A634.5.4.RB - Is Marketing Evil?

The Benefits of Ethical Guidelines

Bound by ethical guidelines, marketers are given a sort of playbook, outlining exactly what’s allowed and what isn’t within their business. They can exaggerate how hard it is to complete a simple task in an infomercial advertising a tool meant to improve a given process, for instance (and these segments are usually shot in pale black-and-white for extra effect [and, for my money, they’re the funniest things on TV]). They can’t exaggerate the features of their product in the infomercial, though, or say that it does things that it does not.

That structure has to make a difference.

The problem with that perspective, though, is that it might seem to imply that, without rules, all marketers would be dishonest. That’s not the case — but, all systems need structure, rules, and guiding principles. Without that playbook outlining the boundaries of what marketing is and isn’t, those working in the industry wouldn’t have parameters within which to be creative. The same fiction and fantasy used in, say, perfume commercials might extend to banks: “It’s not about what our interest rates are, specifically — more about how they make you feel!” And that ambiguity can be dangerous.

Operationally, though, these rules are constructive, as well. “Businesses that effectively manage ethics can systemically absorb, react, and appropriately adjust to most breakdowns in conduct or decisions” (Ferrell, p. 3). Essentially, applying structure and values to an organization not only informs how they operate, but also how they will react to (and correct) breaches in that value system if/when they occur. Even when the rules don’t keep workers from acting unethically, having a formal system of ethics can serve as a company’s North Star, guiding them back on course, where they always should’ve been in the first place.

What’s Right vs. What’s Profitable

Nice guys finish last, right? Well, sometimes. We see profits from companies like Enron, Volkswagen, and Coca-Cola boom after those firms broke the rules — and sure, all of those firms eventually got their due when their transgressions were exposed, but the  trend of bad behavior has to make a person wonder how many other companies are behaving similarly without getting caught. That’s a real concern (and a bummer), but it’s also hypothetical. Let’s focus on what we know.

Ferrell (n.d.) cites a lot — like, a lot — of occurrences when Coke acted unethically, and in each of those times they had to say sorry in the form of tens (sometimes hundreds) of millions of dollars. That hurts, but it doesn’t begin to show the hurt the company must have felt on the PR front. “Ethical issues are usually resolved through the legal system. But the negative publicity associated with an event hurts the reputation of a company more than the legal penalties” (Ferrell, p. 2).

A recent occurrence where this phenomenon can be seen in real-time is the Volkswagen emissions scandal, which resulted in the company having to buy back $10 billion worth of cars (Bomey, 2018). $10 billion. That’s insane! But arguably even worse than having to cough up that amount of money, to buy back cars that are have now become unsellable, is the fact that the owners of those cars felt betrayed by VW. These customers, many of whom must have been on their second, third, even fourth VW, now feel suckered by the same brand to which they used to be loyal.

Will these customers ever buy a VW again?  Will they recommend one to their friends? “The value of a positive reputation is difficult to quantify” (Ferrell, p. 8). The lost revenue VW feels today has to hurt, but the losses they’ve still yet to realize, from former repeat-customers now looking to other auto makers, will likely be even greater.

Don’t Track Me, Bro!

Web personalization is blowing up. All the big sites are doing it. I go to the grocery these days, and when I get back home, a message is sent to my phone asking me to rate the store I just visited. It’s a little creepy, but it’s also convenient, and kind of cool — and the best part is: I can opt out.

If opting out wasn’t an option, I would say, yes, tracking my buying habits and web traffic is unethical, but that’s not the case. Even before the days of having to turn off cookies, I could have used cash if I didn’t want credit card companies knowing where I shopped and selling that data to suppliers. I could have turned off the GPS feature on my smart phone if I didn’t want “Big Brother” watching.

The fact remains, though, that most of these features today are optional, and although part of me feels uneasy every time I see ads for merchandise I looked at weeks ago pop up on a totally unrelated site, part of me also kind of likes it. I like that I can go to Amazon and, right away, scroll through a list of items I’ve looked at recently. I like driving in the middle of nowhere and being able to quickly see on Waze where the nearest Starbucks is. And I have to assume many people feel the same.

If my activity were being tracked without my knowledge, and there was no way for me to “turn it off,” I’d have to question the ethics of that. But the state of technology today makes me implicit. I not only agree to be tracked but, in a lot of ways, I welcome it. Maybe that’s the creepiest part of all?

Leading My Own Ethical Development

We aren’t born with a built-in, unchanging set of values. They develop over time — and the good news is, we can direct that development. That’s what this grad program is. That’s what all education is.

“Individuals develop their own ethical principles or rules to decide what is right or wrong, and with knowledge and experience, they advance in their level of moral development” (Ferrell, p. 5). By committing to studying ethics and leadership, and simply intentionally thinking about ethics and leadership, I’ll continue my own ethical development, the effects of which would extend to my role in a company’s marketing efforts.

When it comes to ethics, a “practice makes perfect” approach seems best. If a leader doesn’t focus on ethics, he/she won’t improve his/her ability to make sound ethical decisions (and definitely not ones that balance ethics with profitability). But by actively pursuing ethical decision-making at work, and then considering the impact of those decisions later, I can guide my own experience. I can track, and tailor the shape of, my own moral development. Being able to manage ethics effectively doesn’t happen by accident — so I’ll plan to do it on purpose.

References

Bomey, N. (2018). Volkswagen scandal: Time running out for diesel car owners to cash in on $10B deal. Retrieved from https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/cars/2018/07/17/volkswagen-diesel-emissions-settlement-buyback-repair/788575002/

Ferrell, L. (n.d.). Marketing Ethics. Retrieved from: http://college.cengage.com/business/modules/marktngethics.pdf