When it comes to
business, people often times immediately assume that the primary goal is to
promote and sell products or services. Mostly true, but as a former business
student, I’ve learned that businesses are so much more than selling. One of the
most common reasons why organizations fail to lead effectively is because they
view decision-making as a one directional, monolithic process (Anthony &
Schwartz, 2017). While selling is indeed a primary operation, it is important
to remember that people are what make business possible. And with people, there
are always social aspects to consider and implement in decision-making: one of
which is ethics.
Ethics and ethically
decision-making is a bit of a "no-brainer": we have to understand and do things
that’s considered right and agreeable by the people to effectively run our organization.
This relationship is seen on Ferrell’s (2005) chart from Marketing
Ethics (p.4):
The important
thing to consider from the table above is that this doesn’t show how to make a decision, but rather how decisions are made (Ferrell, 2005). Another thing we can draw from the
table above is that how ethical decisions are depends on how the company
internally approaches ethics. To ensure that ones don’t go off track, it is
critical to establish strong and clear ethical guidelines throughout the
company.
While ethics is one critical thing
to consider in marketing, it is also important to maintain positive
relationships with consumers as well as understanding what people need, want,
and like in general. One way businesses gain such information is through what
Herb Weisbaum (n.d.) labels as “behavioral tracking”. Behavioral tracking is
the way where organizations builds a detailed profile about people based on the
information on what sites you visit and the things you buy and search. In most
cases, this is done without ones knowledge or consent (Weisbaum, n.d.). To me, consent
and being informed is very important, and I’d find it very unethical if ones
have unauthorized access through my personal information. So here we might ask,
if some business think this way, how can ones gain useful information for their
business? If I played a role as a marketing manager, I’d try to gain
information based on consumer feedback while maintaining a good company
reputation by quickly responding to consumers.
While
participation may be a bit of a struggle, I personally believe that feedback is
a more reliable source of information as it comes directly from the consumer. In
addition, feedback informs consumers about our request for information and
gives them the option on whether or not to give consent to the company. To
maintain a good reputation for the company, communication and timely responses
are critical. If consumers were dissatisfied or received a faulty product or
service, we need to accommodate them as soon as possible. If we see a trend
that effects our consumers, take notice and take action. Just as Ferrell (2005)
mentioned, companies can also get involved and give to the community to maintain a good company image (such as Home Depot providing support to Habitat for Humanity in response to Hurricane
Kathrina). When this all comes down together, I personally believe that
marketing isn’t necessarily evil as long as the company responds and meets
consumer demands, needs, and preferences.
References:
Anthony, S.
& Schwartz, E. (2017). What the Best Transformational Leaders Do. Harvard
Business Review. Retrieved from https://hbr.org/2017/05/what-the-best-transformational-leaders-do
Ferrell, L.
(2005). Marketing Ethics. Retrieved
from http://college.cengage.com/business/modules/marktngethics.pdf
Weisbaum, H.
(n.d.). Who’s watching you online? FTC pushes ‘Do Not Track’ plan. MSN News. Retrieved from http://www.nbcnews.com/id/42239031/ns/business-consumer_news/t/whos-watching-you-online-ftc-pushes-do-not-track-plan/#.WjriM1VKuUl
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