Ethics in Marketing

Running an honest business is very challenging for executives and employees. When you are running a business the main objective is to make a profit. Making a profit is fantastic as long as it was done ethically. This paper will discuss how important it is to have ethics in business, what methods can be used to apply ethics and view a scenario of how advertising of alcohol can influence underage drinking.

Part One

Ethics is a set standard on how we should conduct ourselves in society. This determines the difference from good and bad behavior. Ethics is broke down into three ethical theories.

Metaethics is when individuals attempts to determine where our ethical standards or principal originated. Normative ethics deals with knowing the difference between right and wrong. Lastly, applied ethics is simply dealing with argumentative issues such as politics, environmental, sexual morality and abortion (Fieser, 2009).

Along with ethics you have morals and values. Morals are what individuals consider right or wrong. Everyone has different view on what morals are acceptable. A person view on morals depends on the society they live in, religious beliefs, and family background. If a child is told its ok to steal because you are trying to support your family does not make it ok, no matter what the reason. In other words, what may seem right to one person does not mean it is right. This is where normative ethics may come into play (Johnson, 1999-2012).

Values are viewpoints a person strongly believes in, it be either honesty trustworthiness or kindness. .Individuals gains their values by imitating what they have learned from people that they look up to such as parents, teachers, and ministers. Values may change, as we get older depending on life situations (Komives, Lucas & McMahon).

Ethics, morals and values interrelate with every decision or action an individual makes. The reasoning behind this is that they assist us on decisions and actions we make in our everyday lives. People make decisions on how they behave according to their morals and values, but society will also aid in their decision according what is normal and what laws need to be follow. Not having ethics, morals or values can lead to corruption in businesses or organizations.

When an individual takes, advantage of his/ her position to gain an undue advantage over the competition or other persons, it is define as corruption. This includes the behavior of both parties involved. This includes the person whom misuses his / her position and the person who pursues to gain an unjustifiable gain by this abuse. Corrupt methods can oscillate from minor favors in eagerness of an imminent advantage to the compensation of sizeable amounts of cash to high-ranking affiliates of governments (State Secretariat for Economic Affairs SECO).

An example of an ethical issue would be marketing advertising that influences underage drinking. "Every year kids and teens see close to 20,000 commercials. Of these, approximately 2,000 are for alcoholic beverages" (Media Awareness Network, 2010). Businesses use various forms of advertising to get their product known to the public. They may use colorful billboards, wed sites, commercials, and popular brand name clothing. These advertisements are very appealing to teenagers, which influences their decision on drinking.

All ages observe these advertisements repeatedly and time and again adolescent of society are brought up with the intelligence of precisely what each alcoholic drink is. The advertisements displays the elegant fun side to alcohol, to be enjoyed by everyone, or for anyone who wants to grow up, socializes and be accepted as a normal member of society (Media Awareness Network, 2010).

Part Two

Principle for marketing ethics directs companies in their efforts to do the right thing for their customers and the company. These principles aid in identify appropriate procedures, promote internal control, and distribute honestly and fairly with customers. They also safeguard businesses act in accordance with the law. At times companies create and announce their own ethical standards; other times they meet the terms of the regulations or guidelines of their professional or industry associations.

Marketing consultants have to acknowledge that they not only serve their organizations but also act as overseers of society in creating, aiding and carry out the cost-effective and successful transactions that are part of the greater economy. Marketers should encompass the utmost ethical norms of working professionals and the ethical values inferred by their obligation toward investors. The following are a list of ground rules that will help companies with ethical marketing:

 Explain the laws as clearly as possible of what practices are illegal such as businesses cannot sell alcohol to individuals under 21 and consumers must have a photo ID.

 Companies must develop a written code of ethics; build a company tradition of ethical behavior

 Individual marketers must apply a social integrity in their individual dealings with clients and various investors.

 Advertisements should not tolerate any structure of discrimination

 Advertisements should be positive and not promote violence or unethical behavior

 The structure and plan of advertisements should be easy for the consumer to understand. An example of this would mislead prices or improper visualization of product that it targeted to adults and not children. The Budweiser frogs are prime example of this type of advertising. The frogs represent that drinking is fun because of how amusing the frogs are portrayed. Kids will remember this and think it is normal for everyone to drink (International Charter 1997-2012).

Companies also need to create a mission and vision statement. A mission statement is an overall representation of what the organization's goals and expectations are when providing services to its consumers. Mission statements are often viewed as 'long-term declarations of purpose that characterize one business from the others. We can consider the mission statement is the cultural glue that keeps the business together. (Mission Facilitators International, Inc.) This