18. Marketing, society, sustainability and ethics

Framing

Trying to change the way we show things to convince customers of something

Commodity fetishism

• Society is overly dominated by consumption due to capitalism

Sustainable marketing (3 E’s)

• Ecological

  • Marketing should not negatively impact the environment

• Equitable

  • Marketing should not promote unethical practices

• Economic

  • Marketing should encourage long-term economic development

Material recovery

Materials going from the end consumer back to the company

Collaborative consumption

• Sharing economy: No ownership, but able to lease something

  • Ex. Uber, Airbnb…

  • They don’t own the car or building, but they make an app to share, swap or rent possessions

• Relies on Peer-to-peer network (P2P)

Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR)

= A company’s commitment to act ethically and responsibly towards society, the environment, and its stakeholders

• Environmental responsibility

• Social responsibility—Encourage diversity, support local companies…

• Economic responsibility

• Ethical responsibility—Be fair, eliminate forms of corruption…

Stakeholder marketing

• Create value for any stakeholder (not just shareholders)

• Reduce negative impact & generate positive outcomes

Ethics

= The branch of knowledge that deals with moral principles

• Deontological

  • Importance of rules

  • Ensure customer satisfaction via finished offering + ensure honesty in how the offering was produced & marketed

• Teleological

  • Focus on consequences of actions

• Managerial egoism

  • Focus on maximizing shareholder value

• Utilitarianism

  • The greatest good for the greatest number of people

  • Maximizing benefits for the largest possible population

• Virtue ethics

  • Honesty, bravery, generosity…

  • Good character

Ethical decision-making process

• Individual factors

  • Knowledge—Awareness of the ethics of the activities

  • Values—Norms about rights and wrongs

  • Attitudes—Feelings toward certain behavior

  • Intentions—What people are planning to do

• Ethical issue or dilemma

• Significant others

  • Differential association—Learn behavior by observing those around us

  • Role set configuration—Behave in a specific position

• Opportunity

  • Be ethical

Ethical issues or dilemmas

1. Advertising deception

   1. Intentionally deceiving the clients through fake advertising

   2. Product in ad ≠ Product in-store

2. Falsifying research data

   1. Changing and misreporting data or results

3. Price collusion

   1. When competing companies conspire to fix/raise/stabilize prices instead of competing fairly

   2. Leads to unfairness, prices will be way higher

   3. Free competition → Leads to the best prices for customers, more innovation…

4. Bribes

   1. Offering something of value in return for people’s behavior to your advantage

5. Bid rigging

   1. Agreeing in advance who will win a bid

Use of shock appeals

• Create controversy

• Capture attention → More likely to be remembered

• Evoke emotions

• Ex. Anti-smoking campaigns, anti-drunk-driving ads, DV awareness…

Product labeling

• Greenwashing

  • Promoting products as sustainable or ethical, but they’re false claims

• Health misrepresentation

  • Health claims on the packaging, but the other ingredients are not healthy

  • Ex: “Low in fat”, but doesn’t mention it’s high in sugar