Ethics in marketing communications(Thorson & Duffy, 2012; chapter 4)

‘To be an ethical business, an organisation must be a business and must conduct its activities ethically. An

organisation is a business if its objective is maximising long-term owner value; a business acts ethically, if its actions are compatible with that aim and with distributive justice and ordinary decency.’

Sternberg, E. (1994), Just Business, London: Warner

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Advertising is often blamed for the ills in society….

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Ethical issues in advertising

Marketing communications is inherently undesirable and unworthy

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‘The ethics of advertising, PR and so on depend upon how they are carried out: in themselves

these activities are ethically neutral.’(Fill, 2002:152)

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Familiar concerns (Fill, 2002)

•Misleading or false advertising•Shocking, tasteless or indecent material in

marketing communications•High-pressure sales techniques•Telesales calls that seem to intrude on personal

privacy•PR communications that seem to distract rather

than inform•Payment of bribes to win business

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Problems with strictly adhering to ethical behaviour (Fill, 2002)•To always tell the truth in marketing communications

may cause problems – do the pros and cons of purchasing a product have to be presented in every medium?

•Should advertisers refrain from ‘ironic’ statements that entertain rather than inform e.g. Heineken’s ‘refreshes the parts that other beers cannot reach.’

•Difficult to forecast all of the consequences of a proposed action.

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‘Managers seeking to ‘balance’ stakeholder interests will quickly encounter the very practical problem of

how that ‘balance’ should be defined.’(Fill, 2002:150)

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Ethical issues in advertising cont’d….(Shimp, 2007)

•Advertising is untruthful and deceptive•Advertising is manipulative•Advertising is offensive and in bad taste•Advertising creates and perpetuates stereotypes•People buy things they do not really need•Advertising plays on people’s fears and insecurities

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Truth-telling (Fill, 2002)•General ethical requirement to tell the truth is one

that bears upon every type of marketing communication.

•General acceptance that the principle of caveat emptor should play some sort of moderating role.

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Truth-telling• Misrepresentation – incorrect statements or false promises

about a product or service; high incidence of embellishment or puffery

• The importance of context: selling complex products – how ‘able’ is the buyer to beware?

• Truth-telling and PR

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Other considerations (Fill, 2002)• Vulnerable groups ▫ Older people

▫ People with disabilities

▫ Targeting children and teens (in-school, traditional media, product placement, the internet – Shimp, 2007)

▫ Economically disadvantaged consumers

• Privacy and respect for persons

• Responding to individual preferences for privacy

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Taste and decency• Images of women and men in advertising▫ Public standards of what is acceptable change over time.▫ ‘Ethical advertisers will seek to understand their target audiences well

enough to be able to communicate effectively, without giving inadvertent offence.’ (Fill, 2002:160)

• Images designed to shock▫ ‘In the short term, a shocking image may be effective, but used to

excess the tactic will be counter-productive for a growing number of recipients of the message.’ (Fill, 2002:161)

▫ Compassion fatigue

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Advertising investment – has made some dramatic changes to people’s lives

• Reduce number of teenage and adult smokers• Reduction in road deaths• 9 out of 10 young adults wear a seatbelt more often• 300,000 cleaner fridges• 70% of young adults better understand the risks associated with

unprotected sex• 12% annual increase in blood donations• 1.3 million texts p.a. for information on unplanned pregnancies• Increase from 8% recycling to almost 30% nationally

Adapted from: Sean McCrave, IAPI

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Regulation in marketing comms•ASAI•http://www.asai.ie/•BAI•http://www.bai.ie/•CCCI•http://www.ccci.ie/how_it_works.php•Self-regulation

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References

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Fill, Chris (2002), Marketing Communications: contexts, strategies and applications, Financial Times/Prentice Hall, Third edition

Shimp, Terence A (2007), Integrated Marketing Communications in Advertising & Promotion, Thomson South-Western, 7th Edition

Useful websites: www.asai.ie (Advertising Standards Authority of Ireland)

www.bai.ie (Broadcasting Authority of Ireland)