Ethical Marketing and Advertising

Privacy

Privacy has been a thorny issue especially with the modern cyber crime increase. Every time you go online, you get exposed. You cease to enjoy privacy. The marketers take advantage of this. For example, there are sites you log into online and before you do anything you are prompted to agree to their terms which mostly people agree without reading those terms. You expose your computer to cookies and all manner of online stuff that “steal” your information. Later when you go your email, you find a lot of promotional emails and start wondering when did you sign up for such kind of stuff. This behavior is totally unethical because the sad is that these emails are system generated and when they are directed to you, they fill your inbox without your consent. When the marketers use your email without your concern to channel and ad to you, then that qualifies that act to be unethical even if the ad might benefit you in future.

Inability of Consumers to verify the claims

Consumers rely on good faith that whatever is being advertised is true. This is why they even go an extra mile to read reviews to ascertain this fact and find out more of what was probably erroneously forgotten. Unethical advertisers know this fact as well and they capitalize on it and manipulate consumers. They know claims are only verified when a person buys and uses the commodity. Thus, by the time the client goes through this process of verifying, the sale person will have made sales for that particular moment. Unfortunately, these kinds of marketers are short sighted and this behavior only works in the short run. Once the consumers find out the truth, they stop using that product and feel exploited. The advertiser and the consumer benefit nothing and this a...

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...ned with solving problems in the most amicable manner. One of the consequences of unethical practices in business world is that they solve short-term problems and pave way for mistrust. To regain the trust back from the public is not easy and this is costly to the company than anything else. Therefore, the issue of ethical advertising should be very critical in any organization especially if the company has to project and implement its long term goals. It is trust that is going sail the organization through to the attainment of long term goals. This is due to the fact trust creates consumer loyalty and this loyalty ensures a steady and growing market. Finally, though there is a proposal that law should be instituted to control unethical advertising, more should be invested in building the morals because it is these morals that lead to instillation of ethical values.