Unethical practices in the fields of marketing

Unethical Practices In Marketing

January 26,2020

Nowadays the topic of ethics in business receives decent amount of attention.Current studies discovered that business ethics have significant impact on the way consumers evaluate companies and the way they behave on unethical behavior in a short-term.This research empirically discovers the impact of unethical marketing on customer based brand equity.Marketing is basically a discipline that provokes much debate.In fact,it has been accused of being used for unethical purposes.According to my research in these current periods ,I think that the very core of marketing in contrast with the doubt and criticism that is expressed by its opponents because customer satisfaction is marketing's ultimate goal.Considering all of the management fields marketing has taken the most criticism and carried the most doubt concerning moral and social responsibility issues.

Some of the basic points of criticism against marketing are as follows-

1)It encourages materialism.

2)It generates stress on consumers for the acquisition of goods.

3)Pollutes the natural environment.

4)Creates an increase in the product's final price.

5)Advertisements may sometimes be harmful and offends the masses.

6)Personal sales sometimes becomes too oppressive.

7)It influences the customers to even buy those products which they may not need at all.

Unethical Practices in Marketing

Avoiding unethical marketing practices can also help a business avoid other consequences,such as losing the good faith and loyalty of customers.The worst practices of the bunch are:

Misleading- Some marketers deliberately try to blur the line with exaggerated claims,which are other forms of unethical marketing.Consumers may turn a deaf ear to a product that claims to be "the best",and they are known to disdain marketing that promises to "transform their life"or "make them the envy of all their friends".

Making-making wrong comparisons about a rival product is again a type of unethical issues.consumers may find such a technique helpful,as long as the information is accurate and truthful.

Spamming-sending unsolicited emails to potential customers is again unethical.the FTC allows a business one such opportunity.in effect since 1993,the act also prohibits false or misleading header information and deceptive subject lines.

Stereotyping-stereotyping women as sex symbols merely to draw attention to a product."while it might be intuitive to use models in adverts for beauty products and cosmetics,having half-naked models in adverts for generators,heavy machinery,smartphones and other products not strongly related to women is both nonsensical and unethical".

Plagiarizing-plagiarizing is a type of unethical practice in today's business world.to compete with one another rivals it has become the most common activity.for ex-for a small business owner,discovering that a competitor has copied or impinged on a tagline, blog post or promotion can be really painful.Plagiarism probably happens more often than most business people will ever know,because of the internet.

What should be done?

Some steps should be taken to resolve these crucial issues and following points should be kept in mind while marketing-

• They should only promote the culture of the society in which they are advertising their products.
• They should give complete information about their products so that consumers can make informed choice.
• They should not deceive about the features of the products or services.
• Negative attitudes and behavior should not be there in adds specially the ones who r targeted like youths and kids.
• Advertisement tools should not be used to advertise the products of well known brands.

From the current research it can be concluded that adds undermine social and religious values,which leads to deterioration of the moral fiber of the society especially the young mind.they not only show disrespect towards integrity of cultures but also promote undesirable value schemes like materialism,consumerism,independent decision making etc.It can also be said that commercials abuse society by negatively influencing human behavior.

Their adverse consequences are pervasive and can be seen in the form of degradation of women,shaping of negative sexual attitudes,loss of confidence etc.

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