“Marketing Ethics came of age only as late as 1990s.” “It deals with the principles, values, and/or ideals by which marketers (and marketing institutions) ought to act.” In my opinion, marketing ethics results in the potential conflicts between profitability and different social concerns of a company. Here, I have listed the most common ethical issues that a marketer needs to address. This list does not cover all ethical issues (or unethical practices) of different companies. I hope you will add some new points:
Philosophy of Business-related Issues:
- profit maximization
- interruption marketing
- dishonoring promises
- cheating
- bribery
- marketing redundant
- marketing can influence individuals’ perceptions of and interactions with other people… responsibility to avoid distorting those perceptions and interactions
- pyramid schemes and multi-level marketing
- lying
- deceptive practices
Product-related Issues:
- dangerous products/services
- transparency about products ingredients
- mall practices regarding the weight and measurement of products
- duplicated products (নকল পণ্য)
- use of unauthorized preservatives in food products
- পণ্যে ভেজাল দেয়া
- selling low quality products
- piracy
- selling outdated products
- branding
Price-related Issues:
- fairness in pricing
- price fixing
- price discrimination
- price skimming
- charging high price
Place-related Issues:
- fairness in distribution
Promotion-related Issues:
- advertising truthfulness
- greenwashing
- viral marketing
- spam (electronic)
- attack ads
- stereotyping
- racism
- making people greedy
- subliminal messages
- sex in advertising
- bait and switch
- shilling
Customer-related Issues:
- possible health risks
- financial risks
- security risks
- respect for consumer privacy and autonomy
Society-related Issues:
- culture and sub-culture
- women
- children:
- marketing in schools
- making children greedy
- misguide children’s food habit and other habits
- provoking children buy unnecessary products
- pursuing children to boundless consumption
- ethnic minorities
- others
Environment-related Issues:
- transparency about environmental risks
Employee-related Issues:
- ignoring employee’s right
List of Unethical Industries (need to be banned):
- pornography industry
- tobacco industry
- fast food industry
- soft drinks industry
- energy drinks industry
- packed-fruit juice industry
- fairness cream industry
- condensed milk industry
- unethical uses of weapon industry
- unethical practices of nutritious drink industry