Ethics in Marketing

ETHICS IN MARKETING
Submitted To:
National Seminar on Corporate Governance: A tool to bust financial bubbles.
*6th*&7*th* March2010
Organized By: ITS Institute of Management, Greater Noida
*ITS-Institute of* Management
Greater Noida
e-mail:prashantrastogi_2000@yahoo.com
ETHICS IN MARKETING
Abstract
Ethics are a collection of principles of right conduct that shape the decisions people or organizations make. Practicing ethics in marketing means deliberately applying standards of fairness, or moral rights and wrongs, to marketing decision making, behavior, and practice in the organization.
In a market economy, a business may be expected to act in what it believes to be its own best interest. The purpose of marketing is to create a competitive advantage. An organization achieves an advantage when it does a better job than its competitors at satisfying the product and service requirements of its target markets. Those organizations that develop a competitive advantage are able to satisfy the needs of both customers and the organization.
This paper will highlight several areas of concern in marketing ethics.
Associate Professor
*ITS-Institute Of* Management
Greater Noida
INTRODUCTION
UNFAIR OR DECEPTIVE MARKETING PRACTICES
Marketing practices are deceptive if customers believe they will get more value from a product or service than they actually receive. Deception, which can take the form of a misrepresentation, omission, or misleading practice, can occur when working with any element of the marketing mix. Because consumers are exposed to great quantities of information about products and firms, they often become skeptical of marketing claims and selling messages and act to protect themselves from being deceived. Thus, when a product or service does not provide expected value, customers will often seek a different source.
Deceptive pricing practices cause customers to believe that the price they pay for some unit of... [continues]

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