ETHICAL AND UNETHICAL PRACTISES IN MARKETING

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WHAT IS ETHICAL MARKETING?

      Ethical marketing entails making honest claims and satisfying the needs of potential and trust, develops brand loyalty, increases customer retention, and prompts to spread word about the products or services you’re marketing.

*CASE STUDY ON UNETHICAL PRACTISES IN MARKETING:

THIS CASE IS RELATED TO UNETHICAL PRACTISE INCIDENT WITH THE FAMOUS COSMETICS BRAND JOHNSON AND JOHNSON.

In 2016, Johnson & Johnson (J&J), a leading multinational medical devices, pharmaceutical, and consumer packaged goods manufacturer, was faced with about 1,200 lawsuits related to its talcum powder products – Johnson’s Baby Powder and Shower-to-Shower body powder. Johnson’s Baby powder was an iconic brand, which J&J had been promoting to adults, particularly women. For a long time, talcum powder when used for feminine hygiene, had been linked to ovarian cancer. The lawsuits alleged that J&J had known about this association but had failed to inform its customers about it. Alex Gorsky (Gorsky), Chairman & CEO of J&J, had also been toeing the management’s line that the criticism of its talcum powder was inconsistent with a hundred years of experience with the product. Analysts were concerned whether J&J, which had faced a number of product-related crises, would be able to maintain its reputation as a trusted family company in a climate of mounting lawsuits.  FOLLOWING ARE SOME UNETHICAL PRACTISES IN MARKETING

UNETHICAL PRACTISES

1 MAKING FALSE OR EXAGGERATED CLAIMS:

In a desperate bid to compel potential and existing customers to buy their products or services, some marketers use false statements, exaggerated benefits, or make unverifiable claims about their offers. This is common in the weight loss industry, where marketers convince potential buyers that a particular product can help them shed so-and-so pounds within two weeks without exercise or dieting!

2  DISTORTION OF FACTS AND MISLEADING:

This is another common unethical marketing practice. A typical example is when a food processing company claims that its products are sugar-free or calorie-free when indeed they contain sugar or calories. Such a company is only trying to mislead potential buyers.

3 CONCEALING SIDE EFFECTS:

This unethical marketing practice is rife in the natural remedies industry, where most manufacturers deceive potential buyers that their products have no side effects because they are “made from natural products”. But in reality, most of these products have been found to have side effects, especially when used over a long period. In fact, there’s no product without side effects—it’s just that the side effects might be unknown. 

4 BAD MOUTHING RIVALS:

Emphasizing the dark sides of your rival’s products in a bid to turn potential customers towards your own products is another common but unethical marketing practice. Rather than resort to this bad strategy, you should emphasize on those aspects that make your offer stand out from the rest of the pack. That’s professional and ethical.

5 USING WOMEN AS SEX SYMBOL FOR ADVERTISMENT:

The rate at which even reputable brands are resorting to this unethical marketing practice is quite alarming. If you observe TV, billboard, and magazine adverts, there’s something common to most of them; a half-naked lady is used to attract attention to the product or service being advertised.While it might be intuitive to use models in adverts for beauty products and cosmetics, having half-naked models in adverts for generators, heavy machinery, smartphones, and other products not strongly related to women is both .

6 EXPLOITATION

This is charging for much more than the actual value of a product or service. For marketing efforts to remain with ethical limits; the prices of your offers must be equal to or less than the value they give the buyer. If the value is less than the cost, it’s unethical.