Chapter Nine Marketing Ethics: Advertising and Target Marketing

Chapter Nine Marketing Ethics: Advertising and Target Marketing Jerry Estenson

The Last Two “Ps” Promotion and Placement – Target Marketing – Market Research Ethical Influence – Persuading, Asking, Informing, Advising Unethical Influence – Threats, Coercion, Deception, Manipulation, Lying

Draw the line between Ethical and Unethical Unethical Ethical

Consumer Protection Federal Trade Commission – Focus on effect or intent – Who judges what “might” happen – Political consequences if regulate after harm is done Do we assume consumers are reasonable or relatively ignorant

Other forms of consumer autonomy Over time the market will weed out deceptive ads and practices Affluent Society (John Kenneth Galbraith) – “Dependence effect” Market was creating the consumers Disrupting supply and demand Creating irrational and trivial consumer demands Violates consumer autonomy through manipulation What would Kant say?

Possible violations of individual autonomy Advertising creates want which are not autonomous – Why do people shop? Non-autonomous desires – First order (Happen at any given time and rational individuals can step away from them) – Second Order (unable to step back. Like an Alcoholic Arrington argues that marketing influences us by appealing to pre-existing conditions

Dworkin – To be an autonomous choice it must indepedently accepted by the individual Crisp – Need to know why it is accepted. Gets to the capacity of the consumer Lippke – To be an autonomous decision maker the individual must have a variety of intellectual skills, discipline, attitudes, and motivations – Ads carry meta-messages (emotional appeals, oversimplification, superficiality, shoddy standards of proof.

Marketing to the vulnerable

Unique Volunerability Consumer (unable to fully participate as an informed participant in the marketplace General (Susceptible to some physical, psychological or financial harm) What about target marketing to poor, minority groups, accident victims, funeral settings, college students.