Ethics in marketing communications (Thorson & Duffy, 2012; chapter 4)

‘To be an ethical business, an organisation must be a business and must conduct its activities ethically. An organisation is a business if its objective is maximising long-term owner value; a business acts ethically, if its actions are compatible with that aim and with distributive justice and ordinary decency.’ Sternberg, E. (1994), Just Business, London: Warner 2

Advertising is often blamed for the ills in society…. 3

Ethical issues in advertising Marketing communications is inherently undesirable and unworthy VS ‘The ethics of advertising, PR and so on depend upon how they are carried out: in themselves these activities are ethically neutral.’ (Fill, 2002:152) 4

Familiar concerns (Fill, 2002) Misleading or false advertising Shocking, tasteless or indecent material in marketing communications High-pressure sales techniques Telesales calls that seem to intrude on personal privacy PR communications that seem to distract rather than inform Payment of bribes to win business 5

Problems with strictly adhering to ethical behaviour (Fill, 2002) To always tell the truth in marketing communications may cause problems – do the pros and cons of purchasing a product have to be presented in every medium? Should advertisers refrain from ‘ironic’ statements that entertain rather than inform e.g. Heineken’s ‘refreshes the parts that other beers cannot reach.’ Difficult to forecast all of the consequences of a proposed action. 6

‘Managers seeking to ‘balance’ stakeholder interests will quickly encounter the very practical problem of how that ‘balance’ should be defined.’ (Fill, 2002:150) 7

Ethical issues in advertising cont’d…. (Shimp, 2007) Advertising is untruthful and deceptive Advertising is manipulative Advertising is offensive and in bad taste Advertising creates and perpetuates stereotypes People buy things they do not really need Advertising plays on people’s fears and insecurities 8

Truth-telling (Fill, 2002) General ethical requirement to tell the truth is one that bears upon every type of marketing communication. General acceptance that the principle of caveat emptor should play some sort of moderating role. 9

Truth-telling Misrepresentation – incorrect statements or false promises about a product or service; high incidence of embellishment or puffery The importance of context: selling complex products – how ‘able’ is the buyer to beware? Truth-telling and PR 10

Other considerations (Fill, 2002) Vulnerable groups ▫ Older people ▫ People with disabilities ▫ Targeting children and teens (in-school, traditional media, product placement, the internet – Shimp, 2007) ▫ Economically disadvantaged consumers Privacy and respect for persons Responding to individual preferences for privacy 11

Taste and decency Images of women and men in advertising ▫ Public standards of what is acceptable change over time. ▫ ‘Ethical advertisers will seek to understand their target audiences well enough to be able to communicate effectively, without giving inadvertent offence.’ (Fill, 2002:160) Images designed to shock ▫ ‘In the short term, a shocking image may be effective, but used to excess the tactic will be counter-productive for a growing number of recipients of the message.’ (Fill, 2002:161) ▫ Compassion fatigue 12

Advertising investment – has made some dramatic changes to people’s lives Reduce number of teenage and adult smokers Reduction in road deaths 9 out of 10 young adults wear a seatbelt more often 300,000 cleaner fridges 70% of young adults better understand the risks associated with unprotected sex 12% annual increase in blood donations 1.3 million texts p.a. for information on unplanned pregnancies Increase from 8% recycling to almost 30% nationally Adapted from: Sean McCrave, IAPI 13

Regulation in marketing comms ASAI BAI CCCI Self-regulation 14

References 15 Fill, Chris (2002), Marketing Communications: contexts, strategies and applications, Financial Times/Prentice Hall, Third edition Shimp, Terence A (2007), Integrated Marketing Communications in Advertising & Promotion, Thomson South-Western, 7 th Edition Useful websites: (Advertising Standards Authority of Ireland) (Broadcasting Authority of Ireland)