essay on marketing ethics

Essay on Ethics and Marketing

Introduction.

Ethics in the various areas of business is a complex and contentious topic that has been a subject of extensive debate for many years. The biggest challenge for businesses is finding the right balance between making money and doing what is right. Businesses endeavor to satisfy their clients’ needs while at the same time achieving efficient profit levels. Marketers find it tough to apply ethics in marketing a product that has harmful effects. Marketers often influence human desires and conduct, driving their purchase of various goods and services that they may or may not need. The end result is either a good or bad feeling on the part of the consumer or marketer. There are ethical issues that arise with the kind of methods that marketers use to get people to buy the commodities that they may be offering (Schlegelmilch, 1998). For instance, someone marketing cigarettes may try to use other attributes that may be false to divert attention away from their harmful effects and potential customers to buy the product. There are those who even use fear while some may capitalize on people’s ignorance to influence their behavior. Such behavior is unethical. Important to note is the fact once a consumer finds out the truth, the outcome might be the spread of a negative perception about the product among consumers. Ethical marketing is the key to long-term profitability. This paper examines existing literature on the topic of ethical marketing.

Literature Review

Hunt and Vitell (1986), in their article, “A General Theory of Marketing Ethics,” make an attempt at explaining the decision-making process as a situation that has an ethics component in them. In their analysis of studies of marketing practices, their findings indicated that most managers viewed their marketing practices as ethical despite some being clearly unethical. A good example of such unethical practices can be seen in a case of an automobile safety feature. An automobile manufacturer may develop a device that reduces traffic injuries by about 50%. However, the device might have some cost implication that would move the prices of their cars up resulting in some loss in sales to the advantage of the firm’s competitors. For this reason, the automobile maker may opt not to include the device in their cars not unless the relevant authorities make it a requirement for all car manufacturers.

When Hunt and Vitell (1986) posed the question on whether the company’s actions were ethical or not to a sample group to determine their reaction, they found that perceptions varied depending on one’s occupation. However, they could not clearly determine the main reason for the difference in perceptions. Those in executive positions were less likely to term the automaker’s move as unethical. A mere 51% agreed that the actions of the firm were unethical. 76% of housewives found the situation as being unethical. The huge difference leaves a lot to be desired.

A huge proportion of the research on marketing is fragmented and scattered. Research on ethical marketing also suffers some serious setbacks. Due to the absence of a guiding model, instead of past empirical research on the subject producing scholarly light, it has created more emotional heat. Hunt and Vitell’s research develops an ethical marketing theory intended to guide empirical research.

Crane and Matten (2010) tackle the subject of ethics in business. According to them the subject of ethics is important for many reasons. One of them is that the power that companies wield in the society is greater now that it has ever been before. They can impact the society immensely. The malpractices that they engage in can cause grievous harm to the environment, individuals, and communities. Stakeholder interests increasingly inform the decision of businesses to be ethical in conducting their activities. The investment of resources into the pursuit of ethics varies from one organization to the next depending on the size and type of organization. Crane and Matten (2010), note that small organizations allocate little resources compared to large ones. Large organizations also tend to employ a more formal approach to the management of ethics. At the center of ethical decisions is profitability concerns that tend to put a limit on the resources that companies are willing to spend on the ethics management. Most organizations use the subject of ethics to market their businesses and ensure their prominence. Such a tool is community social responsibility (CSR) where companies take part in initiatives that benefit the communities in the markets that they serve (Murphy & Laczniak, 1981). Stakeholders require that the ethical measures a firm takes make sense. For this reason, large corporations tend to base their ethical decisions on rational, widely understandable and systematic argument that they can manage to defend, justify, and elaborate to the affected stakeholders. Crane and Matten posit that there are two extreme positions to ethical theories. The two are ethical absolutism and ethical relativism. The book “Business Ethics: Managing corporate citizenship and sustainability in the age of globalization,” by Crane and Matten (2010) conducts an in-depth analysis of various theories and their relevance to the decision-making process.

“Ethical Marketing and the New Consumer,” a book by (Arnold, 2009) is also very resourceful when it comes to an exploration of the subject of ethics in marketing. Arnold (2009) holds the view that perception about ethics is often subjective. Each individual may have their own thoughts on what they find as being ethical. When one genuinely considers the impact of their actions, they begin to develop a sense of who they are and their moral code. Such conceptualization is influenced by the environment in which one lives. When it comes to any business, ethics is rooted in the ethos. A firm first determines its beliefs, its level of preparedness to tell the truth and whether it has the potential of delivering to its clients (Tadajewski & Brownlie, 2008).

Arnold (2010), in his book, he posits that getting things right from the start in relation to ethics is the surest way to building a strong foundation for the future. The author is highly critical of the move by many businesses to use the green bandwagon to market their products without conducting due diligence on the viability of such options. Many of the firms tend to end up wasting a significant proportion of their resources to campaigns aimed at making their brands appear more ethical. The book’s primary agenda is to help brand and marketing managers to avoid the trap of greenwash or other situations that may be worse serving to damage their brand’s reputation. It also offers useful marketing guidance for eco-ethical businesses. Prominent in the author’s work is his challenge to the assumption that going green is being ethical. Arnold (2009) presents sample cases involving issues of ethical marketing and some of the outcomes to illustrate the role of ethics in the success of a business. The book calls for self-evaluation on the part of firms before they choose to engage in any ethical marketing to avoid unnecessary waste of funds. The best point to start is the identification of the ethos. The ethos should inform the firm’s actions as it is more powerful than any advertisement that the entity may think of using to attract customers.

Marketing ethics in any organization calls for leadership from the top that is based on principles and purposeful actions among them planning of standards and their implementation, as well as, transparency and persistent effort aimed at improving the organization’s ethical performance. Ferrell C, Fraedrich and Ferrell L (2012), showcase several examples of cases of ethical concern and survey results that help paint a clear picture of the issues that are vital to business ethics. In their approach to ethical leadership and ethical decision-making, they consider emerging trends that determine the most relevant aspects (Murphy et al., 2005). For today’s companies, the ability to acknowledge and handle complex issues is of significant priority. Ethics contributes to employee commitment, customer satisfaction and trust, ethical culture, increased profits, and investor loyalty (Ellis et al., 2011). Their perception of the company as having an ethical culture influences their attitude towards it positively. The firm’s products get better reviews from customers in the market.

Implications and Gap Analysis

Current and past research offer deep insight into the subject of ethical marketing. However, there is still no universal model agreed upon to serve as a guide in conducting research on the issue. Many of them address the issue from a descriptive point of view. Empirical research is still not well explored. Future research needs to focus on ways of conducting empirical research to allow for a deeper analysis that can be backed by statistics and various derivatives. However, such research will only be possible after the development of ethical marketing models that guide empirical studies.

Evidently, current literature on the ethical marketing depicts the central role of ethics in the success of any company. Ethics is personal in nature, meaning that the perception of what is ethical may vary from one entity to the next. A business’ ethos carries with it great value than any other form of advertisement. Companies that have strayed away from a focus on their ethos and lost the understanding of who they are have in some cases wasted huge amounts of money on market promotion initiatives that do not bear meaningful results. One such is the green bandwagon that has seen companies implement green initiatives to appear ethical. Self-awareness is the most important step to building strong ethics in marketing. There lacks a universal model that would offer guidance on carrying out empirical research, a factor that has curtailed such studies. There is a need for increased investment into ethical marketing research if businesses hope to enjoy long-term profitability.

Arnold, C. (2009) Ethical Marketing and the New Consumer. Wiley; 1st edition.

Crane, A. and Matten, D. (2010) Business Ethics: Managing corporate citizenship and sustainability in the age of globalization, 3rd Edition: Oxford University Press.

Ellis, N., Fitchett, J., Higgins, M., Jack, G., Lim, M., Saren, M. and Tadajewski, M. (2011) Marketing: A Critical Textbook, Sage Publication.

Ferrell, C., Fraedrich, J. and Ferrell, L. (2012). Business Ethics: Ethical Decision Making and Cases. 9th Edition, South-Western College

Hunt, S.D. and Vitell, S. (1986), “A General Theory of Marketing Ethics,” Journal of Macromarketing, pp. 5-16.

Murphy, P.; Laczniak, G., Bowie, N. and Klein, T. (2005). Ethical Marketing, Pearson Prentice Hall.

Murphy, P.E., and Laczniak, G.R.(1981). “Marketing Ethics: A Review with Implications for Managers, Educators, and Researchers.” In Enis, B.M. and Roeing (Eds), Review of Marketing, AMA, pp. 251-256.

Schlegelmilch, B. (1998). Marketing Ethics: An International Perspective. International Thomson Business Press.

Tadajewski, M. and Brownlie, D. (2008). Critical Marketing –  Issues in Contemporary Marketing , John Wiley & Sons: West Sussex, UK.

Cite this page

Similar essay samples.

• What advice would you give to risk public policy makers?
• Essay on Concept of Policy and Society
• Pushing Boundaries With Ex Parte Emergency Arbitration – the Challen...
• Essay on Supply Chain Management
• Essay on Abortion as a Social Problem
• Literature Review: Play the Game: An Analysis of the Effects of Video ...

The Critical Role Ethics Plays in Modern Marketing

Published: September 02, 2020

As much as it might be difficult to define what "ethics" is in relation to marketing, it's easy to define what it isn't.

Take, for instance, a product pricing landing page that gives incorrect information (or, hides the price entirely … ).

Alternatively, consider a social media advertisement that claims a product will do X, Y, and Z — but then, when you order it, you find it can only do X.

These types of disreputable, dishonest, and corrupt marketing strategies are what we mean when we say a company behaved unethically.

Ultimately, while unethical marketing can potentially succeed in the short-term, it's not a good long-term strategy. Over time, customers will distrust your brand as a whole, and you'll find it difficult to find brand advocates who are willing to spread awareness about your product or service through word-of-mouth marketing .

In short, unethical marketing will make your job as a marketer much harder in the long run , not easier.

Here, let's explore the critical role ethics plays in modern marketing (and leadership as a whole), and how you can ensure you're following best practices to create ethical solutions to all your marketing challenges.

The Role of Ethics in Leadership

To start, let's define what ethics means.

While it's easy to define ethics as "the difference between right and wrong", the truth is a bit more complex than that.

For instance, the concept of "right" and "wrong" is typically a relatively subjective one. What's "right" culturally in the U.S. might be frowned upon in Asia, and vice versa.

The Markkula Center for Applied Ethics defines ethics as two things: "First, ethics refers to well-founded standards of right and wrong that prescribe what humans ought to do, usually in terms of rights, obligations, benefits to society, fairness, or specific virtues … Ethical standards also include those that enjoin virtues of honesty, compassion, and loyalty."

The Markkula Center for Applied Ethics adds, "Ethics [also] refers to the study and development of one's ethical standards. As mentioned above, feelings, laws, and social norms can deviate from what is ethical. So it is necessary to constantly examine one's standards to ensure that they are reasonable and well-founded."

In the context of marketing, then, ethics refers to the practice of promoting fairness, honesty, and empathy in all marketing activities.

One of the easiest ways to promote ethics in a business sense, of course, is to ensure it's instilled in your company's culture and values.

However, it's important to note, it's not enough just to have a set of values and mission statement. Truly ethical companies need to live out these values every day (as noted in this article about core values by HBR ).

To further investigate what this means in practice, I spoke with Joan Harrington , the Director of Social Sector Ethics at The Markkula Center for Applied Ethics.

Harrington told me, "The key to integrating ethics in organizations is leadership. The leadership must set the example by living the organizational values and incorporating them into all aspects of the business. So having a code of ethics or a set of values in a handbook is not enough to shape an ethical culture."

Harrington adds, "Employees need to be trained on, or at least exposed to, how to make ethical decisions. Ethics is not about what you think is right versus what I think is right. It is how we — in all of our different relationships — ought to behave."

Harrington suggests in an ideal scenario, an entire organization will go through an ethical decision-making training — but, she adds, there are some areas of an organization that are higher-risk for ethical issues than others (like, for instance, engineers working on projects involving AI that might affect millions of people). For those higher-risk groups, these ethical decision-making trainings should be mandatory, not optional.

As Harrington told me, "This is not to say that there may be more than one ethical response, but it is not purely subjective. In training, people need to be exposed to real life situations, relevant to their jobs, so they can really work through how to identify, approach, and decide ethical issues."

To create a truly ethical culture , it's critical leaders model ethical behaviors and values, create a strong community, and design ethical systems in which all employees can thrive.

To do this, Ann Skeet, Senior Director of Leadership Ethics at the Markkula Center, advises leaders to "use goals, mission, and values to make decisions about compensation and other rewards, like promotions."

Ultimately, ethical leadership needs to be baked into the processes, not an "afterthought". This way, it isn't just one person's sole responsibility to raise her hand and say, "That doesn't seem fair to me." Instead, the very foundation of the organization should be built upon ethical pillars, including honesty and fairness, so that each business decision is made with these values top-of-mind.

Next, let's dive into how ethics plays into your role as a marketer.

The Role of Ethics in Marketing

Ethical marketing refers to a marketer's responsibility to ensure all marketing activities adhere to core ethics principles, including integrity, humility, and honesty — both internally, and externally.

To further recognize the difference between internal and external marketing ethics, let's consider an example.

Let's say your marketing team hires a design agency for a new marketing campaign. Halfway through the campaign, your team discovers the agency doesn't treat its workers fairly, and doesn't align well with your values in terms of environmental and social responsibility.

Even if your customers don't know about this alliance, it's still in your best interest to discontinue a working relationship with the agency as soon as possible, and re-align yourself with agencies that uphold the same standards you've set for your own team internally.

Equally importantly, of course, is the public-facing component of ethical marketing. This includes ensuring you don't stretch the truth or lie about your product or service (including pricing, functionality, release date, current customers, etc.) to try to attract new customers — lying about Beyonce's use of your product might seem like a good idea in theory, but it won't take long before you're caught out.

Additionally, ethical marketing also means treating workers fairly, using sustainable materials, and doing your part to support environmental or social causes that feel important to your brand.

For instance, consider the brand Toms, which gives away $1 for every $3 it makes , and has given nearly 100 million pairs of shoes to people in need since 2006.

As Harrington notes, "Marketing has its own, built-in, ethical issues. For non-profits, do they do 'storytelling' about their clients in an ethical way when they are engaged in fundraising, i.e., how are they representing their clients? Have they included clients in deciding how to present them? Are they operating from stereotypes?"

Harrington adds, "For all organizations, to figure out whether marketing is ethical, you'll want to ask whether marketers are operating transparently? Is the product accurately described? Is the marketing ahead of the actual product? And is there undue pressure on potential consumers?"

In 2020, ethical marketing is more important than ever.

Consider, for instance, that it costs five to 25 times more to acquire a new customer than to retain an existing one. Brand loyalty is critical for the long-term success of your company.

Additionally, did you know people don't trust businesses nowadays as much as they used to? In fact, 81% trust their friends and family's advice over advice from a business, 69% do not trust advertisements , and 71% do not trust sponsored ads on social networks.

Ultimately, there's only one long-term solution to the ever-growing problem of a distrustful customer base: ethical marketing.

Of course, it's important to remember, ethical marketing needs to influence every aspect of your marketing strategy, not just one or two areas. You need to show honesty, transparency, and integrity across the board — from the Instagram Stories you post, to the new product demos you promote.

To learn more about ethical marketing and how you might apply it to your own team, take a look at The Markkula Center's framework for ethical decision making .

Don't forget to share this post!

Related articles.

21 Free Personality Tests You Can Take Online Today

Internet Slang: 81 Terms To Know About

Steve Jobs' 3 Powerful Persuasion Tactics, and How You Can Use Them to Win Customers

The Two Psychological Biases MrBeast Uses to Garner Millions of Views, and What Marketers Can Learn From Them

How Neuromarketing Can Revolutionize the Marketing Industry [+Examples]

16 Common Logical Fallacies and How to Spot Them

How to Predict and Analyze Your Customers’ Buying Patterns

5 Examples of Sensory Branding in Retail

How to Cultivate Psychological Safety for Your Team, According to Harvard Professor Amy Edmondson

Why Digital Teams Risk Losing Empathy and Trust, and How to Fight It

This guide will help you make more informed decisions in marketing.

Marketing software that helps you drive revenue, save time and resources, and measure and optimize your investments — all on one easy-to-use platform

Definition and Development of Marketing Ethics

Introduction, definition of marketing ethics, historical development of marketing ethics, major issues in marketing ethics, the sphere of marketing ethics, ethical choices, marketing and product related decisions, responsible marketing practice, reference list.

The earliest structured argument about the use of ethical principles in business choices dates back to the 1960s (Sele, 2006). However, the notions of Corporate Social Responsibility established in that period vary substantially from our contemporary perspective. Actually, today academicians and practitioners distinguish that business has a duty to society that goes further than obedience to the law when manufacturing and distributing goods and services (Buchholz, 1991). Due to its position as a gateway linking the corporate environment and the business itself, marketing is perhaps the most important area in the company to be affected by ethics. Consequently, ethics and Corporate Social Responsibility have become vital topics for marketing decisions (Hunt & Vitell, 2006): they are deemed mechanisms to achieve competitive advantages and they then represent a bright investment.

According to the most highly developed theories, companies should not only value contractual responsibilities but should also prevent customers from any possible damage deriving from their products. Sequentially t, firms should be in charge of the entire production process so as to be sure that their decisions and statements about product ethics are at that time really incorporated in final products.

As a matter of fact, whereas on the one side the company is still held responsible towards the customers, it has to develop methods and devices in order to keep hold of the outsourced production to guarantee merchandise safety and quality. Recent practices have enhanced hazards, as demonstrated by fresh pitfalls by some prominent companies, highlighting the existence of a huge gap between corporate declarations about ethics and the final output, created through outsourcing.

This paper endeavors to scrutinize theoretical and practical dilemmas and implications happening from the distance between the locus of ethical options and the locus of the relevance of these judgments.

Marketing ethics is viewed as essential because of marketing’s edge with many different stakeholders. It is a key occupational area in the business organization that grants a noticeable interface with not only clients, but other stakeholders for instance the media, and trade associations. It is essential when addressing marketing ethics to be aware that it should be examined from a personal, organizational, and communal perspective. Probing marketing ethics from a constricted issue perspective does not provide first background that provides a whole understanding of the sphere of marketing ethics. The rationale of this paper is to label, study the nature and identify issues, afford a decision-making outline, and draw the historical growth of marketing ethics from a practice as well as academic perspective (Brenkert, 2008, p 215).

Marketing ethics involves the systematic learning of how moral standards are used in marketing decisions, activities, and institutions. Since marketing is a process intrinsic to most businesses, marketing ethics should be viewed as a division of business ethics; therefore, much of what is in print about business ethics relates to marketing ethics as well. To begin with, it is useful to differentiate between positive and normative marketing ethics (Bellizzi, and Hasty, 2003, p 339). On the contrary, normative marketing ethics involves how marketing ought to function in regard to some moral standard or theory. Moral frameworks frequently used when evaluating company ethics can also be applied in advertising. Once the words “marketing ethics” come into view of the common media or business press, the news typically portray a marketing strategy, scheme, or policy that some population feels is “unfair” or “despotic” or “misleading.” Often, the ensuing discussion turns to how marketing practices might develop into more consumer-friendly, collectively friendly, or put in philosophical expressions, how marketing might be normatively improved (Bellizzi, and Hasty, 2003, p 346).

Normative marketing practices are those that highlight transparent, honest, and accountable personal and/or governmental marketing policies and acts, and demonstrate integrity as well as justice to consumers and other stakeholders. In the true character of normative ethical values, this definition gives certain virtues and values to which marketing practitioners have to to aim (Kotler, & Keller, 2005).

Ethics has been expressed as the study and way of life of human, with a prominence on the fortitude of right and wrong. Marketers, view ethics in the place of work as rules (standards, principles) leading the conduct of organizational affiliates and the cost of marketing choices (Ferrell, 2005). Consequently, ethical marketing from a normative outlook is defined as practices that stresses clear, trustworthy, and answerable personal and executive marketing policies and deeds that display integrity as well as sprite to customers and other stakeholders (Murphy, Laczniak, Bowie and Klein, 2005, p34). Marketing ethics centers on theories and standards that characterize tolerable marketing conduct, as established by different stakeholders and the organization in charge for marketing activities. Whilst many of the fundamental principles have been codified as rules and regulations to oblige marketers to match to society’s anticipations of conduct, marketing ethics goes past legal and regulatory matters (Brenkert, 2008, p 125). Ethical marketing processes and principles are foundational building blocks in creating trust, which help put together long-term marketing bonds. Besides, the boundary-spanning character of marketing puts forward many of the ethical concerns faced in business at the moment.

Marketing practitioners and marketing scholars approach ethics from diverse perspectives. For instance, one perspective is that ethics entails being a moral entity and that; personal principles and moral philosophies are the important to ethical resolutions in marketing. Qualities such as sincerity, sprite and responsibility are understood to be values that can direct complex marketing choices in the context of an organization. Alternatively, approaching ethics from a business perspective supposes that creating organizational values and training is needed to provide steady and shared advances to making ethical decisions (Ferrell and Ferrell, 2005, p 60).

The difference between a normal decision and an ethical one is that conventional rules may not apply and the decision-maker must consider values in a state that he or she may not have met before. The amount of emphasis laid on a person’s values also varies when making an ethical decision. An ethical impasse develops when the choice between option actions whose moral content is vague. Whether a definite behavior is right or wrong, ethical or unethical is frequently determined by the fretful stakeholders and an individual’s own ethics. As a result, values, decisions, and multifaceted situations all take part in ethical decision making (Kotler, & Keller, 2005).

Stakeholders allocate the individuals, groups and communities that can unswervingly or indirectly influence, or be affected by, a firm’s actions. Marketing stakeholders can be looked as both in-house and outside. Internal stakeholders comprise various departments, the management, employees, and other concerned internal parties. External stakeholders consist of competitors, advertising companies and regulators. The mixture of affairs should be recognized and interests understood. The difficulty surrounding a purpose of the effects of marketing transactions on all pertinent stakeholders entails the identification of stakeholders in the swap process (Fry and Polonsky, 2004).

The re-conceptualization of the marketing model based on a long-term, manifold stakeholder approach has also been put forward as a dogmatic model for organizational duty in marketing (Kimery and Rinehart, 1998). Derived from these developments, there is a need for marketing to establish more stakeholder orientation rather than a slim customer orientation. Accordingly, organizations are now on the spot to demonstrate initiatives that take a impartial perspective on stakeholder welfare (Maignan, Ferrell, and Ferrell, 2005).

The historical backdrop for marketing ethics is a derivative from early fears throughout the turn of the 20th century concerning antitrust and customer protection, particularly tainted food products. From the initiation of advertisement, there have constantly been concerns about caricatures and persistent deception of consumers. In the academic account of marketing, one of the first commentaries that emerged in the Journal of Marketing stated that, ethics was not straightforwardly addressed, but the brunt of resale price protection on competition, principally channel members and clientele, was addressed. The worry was that customers were not getting information about charges and might assume that the value of coffee offered by all suppliers was identical. The majority academic issuing in the 1950s centered on issues such as reasonable trade, advertising and pricing.

At some point in the 1960s, American society twirled to causes. An anti-business approach build up as many opponents attacked the vested interests that managed the financial and political faces of society. These years saw the rot of inner cities and the increase of environmental problems, such as pollution and the dumping of toxic and nuclear wastes. There was a rise of consumerism, activities carried out by independent persons, and organizations to guard their privileges as consumers. (Ferrell, Fraedrich, and Ferrell, 2005).

Robert Bartels (1967) threw in the first all-inclusive model for ethics in marketing. This initial academic conceptualization of the variables that manipulate marketing ethics tried to resolve the logical foundation for marketers to settle on what is right or wrong. It presented a representation for analyzing the variables innate in the ethics of decision making; and afforded a framework for social and individual ethics in marketing decisions. The model did a good work in defining variables that affect ethical decision making, e.g. participants, society’s influencers, task expectations, and the convolution of ethical decision making.

In the 1970s major research was carried out to illustrate the beliefs of managers about marketing ethics. The results indicated that respondents observed that the ethical principles of their peers and top management were worse than their own standards. Experiential research in the 1970s set the phase for frameworks that illustrate ethical decision making in the context of a marketing group (Greenley, Hooley, Broderick, and Rudd, 2004, p 164).

The Ferrell and Gresham (1985) stressed the interface of the individual and organization, together with organization culture, and opportunity to give details how ethical decisions are made. The majority of the propositions in this sculpt have been weathered to provide a grounded thoughtful ethical decision making. Research pursued in both marketing and organizational literature that helped to evaluate the Ferrell and Gresham models (Hunt and Vitell, 2005).

In the 1980s, commerce and academics admitted business ethics as a vital field of study. As the regulatory scheme was developing encouragements for ethical conduct in organizations, Hunt, Wood and Chonko (1989) conducted research signifying a strong linkage between corporate ethical ideals and organizational pledge in marketing. They developed first understanding of the connection between ethics and law in marketing exchange. This was a considerable contribution because some onlookers took the perspective that the legal and ethical scopes of exchange were independent. They concluded that ethical marketing substitutes required a managerial stress on ethical corporate customs, and ethical audits.

As the 21st century came, ethics in the world of trade became a main issue with outrages associated with Enron related with accounting scam, in most cases companies for example Sunbeam, using record sales shifting strategies, relied on salespersons to assist execute the fraud (Greenley, Hooley, Broderick, and Rudd, 2004, p 173). These actions resulted in the passage of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act in 2002- the most sweeping change in organization control, and government supervision from the time when the Securities and Exchange Act of 1934 was enacted.

With its very nature, marketing ethics is contentious, and there is no unanimously conventional approach for resolving issues. Ethical issues tackle a problem, condition, or prospect that requires an individual to choose among numerous actions that must be assessed as right or wrong (Ferrell, Fraedrich, and Ferrell, 2005). The organization and stakeholders must label marketing ethical matters that must be recognized and resolved to put up trust and valuable relationships with stakeholders. Since marketing ethics from time to time deals with subjective moral options, this requires decisions regarding the moral standards to affect and the description of ethics issues (Murphy, Laczniak, Bowie and Klein, 2005).

On the other hand, many groups in the public, including government, are setting ethical and legal issues and practical approaches to handle these issues. For instance, millions of blogs or personal web logs are present on the Internet with no formal code of ethics or guideline(Greenley, etal, 2004). Organizations are being requested to prevent and control misdemeanors by implementing ethical conformity programs. Ethics conveys many rewards to organizations that foster it, although managing ethics entails activity and consideration on several levels.

High ethical standards necessitate both organizations and individuals to match to proper moral principles. Fair trade has come out to link ethically minded clients with marketers concerned with poor manufacturers in developing nations. Nonetheless, universal factors must be regarded when applying ethics to marketing. Foremost, to endure, marketers must throw in to profits or other organizational objectives. Marketing should balance between the attainment of organizational targets and the responsibility of the business to the community. This often requires give and takes or tradeoffs. To deal with these unique aspects, the public has developed rules—both lawful and unspoken; to direct marketers in their efforts to arrive at their objectives in conduct that does not harm individuals or the entire society (Greenley, etal, 2004).

The rapport between a customer and an organization subsists because of shared expectations established on good faith, and fair agreement in their relations. In actual fact, there is a disguised covenant of good faith and fair dealing, as well as performance cannot simply be a subject of the firm’s own discretion (Ferrell, 2004). This is an ethical requirement and has been enforced in some states. The indirect covenant of good faith and reasonable dealing is to put into effect the contract or transaction in a manner unswerving with the parties’ logical expectations. This responsibility of good faith appears to be an institutional or official approach to implementation of ethical conduct in marketing.

Marketing ethics not only calls for an effort to make ethical decisions, other than it avoids the unintended costs of marketing activities. This requires deliberation of key stakeholders and their applicable interests (Fry and Polonsky, 2004). Market direction has been established as the answer to the flourishing implementation of marketing strategies.

A rising area of concern is product counterfeiting. This involves the unlawful copy of copyrighted products, innovations, and trademarks or the contravention of registered rights. Counterfeiting has become rampant with fast moving goods and the movie and music industries. This is immoral and, in most souks around the world, illegitimate as well.

Fraudulently some people dishonestly capture other company’s products and restructure it without compensation to the original manufacturers. Some other goods and services often have adverse effects on the environment. These include vehicles which emit hydrogenated carbons which contribute to global warming. The use of certain agricultural chemicals leads to pollution of the land and water sources. Lack of proper disposal of pesticides and the use of persisted brands often has lethal effects on the environment. In addition they contribute to ground water pollution. Health care wastes that are from time to time dumped into water bodies because the correct discarding of such material is onerous for the user (Jones, 1991, p 386).

Another cause to all this is a progressively more disposable means in the developed world where a convenience approach is used in disposing unwanted goods, products and technological wastes, exaggerated by marketing. Much dishonesty in many businesses accrues from the area of pricing with managements having to content with a difficult scenario of profits versus consumer welfare. Essentially the demand and cost of commodities should help in setting the prices. At every stage in setting the price, fairness and justice to consumers is a moral obligation to every business. Example, a high demand for certain commodities such as construction materials may result from the occurrence of natural calamity with a high demand exerting pressure on supply, many business face the temptation of increasing prices for such goods. Multinational companies and other market leaders in certain countries have used unethical means such as hoarding of commodities, or even using predatory prices to increase the customer bases at the expense of other businesses with low capital bases. Even as many stakeholders agree all businesses have to make some profit from their sales, the question of what is the fair price for consumers remains a difficult area to strike a lasting solution. This has existed for a long time and as the competition soars more of the same tactics are employed to survive in the (Hunt and Vitell, 2005).

A great role in driving the modern day economies is played by advertising. It lures customers to purchasing of all sorts of commodities at times disregarding the actual quality of the goods. Most of the advertisements are inclined and at times openly, however many consumers and regulatory bodies have remain ignorant or unconcerned with adverts seeming entertaining and informative (Jones, 1991). In some cases advertisements contravene the law by having intentional omissions or commissions. Promotion of suggestive materials in magazines e.g. explicit pictures used in marketing of brands around the world, still remain a moral puzzle and challenges ethics as to what extend does advertisement become immoral and violate the law. This has been enhanced by a large section of the society which seems attached to some lifestyles that the conservative in society will deem immoral or to a less extend controversial. Repeatedly many people have raise concerns of these kinds of flyers and advertisements. Frequently included on those lists are issues about the aptness of tobacco and alcohol advertising, the exercise of stereotypical similes in advertising.

One of the more inquisitive features of ethics in advertising is that the participation of numerous parties in the formation of advertising has perhaps led to a lesser ethical standard in the practice of advertising than one might be expecting. The presence of several parties, none of whom has full tasks has shaped the default position of leaving it to the others to communicate and put into effect a suitable ethical standard.

As explicitly regards product, the most momentous decisions having deep ethical repercussions are about preparation and positioning (Murphy et al. 2005). With respect to the quality of the product, two major theories should be cited: the contractual theory, which indicates that the relationship between the business and its customers has a contractual form, denoting that the firm has the ethical duty to supply a product with some uniqueness and that the customer has the correlative right to get a product with these characteristics. Above all the supplier has to clear and observe in perform some statements about product consistency.

The due care theory, indicates that the business is accountable towards its clients, who represent the less commanding actor within the buyer-seller link. As a matter of fact clients do not have all the necessary information to appraise product safety and thus they should be protected. As a result the businesses have to guarantee that the product will not inflict any damage or danger to the clients (Hunt and Vitell, 2005). Emerging from the stated theories is that the corporation should go through a sequence of ethical choices about the goods and should then operate several comprehensive checks in order to prevent any safety dangers for the consumer. Control over the process then represents an essential point to realize these objectives.

Despite considerable academic efforts to clarify and influence ethical behavior in marketing, the business press persists with very frequent articles on a litany of marketing contraventions including fitting fees in the retail sector, the marketing practices of cigarettes, and other risky products along with rampant negative advertising by politicians practically at all levels and all parties. Before criticizing the illustrious and well-chronicled ethical inadequacies of industry, marketers could grip a more ethical organization. Responsible marketing is an aim of many advertising organizations (Hunt and Vitell, 2005).

Decision making by marketers is central in the exercise of business ethics. The decisions made usually affect the general public or sections of the society. Certain people may find offensive some of the decisions, whereas others may not fault such decisions. At present, for instance, many clients feel that spam advertising over the Internet is overly prevalent and that product reimbursements have too often been deliberately made to be complicated to cash in (Maignan, Ferrell, and Ferrell, 2004 p. 14). In the same way, additional ethical matters take place when managers suppose that they might be selling away their individual personal pursuit of profits. In such situations, it should be assessed if businesses take action which they think are harmful to their profits or ignore the decisions at the expense of marketing ethics.

Many marketing managers always encounter these dilemmas in their daily activities. Selling cigarettes to adolescents or setting prices for commodities higher than normal for unsuspecting clients, writing calculatedly deceptive commercials are some of the common issues cutting across many marketers. In the event that such decisions contravene the law, they are undoubtfully immoral and unethical. Nevertheless, many actions which are not illegal may be characterized as inappropriate based on existing ethical standards or morals or a given society (Maignan, Ferrell, and Ferrell, 2004 p. 8). Consequently, marketing ethics should always put in to consideration actions that are not forbidden by the law although conceivably should not be undertaken owing to various moral concerns. Thus, marketing ethics is over and over again addressing the actions that are presently legal but at the same time might be seen as unacceptable according to a number of cited moral standards.

A great deal of development has been made in advancing theory and studies in marketing ethics. Besides, marketing has been raised to higher levels of ethics from professional codes of conduct. Most businesses have developed full codes of conduct that address precise ethical hazard areas in marketing practice. Modern regulatory changes that oblige boards of directors to be in charge of all ethics issues within an organization promote the value of marketing ethics. It is apparent that marketing ethics is an ingredient of organizational duty and individuals cannot make autonomous decisions about the right conduct (Hunt and Vitell, 2005). There is credit through academic research and regulatory proposals that corporate culture has a key role in enhancing marketing ethics. Marketing ethics as a part of marketing generally is seen as falling under the sunshade of marketing and society. Ethical matters are often strongly associated with legal ones and the public policy practice is invoked when marketers cross the boundaries from immoral to illegal behavior. Investigations are needed on the interface between moral, societal and community policy questions.

Bellizzi, J.A. and R.W. Hasty. 2003.Supervising Unethical Sales Force Behavior: How Strong Is the Tendency to Treat Top Sales Performers Leniently. Journal of Business Ethics, Vol. 43, 337-351.

Brenkert, G. G. 2008. Marketing ethics. Malden, MA, Blackwell Pub.

Buchholz, A. 1991. Corporate Social Responsibility and the Good Society: From Economics to Ecology; Factors which influence Corporate Policy Decisions. Business Horizons, 34 (4), 19-31.

Ferrell, O., 2004. Business Ethics and Customer Stakeholders . Academy of Management Executive, Vol. 18, No. 2, 126-129.

Ferrell, O., 2005. A Framework for Understanding Organizational Ethics, in Business Ethics: New Challenges for Business Schools and Corporate Leaders . R.A. Peterson and O.C. Ferrell, (eds.) Armonk, New York: M.E. Sharpe, 3-17.

Ferrell, O., and L. Ferrell. 2005. Ethics and Marketing Education. Marketing Education Review, forthcoming.

Ferrell, O., J. Fraedrich, and L. Ferrell. 2005. Business Ethics: Ethical Decision Making and Cases . Boston: Houghton Mifflin.

Ferrell, O., and L.G. Gresham., 1985. A Contingency Framework for Understanding Ethical Decision Making in Marketing. Journal of Marketing , 49 (3).

Ferrell, O.. and K. Mark Weaver. 1978. Ethical Beliefs of Marketing Managers, Journal of Marketing , 42 (3): 69-73.

Fry, M. and M.J. Polonsky. 2004. Examining the Unintended Consequences of Marketing. Journal of Business Research , Vol. 57, 1303-1306.

Greenley, G.E., G.J. Hooley, A.J. Broderick, and J.M. Rudd.2004. Strategic Planning Differences Among Different Multiple Stakeholder Orientation Profiles. Journal of Strategic Marketing, Vol. 12, 163-182.

Hunt, Shelby D. and Scott Vitell. 2005. Personal Moral Codes and the Hunt-Vitell Theory of Ethics; in Business Ethics: New Challenges for Business Schools and Corporate Leaders, Robert A. Peterson and O.C. Ferrell (eds.) Armonk, New York: M.E. Sharpe, 18-37.

Jones, T.M. 1991. Ethical Decision Making by Individuals in Organizations: An Issue-Contingent Model , Academy of Management Review , Vol. 16, 366-395.

Kimery, K.M. and S.M. Rinehart. 1998. Markets and Constituencies: An Alternative View of the Marketing Concept. Journal of Business Research , Vol. 43, 117-124.

Kotler, P. & Keller., K.2005. Marketing Management (12th ed.) New Jersey: Prentice Hall.

Murphy, P., Laczniak, G.., Bowie, N.. & Klein, T.. 2005. Ethical Marketing . Upple Saddle River: Pearson.

Maignan, I., O.C. Ferrell, and L. Ferrell. 2005. A Stakeholder Model for Implementing Social Responsibility in Marketing. European Journal of Marketing , forthcoming.

Maignan, I., O., Ferrell, and L. Ferrell., 2004. Corporate Social Responsibility and Marketing: An Integrative Framework . Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science , 32 (1): 3-19.

Sele, K. 2006. Marketing Ethics in Emerging Markets – Coping with Ethical Dilemmas . IIMB Management Review, 18 (1), 95-104.

Cite this paper

• Chicago (N-B)
• Chicago (A-D)

StudyCorgi. (2021, December 22). Definition and Development of Marketing Ethics. https://studycorgi.com/definition-and-development-of-marketing-ethics/

"Definition and Development of Marketing Ethics." StudyCorgi , 22 Dec. 2021, studycorgi.com/definition-and-development-of-marketing-ethics/.

StudyCorgi . (2021) 'Definition and Development of Marketing Ethics'. 22 December.

1. StudyCorgi . "Definition and Development of Marketing Ethics." December 22, 2021. https://studycorgi.com/definition-and-development-of-marketing-ethics/.

Bibliography

StudyCorgi . "Definition and Development of Marketing Ethics." December 22, 2021. https://studycorgi.com/definition-and-development-of-marketing-ethics/.

StudyCorgi . 2021. "Definition and Development of Marketing Ethics." December 22, 2021. https://studycorgi.com/definition-and-development-of-marketing-ethics/.

This paper, “Definition and Development of Marketing Ethics”, was written and voluntary submitted to our free essay database by a straight-A student. Please ensure you properly reference the paper if you're using it to write your assignment.

Before publication, the StudyCorgi editorial team proofread and checked the paper to make sure it meets the highest standards in terms of grammar, punctuation, style, fact accuracy, copyright issues, and inclusive language. Last updated: January 16, 2022 .

If you are the author of this paper and no longer wish to have it published on StudyCorgi, request the removal . Please use the “ Donate your paper ” form to submit an essay.

• school Campus Bookshelves
• menu_book Bookshelves
• perm_media Learning Objects
• login Login
• how_to_reg Request Instructor Account
• hub Instructor Commons
• Download Page (PDF)
• Download Full Book (PDF)
• Periodic Table
• Physics Constants
• Scientific Calculator
• Reference & Cite
• Tools expand_more
• Readability

selected template will load here

This action is not available.

2.5: Ethical Issues in Developing a Marketing Strategy

• Last updated
• Save as PDF
• Page ID 99188

Learning Objectives

By the end of this section, you will be able to:

• Explain the importance of ethical marketing.
• Describe key ethical considerations in strategic planning.
• Discuss examples of ethical companies.

The Importance of Ethical Marketing

Marketing ethics are essentially the moral guidelines that allow companies to scrutinize their marketing strategies and actions. It means that a marketer has an obligation to ensure that all marketing activities adhere to core ethical principles, such as integrity and honesty—both internally and externally. 78

As we’ll see below, ethical marketing is a crucial factor in an organization’s overall growth over time, and it produces many benefits:

• Customer Loyalty. Every company wants customers who keep coming back to buy their products and services. Companies have learned over time that, with the adoption of common-sense ethics in marketing, they can more easily earn the trust of consumers. 79
• Improved Credibility. Look beyond customers when considering this factor and think in terms of the respect and credibility an ethical company earns with its investors, competitors, and other parties.
• Brand Enhancement. Consumers, competitors, investors, and others have begun to look beyond product features and pursue brands that consider the three Ps of sustainability—people, planet, and profits.

Millennials and Generation Z: Purchases Follow Beliefs

During the American Industrial Revolution in the early 1900s, the United States saw the rise of iconic business enterprises like Ford , US Steel , J.P. Morgan , Union Pacific Railroad , and many others. Some (a few) gave generously to charitable causes. Others made their wealth using unscrupulous means, exploiting labor and using questionable business practices.

Corporate social responsibility (CSR) is the concept that a company should integrate social and environmental concerns into its business operations and practices. It didn’t begin to take hold in the United States until the 1970s. In 1971, the Committee for Economic Development released a policy statement declaring the concept of a “social contract” between business and society, wherein the business has an obligation to constructively serve the needs of society. 80 This concept was further fueled in part by President George H. W. Bush’s call for a “thousand points of light.” 81 The bottom line is that CSR changed business as usual. Today, Fortune Global 500 firms spend approximately $20 billion on CSR initiatives each year, and companies take public positions on diversity, inclusion, education, and the environment. 82

We are witnessing an evolution in consumer expectations as consumers begin to vote with their wallets. Millennials (those born between 1981 and 1996) and Generation Z (those born between 1997 and 2012) are now the biggest global generation, making up 65 percent of the world’s population, 83 so it stands to reason that, as these generational cohorts enter their prime spending years, many companies have begun to focus their marketing efforts on this segment of the population. What marketers have discovered is that millennials and Zoomers (aka Gen Z) engage with brands differently than older generations like Generation X (born between 1965 and 1980) and the baby boomers (born between 1946 and 1964). They’re more likely to steer clear of mass-market branded products in favor of smaller, eco-friendly brands. They are the most likely to make buying decisions on values and principles. For example, consider some statistics from a First Insight report that shows that 62 percent of both millennials and Zoomers are willing to spend more for sustainable products, compared with only 54 percent of Gen X and 39 percent of Baby Boomers. 84

Nielsen, the information, data, and marketing firm, surveyed over 30,000 consumers in 60 countries to find out what influences and affects their buying habits. The results were somewhat amazing:

• 66 percent of global consumers are willing to pay more for sustainable products. 85
• 73 percent (nearly three out of four) of millennials indicated that they would be willing to pay extra for sustainable goods. 86

What implications does this have for marketing to these generations? The bottom line is that CSR is more than just a buzzword for these generational cohorts. To make an impact, companies need to use their resources to show—not just tell—these younger generations how business enterprises are making an impact through authenticity and transparency.

Key Ethical Considerations in Strategic Planning

It’s no secret that the primary goal of marketers is to increase growth by creating and maintaining customers. However, sometimes pursuing that growth to satisfy shareholder goals to the exclusion of other groups (like customers) has led to high-profile ethical dilemmas. Let’s consider a few:

According to a Gallup poll in 2021, approximately 6 percent of US adults report that they have used e-cigarettes within the past week 87 despite health warnings about vaping. The sale and distribution of e-cigarettes is banned or regulated in a growing number of countries much to the dismay of vaping aficionados. Where do you draw the line? Is vaping a matter of personal choice, or are people influenced by the marketing efforts of e-cigarette producers like Juul ?

Consider the ethical implications behind this. Should e-cigarette manufacturers sell customers what they crave, or should they tailor their offerings based on what health experts say? Who gets to make that choice? Does the decision fall to the consumer, the producer, a public watchdog group, or the federal government?

Consider another ethical issue. During the first decade of the new millennium, Toyota vehicles experienced problems with unintended, uncontrolled acceleration that prompted over 6,200 complaints to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and were linked to more than 89 deaths over the next five years. 88 Early on, Toyota blamed driver error. Later, it issued recalls to address floor mats that pinned down accelerators in some cases. But the company hid a flawed gas pedal design and lied to regulators, Congress, and the public for years about the sudden acceleration problem, ultimately leading to a fine of $1.2 billion by the Justice Department, which contended that Toyota’s efforts to conceal the problem and protect its “corporate image” led to a series of preventable fatalities. The settlement is being called the largest criminal penalty imposed on a car company in US history. 89

Could these situations have been avoided with a stronger ethical focus and an eye toward the greater good? It all starts with the strategic planning process, which can be used to build “good” into the core of the organization.

Broader Participation

As pointed out in Marketing and Customer Value, an organization must consider all parties that it might impact, including investors, communities, governments, customers, employees, and suppliers. In the context of corporate social responsibility, this means that leaders of companies must create value for all of these groups while simultaneously producing a fair return for shareholders or owners.

Organizational and Individual Values

When considering organizational and individual values, the marketer needs to ask (and answer candidly) the following questions:

• Does the organization’s mission reflect current activities that are focused on the triple bottom line?
• Does the organization’s vision statement lead to outcomes that contain elements of social good?
• Do the organization’s values reflect respect for one another, the community, and the environment?
• Are those values authentic, and do members of the organization live by them daily?
• Has the organization included goals and objectives that refer specifically to elements of social good?

These questions can help inform the organization’s activities as it works through the strategic planning process. Thoughtful analysis and design at this stage can build strong organizations that not only deliver profits but also produce positive social outcomes for all parties.

We use cookies to enhance our website for you. Proceed if you agree to this policy or learn more about it.

• Essay Database >
• Essay Examples >
• Essays Topics >
• Essay on Wine

Marketing Ethics Essay Samples

Type of paper: Essay

Topic: Wine , Customers , Business , Company , Angel , Marketing , Ethics , Products

Published: 02/20/2023

ORDER PAPER LIKE THIS

Marketing ethics is defined as a field of study that deals with the moral guidelines and principles behind the operations of marketing that take place in an organization ( Kohlberg, 2007). Taking a case study of Naked Wines, the company lives on the edge of marketing ethics as they run a transparent business model that always sheds light on what transpires between their customers and suppliers or as Naked prefers to call them, Rockstars and Angels (Kohlberg, 2007). With this, the business model has been divided into a part dedicated to wine club and a part dedicated to crowdfunding. Here, customers usually contributed their money to the pool and the same investment is used to bring quality wine from the winemakers on the clients table. It has further been made transparent by informing the customers that in case the arrangement does not work out for them they can pull out together with their funds (Kohlberg, 2007). This clearly shows how management team at Naked Wines live and abide in proper ethical standards and integrity. Clients are usually referred to as the Angels as from the business model; the Angels are the ones who fund the suppliers- the winemakers, who in turn make sure that customers receive high quality discounted wine( Messerli, 2011). From the business model, Naked Wines has managed to create a social network with its suppliers and customers as they are both committed to a culture that exuberates happiness. This is in reference to the customer happiness team at Naked Wines that has a budget set aside for the sole purpose of delighting their customers at any given time. That explains why there is a marketing principle that states that there is a "free" bottle of wine every month for an angel, but only if the angel buys a case of wine that month. This principle encourages the angels who keep on purchasing wine to continue with their purchase at the same time encouraging those who do not purchase every month to start purchasing every month so as to increase the company’s revenue thus cementing and strengthening the relationship between the angels and the rock stars (Schectman, 2010). The wait list is real and not artificially created as the main importance of the list is to strike a balance between the supply and demand of the wine so as to reduce the case of having too much wine without customers and running out of wine when customers are available. Despite society taking a special interest in businesses that have morality overtones, alcohol is one of the oldest "sin" businesses and so does wine fall in this category. Companies that have an eye in financial interest in changes to rule that govern the creation and marketing of their products usually try to change these rules that come with the advertisements that involve alcohol by making sure that the products they produce do not harm the environment ( Messerli, 2011). Moreover, they also make sure that guidelines are set in reference to the product quality and safety strengths that come with a company’s engagement in marketing. With this in mind, this protects a company from paying fines and penalties. In a case where I would be in a charge of lobbying in Naked Wines, I would make sure that all product and safety regulations are followed by the company so as to prevent the company from paying fines thus protecting its consumers. Secondly, I would make sure that the company practices recycling and minimizes on pollution. Thirdly, educating the public on responsible behavior and on what is expected from them when consuming the products.

Kohlberg, L. (2007). Essays in moral development: The philosophy of moral development. New York Schectman, J. (2010). Good business: Ethics. Oxford University Press. Messerli, E. (2011). Navigating the generation gap in the workplace from the perspective of Generation Y. Parks & Recreation, 35–36.

Cite this page

Share with friends using:

Removal Request

Finished papers: 442

This paper is created by writer with

ID 256249053

If you want your paper to be:

Well-researched, fact-checked, and accurate

Original, fresh, based on current data

Eloquently written and immaculately formatted

275 words = 1 page double-spaced

Get your papers done by pros!

Other Pages

Vocabulary argumentative essay examples, analyze of a case study essays examples, hunger and some mothers son essay, good legal issues international trade report example, effects of air pollution on health literature review, free essay about full title of your paper here, free schizophrenia essay sample, sample essay on gross domestic product 2, america and the great war a sample essay for inspiration mimicking, proper essay example about the division of the two major eras bronze and iron into different phases, how race and type of crime affect juror decision question answer example, how does the geology of the ocean basins differ from that of the continents research paper examples, good essay on my prayer life, good example of anti abortion essay, inspiring critical thinking about ashtead group board of directors briefing paper, apprenticeship essays, cocktail party essays, dredge essays, roman mythology essays, parallels essays, patronage essays, brumidi essays, robin essays, the rotunda essays, official document essays, ionia essays, fetishist essays, dim sum essays, mansur essays, casse essays, diddy essays, sean combs essays, beaujean essays, skid essays, bostons essays, boston harbor essays, keith richards essays, gimme shelter essays, john hume essays, provos essays, egyptians book reviews.

Password recovery email has been sent to [email protected]

Use your new password to log in

You are not register!

By clicking Register, you agree to our Terms of Service and that you have read our Privacy Policy .

Now you can download documents directly to your device!

Check your email! An email with your password has already been sent to you! Now you can download documents directly to your device.

or Use the QR code to Save this Paper to Your Phone

The sample is NOT original!

Short on a deadline?

Don't waste time. Get help with 11% off using code - GETWOWED

No, thanks! I'm fine with missing my deadline

Marketing of Branded Products: Ethical Perspectives Essay

Introduction, managing expectations, perceptions, and evaluations, the utilitarian ethical perspective, deontological ethical perspective, machiavellian ethical perspective.

Businesses possess a variety of responsibilities that require balancing to protect the interest of different stakeholders. These stakeholders include owners (shareholders), customers, management, and employees among others. Current marketing concepts look at the functions of marketing in the society. Ethical interrogatives in the marketing of branded products for children and youths emanate from the argument that they experience challenges while assessing the information provided to them as the foundation of making safe decisions.

Disagreements exist on the ethical marketing practices for branded products that target children and youths. Safety, fitness of use, elimination of conflicts of interest, misguiding and deceptive marketing strategies, and observance of integrity by avoiding product misrepresentation comprise the major issues in the debate. Such misunderstandings develop based on the different ethical schools of thought. The current paper deploys utilitarian, natural law, and Machiavellian ethical perspectives in advancing the debate on ethical marketing while targeting the youth and children audience.

The utilitarian philosophical school of thought claims that all conducts of people within organisations or in the larger society must ensure an optimal gain to the larger number of people. All marketing efforts must then ensure that the target audience gains the greatest good from the products, whether they are for the youths, children, or adults. According to Simon (2007, p. 128), ethical matters in marketing comprise the ‘principles and standards that define the acceptable conduct in the market place’. This definition implies that ethical marketing constitutes all practices, which have the capacity to result in the greatest happiness among all people.

Some of the marketing practices that are hypothetically considered unethical entail attempts, which are openly meant to deceive and take advantage of a given situation for individualistic or group gains. Different nations have ethical rules and regulations to control the marketing of branded products that target children and the youths. This inclusion highlights the significance of considering marketing ethics from the perspectives of the natural law. This paper critically evaluates the marketing of branded products that are aimed at children and young people with reference to the utilitarian ethical perspectives, natural law (deontology), and Machiavellians’ viewpoints.

When making marketing decisions, a myriad of issues are considered such as customer expectations and perceptions. These issues call for thorough decisions in terms of the products that are offered in the market for sale, the place for sale, pricing, and even the promotion and evaluation techniques. In this processes, ethical issues in marketing are crucial in every stage of promotion planning strategy (Menon1999). From the dimension of consumers, considering consumer ethics influences the marketing efforts for branded products that target the youths and children. Any marketing effort must deliver value to them.

For instance, in case of the fast-food industry, it is unethical to market a product claiming that it is a healthy food while it comprises additional calories that have the capacity to interfere with consumers’ health. Any attempt to solicit consumers to purchase products with the intentions of deceiving them in terms of abnormal pricing or through selling poor quality products is considered an unethical act of marketing (Caldwell & Karri 2005).

In marketing, when attempting to place a new product as part of consumer ethics, an organisation must evaluate the capacity of the new products to meet the need of the esteemed consumers. The claim here is that goods and services that are offered for sale must deliver utmost good to consumers. The manner of products or service representation is another important aspect of marketing moral codes. It affects the marketing of branded products that are meant for youths and children. In this regard, Yelkur (2000) asserts that ethical marketing seeks to determine whether factual together with honest representation of the product is executed in a manner that is consistent with social values and cultural framework. In marketing, this claim means that the need to incorporate customer ethics calls for the designing of socially responsible marketing strategies.

Marketing efforts for branded products are mainly focused on the market segments that are likely to have the largest sales volume (Kotler 2009). This perhaps makes the move to target children and youths immensely attractive due to the size of this market segments. While designing marketing positioning strategies, marketers of branded products look for strategies that easily woo people into buying (Rust, Zeithaml & Lemon 2008). The main interrogative that arises in marketing decision-making processes is how to engineer marketing strategies to ensure compliance with moral and ethical responsibilities of an organisation to the stakeholders who include customers. Utilitarian, natural law (deontology), and Machiavellian ethical perspectives may perhaps help answer this interrogative.

Bentham Jeremy developed the utilitarian ethical perspective in the 18 th century. Later, Stuart Mill refined it. It postulates that people need to look far beyond their individualist gains and interests in an effort to enhance utmost good for all people who are likely to be affected by their actions (Ketz 2006). In the context of marketing ethics, it emphasises the significance of evaluating marketing decisions to ensure that they do not harm parties who are subject to the consequences of the made decisions. In this sense, when marketing branded products that are meant for youths and children consumption, considering the consequences of the marketing advertisements on the general good of the target audience in terms of its health remains incredibly important, especially where an organisation operates in an industry whose products receive criticism for degrading consumer health.

The utilitarian ethical perspective is perhaps more important while marketing branded products to a target audience, which can be easily lured into buying without considering the implications of its decisions. The responsibility for ensuring that the products consumed by children and youths are healthy and/or can deliver utmost good in their lives falls in the hands of manufacturers and the product marketers.

Caldwell, Hayes, and Long (2010) assert that young people and children usually lack the experience and critical sense when making purchasing decisions. From a utilitarian perspective, marketers have an ethical responsibility to consider this susceptibility when targeting them (young people and children) with branded products. The capacity of a marketing strategy that targets youths and children to deliver benefits to the wider number of people who comprise the target segments relies on the examination of the possible harms that are likely to affect the larger portion of the target segment.

Harm in the marketing of branded products that target the youths and children may emanate from lack of clarity or disguise in the communication of the value of the product. Hawkes (2007) supports this assertion by adding that the communication of branded products that are directed to the youths and children require the possession of utmost transparency together with straightforwardness. For instance, a commercial advertisement that displays youths as ones who possess immense energy in sporting after consuming a given product compared to those who have not consumed it, yet the product has negative effects on consumers’ health, is inappropriate. Targets made to children and youths should have the ability to distinguish products through the provision of undisguised information (Gerry, Kevan & Whittington 2005). This claim highlights the importance of simplifying marketing communication to make information easier to decode.

Perhaps the most ethical action in the marketing of branded products that are meant for youths and children consumption entails adopting marketing strategies, which clearly reflect the purpose of advertising. When marketing to adults, this purpose entails attracting mass appeal for a product to induce high sales levels (Kotler 2009). This claim suggests that products may not have actual utility levels as portrayed in the marketing advertisements over media. The advertisement is designed as such to enhance competitive advantage of an organisation in comparison with its competitors through high sales levels as an indicator of profitability.

The utilitarian ethical perspective maintains that the best way of determining the appropriateness of an action is through an examination of the benefits and costs. By so doing, it becomes possible to determine the actions that are right or wrong. Brenkert (2010, p. 705) supports this claim by asserting, ‘utilitarian principle holds that an action is right if, and only if, the sum of utilities produced by that action is greater than the sum of utilities from any other possible act’. This underlines the principle of ‘Act Utilitarian’. The principle states that people need to select an action from a set of possible actions that result in overall good for the largest number of people (Ketz 2006).

In this sense, the only branded products that require promotion to youths and children are the ones whose utilities correspond genuinely and precisely with the content of the marketing information. Such marketing and promotional advertisements should not be deceptive, misguiding, and/or developed to boost sales volumes of organisations while exploiting youths and children.

Organisations serve the interests of different stakeholders. They must deliver products and services that have the highest utilities to customers, which cannot harm them. However, investors of organisations that manufacture branded products that are meant for children and youth consumption also need to benefit from increased returns on their investments. This claim implies that high sales volumes are important for higher profitability levels. Consequently, using utilitarian ethical perspectives in evaluating the appropriate procedure of marketing branded products that aim at the youths and children may translate into suboptimal good for the minority.

In fact, ensuring benefits to all stakeholders or organisations that manufacture branded products for youths and children requires compliance with fundamental rights. Hence, it is crucial to balance the benefits and harms among all stakeholders while at the same time developing marketing decisions for such organisations. This goal can be realised by deploying the deontological school of thought while marketing children and youth branded products.

Alternatively referred as rule-and-duty or natural law, the deontological school of thought is associated with Immanuel Kant. It reveals that having intention to comply with the right set of rule and guidelines stands out as a better mechanism of determining the appropriate course of action, as opposed to overreliance on achieving the most desired impacts (Ketz 2006). Under the guidance of the deontological ethical perspectives, marketers for branded products that target children and youths contend that ethical actions emanate from executing one’s duty that is defined by rationality in the evaluation of the action. With reference to Kant’s arguments, duties are universal and owed to all people (Simon 2007). This suggests that a marketer needs to universalise his or her marketing actions to ensure equality among all stakeholders.

As revealed before, children and youths lack experience and critical sense while arriving at buying decisions. Thus, unclear representation of information about a product in a manner that requires critical analysis to determine its usefulness in the context of one’s need is inappropriate. However, it is equally important to note that markets must place a large number of products in the marketplace to increase the profitability of their organisations. Profitability is important to deliver optimal benefits to owners (shareholders) (Armstrong 2001). These concerns open the moral dilemma of whether marketers of branded products need to design promotional strategies in a manner that is clear and reflective of the actual utility of products without exaggerations, even though such utility may result in attracting few youths and children buyers.

Although marketers may attain large volumes of sales by misrepresentation, such an act may be unethical from a deontological school of thought. Kant held that people have a collective duty to treat other people equally. Therefore, an ethical and morally justified action is the one, which is propelled by perspectives of the obligation to engage in an act simply not to foster the realisation of individualised interests (Ketz 2006, p.165). This suggests that while marketing branded products that are meant for children and youths, the main concern should be engaging in actions that are just and beneficial to all people who are affected by them to enhance their equality. While making a decision on whether to misrepresent product information to win the attention of youths and children who are incapable to see through advertisements, consideration of the reversibility of the decision becomes incredibly important.

Reversibility requires taking an assumption that the marketer is one of the youths or children who are likely to be affected by branded products that are sold to them. In case the marketers rationally evaluate the marketing or advertising strategy and find that it will lure him or her into buying without any critical evaluation of the implications of the strategy while assuming the position of the youths or children, such marketing strategies are unethical. Universalising actions to determine their ethicalness while making marketing decisions preludes the principle of doing what the marketer expects another party in the same position as a marketer to do. In this sense, amid the existence of ethical guidelines and laws to regulate ethical marketing of branded products in different nations, following the deontological perspectives will ensure that marketers segregate marketing actions, which are ethical and those that are unethical when targeting children and youths with branded products.

In the light of the above suppositions and considering the principle of reversibility as developed by deontological ethical perspectives, markets need to consider any marketing strategy for branded products that are meant for consumption by children. They need to filter any strategy that takes advantage of children’s loyalty and susceptibility to accomplish unethical acts. The strategies should also not encourage deviant behaviours such as violence, drug and substance abuse, or over indulgence in spending (Dohnt & Tiggemann 2006). In this context, marketing should not have any implication of harming young consumers morally, physically, and mentally.

Logical and rational evaluations of marketing strategies from the perspective of its designer may also reveal that the designer cannot also want to consume the product, which harms him or her morally, mentally, and physically. In this context, it is inappropriate to display children in unsafe or dangerous environments in making advertisement for branded products. This case may create an impression that product utility is best realised when consumed in such an environment. Similar reasoning may also apply in designing marketing strategies for products that are likely to translate into violation of social values such as increasing the impression that the use of products places youths or children at a better psychological, physical, or even social position compared to their peers (Hawkes 2007, p.318).

Marketing involves manipulation of people’s decision-making processes to favour a given product. This necessity highlights the importance of evaluating the marketing of branded products to children and youths from the Machiavellian perspective. Singhapakdi (2003, p. 407) asserts that Machiavellianism constitutes personality orientation that can be defined as ‘person’s general strategy for dealing with people, especially the degree to which he or she feels other people can be manipulated in interpersonal situations’. The ethical perspective originated from Machiavelli’s works, namely The Prince and The Discourses .

Singhapakdi (2003) confirms that the trend in the interpretation of the works from marketing perspectives has been labelling Machiavellianism as a negative epithet that suggests immoral mechanisms of manipulating people to achieve self-centric goals and objectives. Nevertheless, Cheung and Scherling (1997) hold an interpretation that seeking to equate Machiavellianism with deception and/or dishonesty is highly undesirable. This claim perhaps makes more sense in the approaches of marketing branded products for youths and children by noting that Machiavellians possess cool detachments. They have no emotional involvement in sensitive issues that touch on other people.

The goal of Machiavellians is to achieve a certain goal without necessarily getting emotionally involved with the outcomes of their acts on another party. Thus, ethical decisions are realised following Machiavellian perspectives subject to the existence of organisational influential factors such as values, Knowledge, and attitudes (Jones & Paulhus 2009). Hence, decisions are ethical if they do not violate these factors, which interact with individuals who make marketing decisions for the appropriate marketing strategies.

Therefore, the noble role of determining ethical marketing strategies for branded products for youths and children falls in the capacity of an organisation to establish a culture that influences marketers to comply with certain ethical perspectives. For instance, organisations need to be wary of the design of marketing strategies for various products that are meant for children and youth consumption if they intent to achieve their ethical goals and objectives.

Marketing calls for a large number of people to work together in a teamwork environment. During this activity, people who market branded products follow codes of actions while defining what needs to be done and/or what should not be done during marketing. Although it is important for marketers of branded products to place their products with success in the market, it is a violation of marketing codes of ethics to deceive in the attempt to make a sale. From utilitarian perspectives, deception may lead to denial of utmost good for the largest number of people who consume an organisation’s products and services.

From a Machiavellian perspective, while marketing branded products for youths and children, any strategy that leads to increased sales is ethical. Machiavellian marketers must be manipulative and influential to increase sales volumes for youths and children’s branded products. However, establishment of values and attitudes in an organisation to foster compliance with the guidelines that establish the goals and objectives of Machiavellian marketers is important.

This allows such marketers to deploy their manipulative powers to enhance consumption of products by first directing the attention of children on the implications of the products that are likely to harm them as it may be determined by utilitarian and natural law ethical perspectives. If the organisational culture encourages markets to engineer marketing strategies that encourage higher consumptions without the provision of guidelines and rules to foster ethical conduct, situations that are considered unethical from the utilitarian perspective may emanate. However, they are valid under the Machiavellian perspective.

Marketing of branded products for youths and children attracts conflicts of interest, especially on the content of the advertisement. One characteristic of a good advertisement is its capacity to influence the target audience to buy products. However, an advertisement should not misrepresent the utility of the product since such a situation may amount to deception. Compliance with these ethical aspects in the design of marketing and promotional strategies is more important when marketing products that are designed for youths and children consumption. Children and youths are easily susceptible to the influence of marketing when it comes to their consumption of a given product since they lack the ability to evaluate marketing communications in an effort to garner more information about to the utility of the product.

From the perspective of the natural law, marketers should put themselves in the position of youths and children who are targeted by marketing communications. In this capacity, they can evaluate the implications of their marketing efforts to them by considering that the youths as the designers of the marketing campaigns while they (marketers) assume the position of the consumers. If the marketing strategies lure them into consuming products with inferior qualities or misrepresented outcomes after their consumption, such marketing strategies are universally unethical. From a utilitarian perspective, the strategies cannot deliver maximum gain to the larger number of people. However, challenges emerge in the utilisation of this approach of determining the ethicalness of marketing branded products that are aimed at children and youths.

Marketers must push a large number of products to the market to ensure an optimal gain to the shareholders of the organisation that manufactures the products. In an attempt to ensure the optimal gain to the consumers of the branded products (children and the youths), applying the utilitarian ethical perspective in determining ethical marketing decisions may result in suboptimal gain to the minority interest groups. Blending different theories in making such decisions becomes important to ensure the balance of harms and benefits among various stakeholders.

Armstrong, S 2001, ‘Prediction of Consumer Behaviour by Experts and Novices’, Journal of Consumer Research , vol. 18 no.6, pp. 251–256. Web.

Brenkert, G 2010, ‘The Limits and Prospects of Business Ethics’, Business Ethics Quarterly, vol. 20 no. 4, pp. 703-709. Web.

Caldwell, C & Karri, R 2005, ‘Organisational Governance and Ethical Systems: A Covenantal Approach to Building Trust’, Journal of Business Ethics, vol. 58 no. 1, pp. 249-259. Web.

Caldwell, C, Hayes, A & Long, D 2010, ‘Leadership, Trustworthiness, and Ethical Stewardship’, Journal of Business Ethics, vol. 96 no. 4, pp. 497-512. Web.

Cheung, C & Scherling, S 1997, ‘Ethical Reasoning and Machiavellianism among Business Students in Hong Kong’, Teaching Business Ethics , vol. 1 no. 3, pp. 283-302. Web.

Dohnt, H &Tiggemann, M 2006, ‘Body Image Concerns in Young Girls: The role of peers and media prior to adolescence’, Journal of Youth and Adolescence , vol. 35 no. 2, pp. 543-549. Web.

Gerry, J, Kevan, S & Whittington, R 2005, Exploring Corporate Strategy: Text and Cases , Prentice Hall, London. Web.

Hawkes, C 2007, ‘Regulating Food Marketing to Young People Worldwide: Trends and Policy Drivers’, American Journal of Public Health , vol. 97, no. 11, pp. 312-323. Web.

Jones, D & Paulhus, D 2009, Chapter 7. Machiavellianism: Handbook of Individual Differences in Social Behaviour , The Guilford Press, New York, NY. Web.

Ketz, E 2006, Accounting Ethics: Theories of Accounting Ethics and Their Dissemination , Taylor & Francis, New York, NY. Web.

Kotler, P, Adam, S, Denise, S & Armstrong 2009, Principles of Marketing , Prentice Hall, Australia. Web.

Menon, A 1999, ‘Antecedents and Consequences of Marketing Strategy Making,’ Journal of Marketing , vol. 63 no. 2, pp. 18–40. Web.

Rust, T, Zeithaml, A & Lemon, N 2008, ‘Customer centred brand management’, Harvard Business Review , vol. 82 no. 4, pp. 110-118. Web.

Simon, H 2007, ‘Rational decision making in business organisations’, American Economic Review, vol. 3 no. 4, pp. 123-129. Web.

Singhapakdi, A 2003, ‘Ethical Perception of Marketers: The Interaction Effects of Machiavellianism and Organisational Ethical Culture’, Journal of Business Ethics , vol. 12 no. 4, pp. 407-418. Web.

Yelkur, R 2000, ‘Customer satisfaction and service marketing mix’, Journal of professional services marketing, vol. 21 no. 1, pp. 105-115. Web.

• Chicago (A-D)
• Chicago (N-B)

IvyPanda. (2020, May 18). Marketing of Branded Products: Ethical Perspectives. https://ivypanda.com/essays/marketing-of-branded-products-ethical-perspectives/

"Marketing of Branded Products: Ethical Perspectives." IvyPanda , 18 May 2020, ivypanda.com/essays/marketing-of-branded-products-ethical-perspectives/.

IvyPanda . (2020) 'Marketing of Branded Products: Ethical Perspectives'. 18 May.

IvyPanda . 2020. "Marketing of Branded Products: Ethical Perspectives." May 18, 2020. https://ivypanda.com/essays/marketing-of-branded-products-ethical-perspectives/.

1. IvyPanda . "Marketing of Branded Products: Ethical Perspectives." May 18, 2020. https://ivypanda.com/essays/marketing-of-branded-products-ethical-perspectives/.

Bibliography

IvyPanda . "Marketing of Branded Products: Ethical Perspectives." May 18, 2020. https://ivypanda.com/essays/marketing-of-branded-products-ethical-perspectives/.

• Toshiba & Tech-Shield Companies: Machiavellian Philosophies
• Machiavellian Leadership Style
• The Prince': Definition of Machiavellian
• Branded Entertainment in Coca-Cola Company
• Netflix's Strategy From Machiavelli's Perspective
• Applications of Machiavelli on IBM Operations
• The Green Card Company's Business Plan
• Private Labels Competing Against the FMCG
• Playstation Online Community in Twitter and YouTube
• Branding in the Digital Age: Navigating Technological Advancements and Competition
• Viral Marketing in the Toy and Games Industry
• The Dewmocracy Company Video Marketing
• Eye Glasses Market In UAE
• Kia Motors Corporation Marketing Principles
• How to Be Your Own Customer?

Opinion What we have learned about the Supreme Court’s right-wingers

Supreme Court observers frequently refer to its right-wing majority of six as a single bloc. However, differences among those six have become more apparent over time. Justices Samuel A. Alito Jr.’s and Clarence Thomas’s extreme judicial activism, partisan screeds and ethics controversies put them in a category unto themselves. Meanwhile, Justice Amy Coney Barrett has demonstrated surprising independence.

Watch Justice Barrett.

Not all Republican-appointed judges are the same. In Trump v. Anderson (concerning disqualification under Section 3 of the 14th Amendment of four-times-indicted former president Donald Trump), for example, Barrett, along with Justices Elena Kagan, Ketanji Brown Jackson and Sonia Sotomayor, criticized the maximalist majority opinion, which held that not only could state courts not determine disqualification but that Congress had to act before any candidate could be disqualified from federal office.

Like the so-called liberal justices, Barrett was disinclined to address “the complicated question whether federal legislation is the exclusive vehicle through which Section 3 can be enforced.” The court decided too much, she agreed. Her complaint with the so-called liberal justices was primarily tonal. (“This is not the time to amplify disagreement with stridency.”)

Likewise, in United States v. Texas (considering the stay on enforcement of Texas’s S.B. 4 immigration law ), Barrett, along with Justice Brett M. Kavanaugh, offered the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit an opening to take up the case promptly, which it did, rather than wade into a procedural fight over a stay in a case concerning Texas’s constitutionally suspect law.

As Supreme Court expert Steve Vladeck put it , “The Barrett/Kavanaugh concurrence went out of its way to nudge the Fifth Circuit — noting not only that the Fifth Circuit should be able to rule on the stay pending appeal ‘promptly,’ but that, ‘If a decision does not issue soon, the applicants may return to this Court.’” In essence, Barrett said the Supreme Court would not meddle in a circuit’s administrative business. But if the 5th Circuit actually allowed this constitutional monstrosity to proceed, she would have a different view.

And in Moore v. Harper (the independent state legislature doctrine), Barrett joined in the chief justice’s majority opinion, along with the three Democratic-appointed justices, to bat down the radical notion that state courts have no role in determining alleged violations of state election laws (provided they did “not transgress the ordinary bounds of judicial review”).

Beyond her opinions in high-profile cases, Barrett also sought to repair the court’s reputation damaged by right-wing partisanship. She has started appearing alongside Sotomayor publicly to insist that the court’s ideological combatants are more collegial than they might appear. Perhaps she is.

Barrett is no Sandra Day O’Connor (a true swing justice). Barrett was just as extreme on Roe v. Wade as the other right-wingers. Nevertheless, her efforts to carve an independent niche on the court should not be ignored.

On the other hand, there is no limit to what Justices Alito and Thomas will do.

In contrast to Barrett, no right-wing theory or activist invitation is too wacky for Alito and Thomas to entertain.

During oral argument on Danco Laboratories v. Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine (considering the Food and Drug Administration’s approval of mifepristone), Alito and Thomas took up the right-wing infatuation with the Comstock Act , passed in 1873. Alito, alone among the justices, seemed anxious to speed past the very real “standing” issue to ruminate about a means of banning abortion nationwide.

The Comstock law, which has not been enforced in about a century, bans sending “every article, instrument, substance, drug, medicine, or thing which is advertised or described in a manner calculated to lead another to use or apply it for producing abortion .” (Also, certainly unconstitutionally, it bans a large category of vaguely defined pornography.) Thomas and Alito seem ready and willing to deploy the law in a way it has never been applied: namely, to states where abortion is otherwise legal, thereby threatening the availability of medical abortions nationwide.

The Post reported , “Some experts and Biden officials fear Alito and Thomas are planning to write a separate opinion focused solely on the Comstock Act, arguing that the law remains viable and providing legal cover to a future administration that seeks to invoke it.” Even if Alito and Thomas do not carry the day, the Hill reported , “access to abortion pills could still very much be at risk if Alito and Thomas succeed in soliciting a Comstock-focused challenge in the future,” abortion rights defenders fear. A future Republican administration might well start trying to employ the law to throw abortion providers in jail.

Fishing for a hook to extrapolate the Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization ruling into a nationwide ban on medical abortions epitomizes these justices’ radical disregard for precedent and brazen judicial activism. Indeed, Alito and Thomas increasingly seem like stalking horses for the far-right agenda, be it on guns, abortion or voting.

The Supreme Court’s credibility

Numerous polls show the court’s approval has cratered , likely a function of its ethics scandals, partisan rhetoric and aggressive reversal of precedent. In other words, judicial imperialism and disdain for ethical rules that apply even to members of Congress are unpopular with voters.

Increasingly partisan Thomas and Alito no longer bother to conceal their contempt for ethical restrictions , congressional oversight or judicial temperament . They have repeatedly failed to disclose luxurious gifts (with no sign of remorse) and remain adamant that they will accept no outside oversight.

After a firestorm of protest over financial disclosure lapses, Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. released ethical guidelines so weak that they lack an enforcement mechanism. Worse, the guidelines are so porous that they posed no barrier to Thomas sitting on cases involving attempts to overturn the 2020 election that his wife supported.

Unless the rest of the court decides to restrain Thomas and Alito, concerns about ethical lapses and misalignment with contemporary American values will deepen, heightening demands for congressional responses (e.g., mandatory ethics, term limits, court expansion). If that happens, Alito and Thomas will be largely responsible.

• Opinion | A Trump dictatorship is increasingly inevitable. We should stop pretending. November 30, 2023 Opinion | A Trump dictatorship is increasingly inevitable. We should stop pretending. November 30, 2023
• Opinion | How to survive another Trump-Biden election April 4, 2024 Opinion | How to survive another Trump-Biden election April 4, 2024
• Opinion | Springtime, in charts April 4, 2024 Opinion | Springtime, in charts April 4, 2024