MARKETING

COMMUNICATIONS
ETHICS
B Y D H I FA A P R I L I A N A R O S A D I
(185030207141005)
The Main Ethical Issues in IMC
What Are Ethics?
• (Goodpaster 1992) 'Ethics' most often refers to the domain of inquiry, discipline,
where matters of right and wrong, good and evil, virtue and evil, are
systematically examined.
• Marketing ethics examines systematically marketing and marketing morality,
related to 4P-issues such as product safety and liability, advertising truthfulness
and honesty; fairness in pricing; power within the channels of distribution;
privacy in Internet and database marketing, and forthrightness in selling
Ethical Practices
Most major multinational firms have published codes of conduct to demonstrate their
commitment to better business behaviour. Globally, there have been hundreds of organizations
and institutes established to research and promote ethical business behavior.

Smith (1995) suggests a marketing ethics continuum upon which there are different positions to
evaluate marketing decisions. In summary the positions include,
• Caveat emptor – ethical business is defined as profit maximisation within the law.
• Ethics code – corporate codes of ethics or the codes of industries or professional bodies
representing standards by which industries, firms, individual managers judge their performance
or, at least, standards to which they aspire.
• Consumer sovereignty – marketing ethics are determined by the three criteria of the consumer
sovereignty test: consumer capability, information and choice
• Caveat venditor – the maximisation of consumer satisfaction (or well-being)
Ethical Practices: Ethical Guidelines
Ethical Practices: Ethical Guidelines
The Business Case for Ethical
Practice
Marketers are encouraged to
behave ethically because
information about the
company's ethical behavior
is considered to affect
product sales and the
company's consumer image
(Mascarenhas 1995).
However, there is conflicting
evidence as to whether this
proposition is true.
The Business Case for Ethical
Practice
• The communication of ethical business practices has become a very valuable advertising appeal. Ethical
action often begins as, or quickly becomes, content for an advertising, sales promotion, or PR campaign.
• Companies suffer commercially from boycotts. Gelb (1995) argues the power of consumer boycotts is
increasing with more buyers refusing to buy a branded product or a class of products to achieve some
socially responsible outcome.
• Carrigan and Attalla (2001) summarise the main consumer attitudes to ethical purchasing,
The Business Case for Ethical
Practice: The Impact of Ethics Code
• Strengthen financial performance
• Improve sales, brand image and reputation
• Strengthen employee loyalty and commitment
• Limit vulnerability to activist pressure and boycotts
• Avoid fines and court-imposed remedies
• Avoid loss of business
• Enable greater access to capital
CSR Programs and Cause-Related
Marketing
C O R P O R AT E S O C IA L
R E S P O N S IB I L IT Y C A U S E - R E L AT E D M A R K E T IN G
• CSR are the ethical choices Commercial activity that align business with social issues, in a form of
that a company will make partnership with a-non profit organization to market an image, product
about the way it will go in the or service for mutual benefit
business • Purchase or action triggered donation
• CSR investments may require • Point of sales
the creation of products with
• Licensing
socially responsible attributes
• Message Promotion
• The results, is a belief that
consumers are indirectly • Employee Engagement
supporting their goals and • Digital programs
rewarding companies that
devote their resources to CSR
by using the product
Ethical Concerns In Integrated
Marketing Communications
(Chrissy, 1999), writes in the context of marketing communications, concerns expressed by society include
misleading or false advertising; shocking, tasteless or indecent material in marketing communication; high
pressure sales techniques, telesales calls that seem to intrude on personal privacy; PR communications that
seem to distract or obfuscate rather than inform; payment of bribes to win business.

M IS L E A D IN G A D V E RT IS I NG
The use of misleading, exaggerated or
confusing claims in advertising is a key issue
in marketing communication ethics.
Positioning a product using these claims not
only can be ethically unsound but creates
customer confusion, negative publicity and
can result in legal and/or regulatory censure.
TA S T E A N D D E C E N C Y
• The issues of taste and decency are the concern of
regulators in the marketing communications industry.
• The use of surprise tactics in advertising is nothing
new, but it is a major contributor to protests about
matters of taste and decency. Shocking campaigns
often generate spinoffs of publicity - effectively, free
advertising - that money can't buy.
– Intrusive Advertising, spamming
– Controversial Marketing Communication, publicity
THANK YOU!