The Ethics and Societal Issues of Marketing

A brief summary of marketing strategies that could potentially be unethical, along with examples from various companies of both ethical and unethical behavior.

1. THE ETHICS AND
SOCIETAL ISSUES OF
MARKETING

2. HOW DO ETHICS AND
SOCIETAL ISSUES
RELATE TO
MARKETING?
•Ethics: Moral principles that govern a person’s
behavior or the conducting of an activity.
•SocietalIssues: Challenges or problems that affect
society as a whole. Ex: Climate change, equality,
economy, education.
•Marketingis appealing to an audience to sell them
an idea, product, or service.
•If the idea is to appeal to an audience, companies
must tread carefully regarding ethics and societal
issues when they market their products
•Something to consider with ethics is the difference in
morals, behaviors, and ideas throughout different
cultures.
•An advertisement that is entertaining in one country
may be unethical or offensive in another
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3. CHOICE ARCHITECTURE: WHO MAKES THE DECISIONS?
Choice architecture is “an effort to influence
consumers through the design of the environments in
which they make their choices.”
Two examples of choice architecture are
nudges and defaults:
A nudgeis when the format of an environment
encourages consumers to buy a product, while leaving
the final decision to them.
A defaultis a “no-action” decision, in which
the company automatically decides for the consumer.
There are two subcategories of a default, opt-in and
opt-out.
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Choice Architecture
Nudge
Default
•Opt-in
•Opt-out

4. DEFAULTS
In the U.S., personal information is considered as
being in the public domain, therefore firms can automatically
use consumer’s information however they would like.
Consumers must explicitly state that they do not want their
personal information to be used by these firms. This is called
opt-out.
In the E.U., personal information is owned by the
consumer. This means that firms need to get the consumer to
explicitly opt-into sharing their information.
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5. PUBLIC HEALTH: DO COMPANIES HAVE
THE RIGHT TO CHOOSE FOR CONSUMERS?
Although most can agree that cigarettes, artificial
foods, and sunscreen with very low SPF have negative
impacts on their consumers and the environment, those that
use them tend to be unwilling to give them up.
To promote consumer health, CVS Health Corp
decided to do away with tobacco products altogether. Soon
after, they removed some junk foods and skin products that
were harmful to their users, while at the same time putting
healthier options in places that easily captured the consumer
eye.
While the ethical intentions are positive, the
question must be asked: Will consumers appreciate
companies making healthy decisions for them, or will they
feel that companies like CVS are overstepping their
boundaries?
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6. DOLCE AND
GABBANA: THE
IMPORTANCE OF
UNDERSTANDING AND
RESPECTING CULTURE
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In 2018, Dolce and Gabbana, also known as D&G, put out
a commercial that may have forever stained their reputation
among Chinese consumers. To promote an upcoming fashion
show, D&G released multiple commercials which poked fun at
Chinese dialect and customs.
The ad was removed quickly, and an apology was
released. However, at the same time an Instagram conversation
with Stefano Gabbana was revealed to the public. In this
conversation, Gabbana used various offensive terms directed
towards China. The company claimed that his account was
hacked, but due to the previous events, the damage had already
been done in the public eye.
Following this, the fashion show was cancelled, Chinese
influencers boycotted D&G, and their products became very hard
to acquire within the country.
This situation highlights the importance of researching
and respecting a country’s culture prior to the release of
promotional content in that country. Issues such as this cause
irreparable damage to company reputation.

7. PATAGONIA: A TRAILBLAZER FOR THE
ETHICS OF BIG BUSINESS
Patagonia, an
outdoor brand that
focuses heavily on its
social impact, is
constantly working to
align with their own
values while ensuring that
they are protecting the
planet.
Popular with men
in the tech and finance
industries, Patagonia’s
sweater vest has become a
fashion trend, especially
among Wall Street.
Recently,
Patagonia announced “that
it would no longer support
bulk orders by firms that do
not ‘prioritize the planet’”.
This excludes all oil and
mining companies, but
others will be evaluated by
case.
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8. ROOMBA:
INVASIVE OR
NECESSARY?
The company iRobot sells a smart vacuum under the
brand name Roomba. These vacuums are set up to function
on certain schedules, map out the layout of the home, and
allow customers to create customized cleaning features,
which they can control through the app. The vacuums
remember the layout of the home so that they can avoid
bumping into items, avoid certain hazards, and know where
their owner needs them to clean.
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Many consumers allowed their homes to be
mapped, as it enhanced their user
experience. However, when concerns arose
that iRobot would potentially be selling
information regarding customers, their
homes, and what the vacuums had
observed, customers became worried about
companies like Amazon and Google
obtaining their personal information. This
would provide more accurate marketing for
individual customers, but is it an invasion
of privacy?

9. DISPOSABLE
HYGIENE PRODUCTS
AND THE
STRUGGLES THAT
COME WITH
DISPOSING OF THEM
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Products such as pads and diapers are a luxury that many of us
could not imagine having to do without. But with the comfort and ease
of use of these products come with the need to find a way to dispose of
them properly.
InIndia,wastepickerspickuppotentiallyvaluablepieces of
trash to resell.Disposablehygieneproductsposeasignificanthealthrisk
tothesewaste pickers, so companies have attempted to find ways to
separate these products from other trash. One solution wasto distribute
brightly colored plastic bags with the products, which proved
insignificantbecausethebagsbeingdistributedwere cheap and broke
easily. Regardless, companies must continue to search for ways to
protect both workers and the environment.

10. FINAL TIPS &
TAKEAWAYS
•Ethics and societal issues are
crucial to understand before
marketing a product or
service
•Marketingandthe
environment can be used to
influence a customer’s
decisions
•WasCVS’sdecision to remove
unhealthy products ethical or
overstepping?
•Researching a countries ethics, culture, values, and
customs is important prior to marketing in their
region.
•Patagonia’sdecisiontodistributeitsproductsonlyto
companiesthatprioritizetheenvironment was a
move that not only protected its brand image, but
potentially the planet.
•Consumerdataisahottopic, and it is important not
to collect more data than the consumer consents to.
•Companiesmust consider what happens with their
product not only after the consumer buys it, but after
the consumer has used it or is ready to dispose of it.
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