Social responsibility and marketing ethics Part III

Marketing Ethics and Society Negative impact on society: Creating false wants. Too few social goods. Cultural pollution. Too much political power.

Creating False Wants Charges that we suffer from materialism and over-concern with status. Creates an acquisitive society. Criticisms overstate the power of business to create needs.

Too Few Social Goods Private goods create social ills. Automobiles create need for more highways, create pollution. Possible ways to create balance. Make producers pay for social costs such as emission control systems in cars. Make consumers pay costs such as toll roads or health care premiums for smokers.

Cultural Pollution Constant assault of advertising and promotion on the senses. Average Canadian is exposed to 3000 marketing messages a day. Vicious circle: the more advertising, the more advertise must find ways to capture our attention.

Too Much Political Power Industries lobby government to promote interests against public good. Advertising spending in the media prevents media from honest journalism about products. Canada has put controls in place to help curb powerful business interests.

Marketing Ethics and Business Negative impact on other businesses: Harming competitors. Reducing competition through acquisitions. Practices that create barriers to entry. Unfair competitive marketing practices. All can harm other businesses and reduce competitiveness.

Assignment: Part iII ConsumerReports.org, published by the Consumers Union, is in the business of helping consumers. They have over 2 million active, paid subscribers. The site rates thousands of products and services in many different categories. The site also posts many safety alerts and warnings for consumers. Consumer Report does not accept advertising revenue. Look through the site and read some of the recommendations and warnings for name brand products that you know then answer the following questions:

What is the revenue model for Consumerreports.org? As a marketer, what should you do to take advantage of the popularity of this site? As a marketer, how would you utilize your marketing mix to ward off any bad ratings on this site? Do you believe this site is effective in terms of its goals?