Ethics in Advertising (1)

8/6/2019 Ethics in Advertising (1)

1/22

Ethics in Marketing: The Ultimate

Oxymoron


2/22

2

Determining What is Ethical

The social ethic

The professional

ethic

The personal

ethic

The Golden Rule

Social responsibility

motivates a business to

make a positive impact

on society


3/22

3


The social ethic

The professional

ethic

The personal

ethic

Industry standards help

with a decision about

what is ethically correct

A code of standards

identifies how

professionals should

respond when facing an

ethical dilemma


4/22

4


The social ethic

The professional

ethic

The personal

ethic

Personal judgment and

moral reasoning rests on

an intuitive sense of right

and wrong

Advertising professionals

must be aware of

industry standards as

well as ethical questions


5/22

Ethical Criticisms of Marketing

High prices

Deceptive practices

High-pressure selling Shoddy, harmful, or unsafe products

Planned obsolescence

Poor service to disadvantaged consumers

Unethical Advertising


6/22


7/22

Deceptive Practices

Deceptive Pricing

Falsely advertising factory, wholesale, clearance or otherseemingly large reductions from a phony high original retail (list) price.

Deceptive Promotion Overstating a products features or performance, running rigged or

fraudulent contests.

Bait-and-Switch advertising

Deceptive Packaging Exaggerating package contents through slick design, misleading

quantity or quality imagery and misleading labeling


8/22

Deceptive Pricing

Misleading sales price (price on shelf label is different fromactual price charged)

Omitting conditions of sale (conditions not mentioned)

Misleading introductory offer (The price is described as a

'Special Introductory Offer' but the same price is charged after

the introductory period is over.)

Example :

Pushing customers into forced continuity programs. Person gets

something for free, usually with just a small shipping and handling

charge, but doesn't realize that they've also signed up for an ongoing,fee-based program.


9/22

Deceptive Promotion

Overstating a products features or performance.

Overstating and misrepresenting discounts

Running fraudulent contests


10/22

Deceptive Packaging Tricks

Downsizing

Size and price of a package remain the

same, but its contents decrease

Slack Fill

Difference between a container's

potential capacity and its actual contents

Environmental Claims

Misrepresenting environmental claims

Overpackaging

Small items are made to appear more

substantial packaged in this manner.


11/22

High-Pressure Selling

Salespeople are trained to deliver smooth,

canned talks to entice purchase.

High-pressure selling persuades people to buy

goods they neither need nor want.

Driven by compensation structures (i.e. high

bonus potentials).

High-pressure selling ultimately destroys customerrelationships and goodwill.


12/22

Includes

Poorly made products

Products that do not perform well

Products that deliver little benefit

Harmful products (cause bodily harm, illness, even death)

How it happens

Undue focus on profit, increased production complexity,poorly trained labor, and poor quality control

New products without safety track records

Outsourcing of production often leads to quality issues

Shoddy or Unsafe Products


13/22

McDonalds and Obesity

A 2002 lawsuit unsuccessfully sued McDonalds on behalf of obese children,claiming McDs marketed food that is high in fat, salt, sugar, and cholesterol.


14/22

Planned Obsolescence

Refers to:

Products needing replacement before they should because

they are obsolete. (computers and software)

Producers who change consumer concepts of acceptable

styles. (clothing and fashion)

Intentionally holding back attractive or advancedfunctional features, and introducing them later to make

the old model obsolete. (electronics)

How do consumers attempt to combat Planned Obsolescence?


15/22

Examples

The poor are forced to shop in smaller storeswhere they pay more for inferior goods.

The poor receive worse service (or no service) atstores.

Redlining by national chain stores indisadvantaged neighborhoods.

Poor are targeted for rapid refunds and otherquick-money swaps.

Poor Treatment ofDisadvantaged Consumers


16/22

ADVERTISING Types

PRINT

AD:

Newspapers

Magazines

OUTDOOR

AD:

Billboards

Kiosks

Events

BROADCAST

AD:

Television

Radio

Internet

SURROGATE

AD:

Indirect Ads

PUBLIC

SERVICES

AD:

Social Causes

CELEBRITY

AD:

RenownedCelebrities


17/22

ETHICAL ISSUES IN ADVERTISING

deceptive advertising (credit cards)

manipulative advertising (children ads)

subliminal advertising (coke)stereotyping (cooking oil)

fear appeal (insurance)

sexual advertising (axe)

misleading advertising (fast food)


18/22

ASCI GUIDELINES

To ensure the truthfulness and honesty of representationsand claims made by advertisements and to safeguardagainst misleading advertising.

To ensure that advertisements are not offensive to

generally accepted standards of public decency. To safeguard against indiscriminate use of advertising for

promotion of products which are regarded as hazardous tosociety or to individuals to a degree or of a type which isunacceptable to society in large.

To ensure that advertisements observe fairness incompetition so that consumers need to be informed onchoices in the market place and the canons of generallyaccepted competitive behavior in business are both served.


19/22

Marketings Impact on Society as a Whole

Marketing creates false wants

and needs

Marketing makes people

materialistic

Marketing promotes poor quality

products


20/22

Cultural Pollution

Does constant exposure to advertisements assault

our senses?


21/22

Global Marketing Ethics

Business standards and practices vary greatly

between countries. Bribery and kickbacks are illegal in the U.S., but are legal and even

standard business practice in other countries.

Should companies maintain a consistent set of ethical standards

to be used worldwide?


22/22

Ethics in Advertising (1)

Documents