Welcome to Ethics and Public Policy! October 25, 2010

Welcome! Today’s tasks: – Introduce ourselves – Go over the syllabus – Set the scene for the course

The big questions… What are some major consumer problems we face today? How might we (as consumer and as marketers) go about fixing them?

Consumer problems Obesity – Soon to be the number one preventable cause of death in the country and then the world

Consumer problems Smoking – 20% of the adult population in the US smokes 50 years ago, 50% of men smoked, 30% of women – 1000 new smokers every day (90% start in high school) – 60% of smokers will die due to smoking-related causes – The current number one cause of preventable death in the world

Consumer problems Charitable giving – 89% of households give something – $1600 is average donation per year – Accounts for 2.2% of GDP An important question: – Who/what does the money go to?

Consumer problems

OR

Corporate problems

Consumer problems Nutrition – School lunch programs, prepackaged food, affordable food Medical decision making – Pharmaceutical marketing, end of life decisions Energy consumption – Dependence on foreign oil, dependence on fossil fuels Financial decision making – Credit cards, retirement, savings Poverty – Children in poverty, welfare, food stamps, homelessness Addiction – Gambling, drugs, alcohol Violence in the media – Children and video games, movies, TV shows And more… – Product safety, organ donation, sweatshops, developing markets, allocation of resources…

What is TCR? CSR? Transformative Consumer Research Research framed by a fundamental problem or opportunity – Strives to respect, uphold, and improve life in relation to the conditions, demands, potential, and effects of consumption Corporate Social Responsibility Corporate decision making that takes public interest into account – Honoring a triple bottom line: people, planet, profit Mick, 2006

Shareholder marketing? The firm Shareholders

Stakeholder marketing? The firm Communities Customers Employees Suppliers Financiers Government Media Competitors Special- interest groups Consumer advocate groups

Meaningful work A year out of this program, what do you expect your job will be? What kind of job contributes the most to general well-being? Practicality aside, if you could be doing anything 10 years from now, what would it be?

In this course… Two main sections: – How can we (as firms and as consumers) help consumers make better choices? – How can we (as firms and as consumers) help firms make better choices?

Next time… Why do consumers make mistakes? What can marketing do to help?