Most organizations are in the business of making money. One of the most important contributing
factors to the success of an organization is how well they market their goods
and services to their customers.
Customers have to believe that these good and services are a
necessity which they must have.
Marketers are tasked with being in position to persuade potential
customers (or clients) to buy said goods and services. Do marketers have our best interests in
mind? Are they ethical in their approach
to obtaining new customers? El Sayed and
El Ghazaly (n.d.) wrote “Some argue that promotional advertising, which is a
main player in the marketing function, tends to manipulate consumers all the
time” (para. 5).
My personal belief is that money is the driving force and life’s blood for most companies. For
example, in my organization there is currently a hiring freeze. The reason for the hiring freeze is because
enrollments are down campus wide for the academic year. Enrollments have impacted the amount of revenue that
was projected. The deficit
has made it necessary for leadership to scale back expenditures. This means our yearly retreat will more than likely
be cancelled, raises will be less than hoped for, and any special projects
that were in the works may need to be shelved. These factors
can potentially influence how marketers attempt to connect with future students. “Ethical problems in
marketing stem from conflicts and disagreements. Each party in a marketing
transaction brings a set of expectations regarding how the business
relationship will exist and how transactions should be conducted. Each facet of
marketing has ethical danger points” (“Issues in Marketing,” 2014).
Companies should not ignore their core values and beliefs if
they wish to achieve balance in ethics.
They should have a sense of commitment to their community, employees,
corporate culture, and most importantly, their customers. “Ethical balance
is the implementation of ethical standards through solid moral values without
being consumed by those standards. Ethical balance creates a compromise between
company interest and customer interest” (“Achieving Ethical,” n.d.). I think sometimes companies lose focus of the
consumer because they are so fixated on profits. It is great to have financial goals but it is
unrealistic to believe that every product, service, or goods is going to be a
financial success. If organizations can
focus on their customers, to truly make their experience with the organization one
that is memorable, more than likely they will create a customer for life.
Technology has made tracking of our spending, search engine browsing
history, and even our physical location available to third parties. Namely marketers. Take your smart phone for instance. I own an iPhone. I try to be aware as much as possible of all of the
capabilities of my phone. All of my apps
have a location services capability. I
have to manually deny access to my location for these apps. That I was aware of. What I was not aware of was that my phone
tracks my location as well. There is a
frequent locations functionality in the location services of my phone which
tracks where I go. And I thought “big
brother” was the only one watching. If
anyone wanted to know where I have been on a regular basis they would have easy
access to that information if they got a hold of my phone. For example,
a parent could easily know whether or not their child was actually in school on
a certain day if they wanted to. All
they would need to do would be to look at their child’s phone. A spouse who suspects their partner of
questionable activity could also easily access their location information. Is it any more ethical for someone you know
to learn about the different aspects of your habits than for marketers to have
this information? I for one do not have
an issue with marketers tracking me. I
benefit by receiving notifications when there are sales, discounts, or specials
for products I might use. There are
several ways to privately browse the internet http://www.cnet.com/how-to/five-smart-ways-to-keep-your-browsing-private/ I see it as a choice that can be made. While I am certain 100% of information cannot
be kept completely confidential, there are ways to minimize your exposure to
unwanted marketing.
El Sayed and El Ghazaly (n.d.) wrote “The definition of
marketing according to the Wikipedia website states that; ‘Marketing is a
societal process which discerns consumers' wants, focusing on a product or service
to fulfill those wants, and attempting to move the consumers toward the
products or services offered’" (para. 1).
As a leader I will use organizational culture to guide marketing. By aligning company values and beliefs and
translating those to my employees, I can inspire them to be honest, empathetic,
and caring of our customers. Regardless
of the product or service. My goal will
be to value the customer and to always remember how important they are to our
success. By espousing these beliefs I
can make my organization successful and our customers happy.
Achieving Ethical Balance in Business Practice. (n.d.).
Retrieved from http://www.sixsigmaonline.org/six-sigma-training-certification-information/achieving-ethical-balance-in-business-practice.html
El Sayed, H., & El Ghazaly, I. (n.d.). Ethics-Based Marketing:
Ethical Articles. Retrieved from http://www.ethicsbasedmarketing.net/2.html
Issues in Marketing - Boundless Open Textbook. (2014).
Retrieved from https://www.boundless.com/marketing/textbooks/boundless-marketing-textbook/social-responsibility-and-ethics-in-marketing-16/ethics-in-marketing-102/issues-in-marketing-502-10770/
