOT CLICKBAIT) (possibly clickbait). [Video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iXtUX2kx6io

Murphy, P.E., G.R. Laczniak, N.E. Bowie, and T.A. Klein. (2005). Ethical Marketing, Upper Saddle River, N.J: Pearson Prentice-Hall. 

Shane, D. (2019, May 31). 96 Percent of Consumers Don't Trust Ads. Here's How to Sell Your Product Without Coming Off Sleazy. https://www.inc.com/dakota-shane/96-percent-of-consumers-dont-trust-ads-heres-how-to-sell-your-product-without-coming-off-sleazy.html

Weinmann, K., and Bhasin, K. (n.d.). 14 False Advertising Scandals that Cost Brands Millions. Retrieved from https://www.businessinsider.com/false-advertising-scandals-2011-9

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