ETHICS IN MARKETING COMMUNICATION
Like other industries, marketing also confronts ethical dilemmas. Numerous marketing professionals and their representatives have actively acknowledged and adopted diverse commitments, declarations, or codes of conduct. The purpose of these is to highlight the significance of ethics regulations and values in marketing and promote accountability towards society. These declarations or rules are applicable to marketing practices overall or focus on specific sectors.
Marketing communication is an important field that must comply with ethical regulations and moral values. It plays a significant role in the business landscape, which has undergone changes and a shift in perception towards conducting business ethically. This examination of fairness goes beyond legal considerations and encompasses ethics as well. As a result, the discipline of business ethics has emerged.
The discipline of ethics is located between moral philosophy and management. It involves the use of practical tools to make decisions about company strategies and resolve conflicts between various groups involved in a business: employers and employees, managers and stakeholders, the company and the local community, state institutions, etc. Ethics is applied in areas such as human resources management, crisis management, and marketing communication, including branding, public relations, and publicity (Diaconu, 2006).
Ethics cannot be reduced to simply obeying the law because laws are often insufficient for managing relationships with others. Business ethics, also known as economic ethics, consists of moral rules and regulations that govern agents’ behavior in economic activities. These rules, along with legal principles and regulations, ensure the successful operation of businesses. Business ethics is a branch of applied ethics that involves analyzing moral dilemmas in specific social or professional situations to make decisions. It relates to the behaviors of economic agents such as employees, owners, and managers. Practicing business ethics is crucial for long-term success in both macroeconomic (as immoral behavior can distort the market and hinder resource allocation) and microeconomic contexts (often associated with building trust with providers, clients, employees, and the community). Organizations have responsibilities in both social and economic spheres. Social responsibility and ethical behavior are closely tied to organizational culture.
The employees of an organisation, as well as certain external public categories, are eagerly awaiting companies to take on empowered responsibilities for their contribution to the overall welfare of society. According to economic literature (Ionescu, 1997, p.173), there are concentric circles of responsibilities. The first is the internal circle, which focuses on basic responsibilities such as efficiently fulfilling the company’s economic function (delivering products, services, jobs, and economic growth). The second is the intermediary circle, which encompasses responsibilities related to the company’s economic function and involves changes in social values and priorities (e.g., better consumer protection and information, fair treatment of employees and consumers, ensuring product quality and safety). The third is the external circle, which involves new responsibilities that organisations should take on for a more active involvement in the social development of the environment (e.g., addressing poverty, corruption, pollution, education, resource preservation).Although not all companies can assume social responsibilities, there are various fields in which organizations are approaching and participating in such activities. For instance, Kraft Foods company has a program called “Together for children” that aims to improve treatment and hospital conditions for children in Romania. Procter&Gamble company also has a program named “Live, Learn and Develop yourself” that aims to support children in need. Additionally, JTI Romania and Vodafone are among the companies that either initiate or support various social responsibility activities and programs.
The decision for organizations to engage in social responsibility activities primarily lies with their managers. These individuals choose the approach and method of action based on their own conscience. As Ionescu (2006) states, the only driving force for upright conduct is the unquestionably strong common sense or moral intuition, and our ability to initiate action based on it.
Marketing, like the rest of the business world, faces ethical issues. As the global economy constantly changes and business moves quickly, marketing must also evolve and adapt to the demands and advancements in technology and society. This requires a continuous reevaluation of its concepts and methods, as well as a shift in mindset and work practices.
The idea of social marketing is centered around meeting the needs, demands, and interests of target markets in a more efficient manner than competitors do. The goal is to maintain or enhance consumer well-being and societal welfare. This concept takes into account three factors when developing marketing strategies: company profits, consumer satisfaction, and public interest. Romanian marketing experts suggest calling it “societal marketing” to accurately reflect this concept and emphasize its emphasis on taking on greater social and human responsibilities. By doing so, this approach aims to avoid conflicts between consumers’ immediate desires and long-term well-being, as well as address environmental concerns.
Both organizations and consumers should prioritize the overall well-being of humanity instead of focusing solely on profit and personal satisfaction. However, achieving this goal is easier said than done.
Consumers today are growing more demanding, seeking higher-priced products and services that reflect superior quality. At the same time, organizations can educate consumers to encourage their purchase and consumption of offered products and services. They often use moral arguments (such as goodness, healthiness, or recommendation) along with relevant pricing strategies. These aspects are particularly evident in the case of ecological products, which have a high price due to their scarcity in the market and costly production. Marketing cannot disregard moral considerations since it constantly interacts with the public. The issue of marketing ethics emerged during the interwar period when corporate social responsibility gained significance.
The topic of marketing ethics encompasses both the necessary regulations and the values that all market participants must uphold. These ensure that all actions occur within a moral framework. It also takes into account the needs of social groups affected by the impacts of supply and demand for goods, services, and ideas over varying time periods (Florescu, Malcomete et al, 2003, p. 238).
According to various viewpoints, there are different aspects of marketing ethics that can be identified by using specific discrimination criteria. These include the prescriptive field of marketing ethics, which pertains to the conduct of decision-makers in their market relationships. Additionally, there is the descriptive or explicative ethics field, which focuses on assessing the outcomes of experimental sciences in reducing conflicts related to the role of marketing in market relations, conflicts between the marketing department and other functional structures of the company, as well as conflicts between the company and its market environment. Furthermore, depending on the object of the activity, there are diverse fields such as marketing research ethics, strategic marketing ethics, and marketing instruments ethics. These distinctions were discussed by Florescu, Malcomete et al. in 2003 (p. 239).
Regarding the regulatory framework, concerns about marketing ethics led to the development of a code of marketing and advertising ethics by the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) in 1937.
The content of this code has been permanently modified and revised, resulting in new strengthened and extended versions that are in use today. The New Ethical Code Guides Marketing Communication Worldwide was elaborated in Paris in 2006. At the same time, the European Society for Marketing Research and Opinions (ESOMAR) developed approaches for the creation and publication of an Ethics code for marketing research in 1948.
In 2004, the American Marketing Society initiated a declaration regarding ethics. This declaration focuses on ethical regulations and values for its members. It also serves as a guide for marketers in directing and developing their activities.
As per this statement, marketers should adhere to the utmost ethical standards and values in their professional practices, which involves being accountable to various stakeholders such as consumers, employees, investors, members of the media, and host communities. Regulations are the guidelines that professional organizations and society expect and uphold, while values are the shared beliefs about what is appropriate, desirable, significant, and just from a moral perspective. These values serve as criteria for evaluating the actions of others.
The declaration includes general regulations on the following aspects: a) Marketers are required to act responsibly by using their knowledge and skills to add value to their organizations and for consumers. They must comply with the law and regulations and uphold the highest ethical standards in decision-making. b) Marketers need to build trust in the marketing system by ensuring that product promotion aligns with their original intentions.
Marketing communications must not intentionally deceive or disappoint consumers, and should provide appropriate compensation for any complaints. Marketers should uphold ethical values that build trust in the integrity of the marketing system. These values include honesty, responsibility, fairness, respect, openness, and fulfilling citizen duties. It is important to be honest and truthful with consumers, offering products at the value expressed in marketing communication. Marketers should also accept the consequences of their decisions, particularly when it comes to vulnerable market segments such as children or older individuals. Fairness involves balancing the needs of consumers with business interests, ensuring clear representation of products in sales and advertising. Respect for human dignity and creating transparency in marketing operations are crucial. Additionally, marketers should fulfill economic, legal, philanthropic, and social responsibilities that benefit stakeholders in a responsible manner (AMA, 2004).
Ethical aspects of marketing communication, particularly in advertising, are given significant importance. The updated ethical Code for marketing and advertising, published in Paris in 2006 by the International Chamber of Commerce, expands the focus on ethical aspects to include other elements of marketing communication techniques. Technological advancements and changing consumer demand have led marketers to explore new ways to communicate with consumers.
The new code combines the previously separate codes, which covered various aspects of marketing such as promoting sales, sponsoring, direct marketing, electronic media utilization, and green marketing. It also includes guidelines for numerous advertising practices and other marketing communication techniques, such as internet publicity, SMS, and new forms of mass communication. Additionally, the code provides recommendations on the content of advertising messages targeted at children.
The purpose of adopting and respecting this new version of the code by numerous companies in the business world is to increase the satisfaction of consumers, who make up the target audience. The main objectives of the code are as follows: a) demonstrating responsibility and good practices in advertising and marketing communication globally; b) enhancing public trust in marketing communication; c) respecting consumers’ confidentiality and preferences; d) assuming special responsibilities for marketing communication aimed at children/teenagers; e) protecting the freedom of expression of those involved in marketing communication (in accordance with Article 19 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights); f) providing practical and flexible solutions; g) reducing the need for legislation or detailed governmental or non-governmental rules (International Chamber of Commerce).
The 2006 World Business Organisation code applies to both consumers and advertising specialists. It establishes clear standards for marketing communication and sets minimum levels of protection for consumers. The code aims to maximize confidence in the methods used. The controversies surrounding communication ethics focus on both the messages conveyed to the public and the techniques and instruments used in marketing communication.
Ethical problems in marketing communication occur more frequently in international marketing due to various barriers specific to international communication. These barriers disrupt the process of transmitting and correctly receiving messages. Some of these barriers include language differences, cultural differences, limited availability of communication media, legal restrictions on promotion, economic differences, taste differences, customs, attitudes, availability of promoting agents, and the nature of local distributors (Sasu, 1998, pp. 48-252).
Furthermore, when it comes to ethics in advertising, this aspect of marketing communication is often subjected to the most severe criticism due to its high degree of consumer manipulation.
Advertising is used by organizations to send messages and elicit responses in the targeted public. It serves several functions, including informing the public and stimulating primary demand, persuading consumers, creating selective demand, making comparisons to prove superiority, and maintaining consumers’ interest in trademarks and products. However, advertising also has certain characteristics that bring forth ethical controversies. These characteristics include its public nature, as the message is repeated countless times, its ability to lend credibility to the sponsor who is seen as powerful, trustworthy, and successful, its enhanced expressivity through the combination of image, sound, movement, and color (especially through television), its efficiency in maintaining contact with a geographically dispersed large public, and its impersonal nature as a mediated communication (Kotler, Armstrong et al, 1999, p.32; Kotler, 1997, p.779; Popescu, 2003, p.117).The lack of ethics in advertising is commonly criticized for various reasons. One of the main concerns is manipulation, which can undermine an individual’s autonomy. Advertising is often accused of being coercive, as it influences consumers’ choices and prevents them from making decisions based on their own needs (Solomon, 2006, p.392). Another issue is the use of deceitful tactics, such as presenting ambiguous statements or omitting important information. Advertising should not take advantage of consumers’ lack of knowledge or experience, especially when it comes to technical tests. For example, advertisements for certain medicines should provide explicit proof of their effectiveness and clearly state any potential side effects. Additionally, there is a concern about the manipulation of children through advertising, as they are particularly vulnerable to its influence. In Romania, the Practice Code in Advertising prohibits suggesting that owning or using a product will give children physical or social advantages.In regards to comparing trademarks and products, it is permissible to make some comparisons but with limitations, such as using the phrase “regular detergent” in comparison to the detergent being promoted. Additionally, advertisements may create artificial needs and a sense of dissatisfaction towards current products, which can be resolved by purchasing other products that may not be necessary but desired. The use of party themes and the artificial demand for differentiation between similar products has been criticized for exaggerated claims. Furthermore, advertisements should not employ violence, sexual scenes, or emphasize negative human traits or weaknesses. The clothing company Benetton is particularly criticized for their use of shocking images depicting real-life scenarios including racial discrimination, such as portraying Great Britain’s queen as an Afro-American woman or a bloodied uniform of a deceased Bosnian soldier (Kotler, Armstrong et al, 1998, p.826).Marketing can violate a person’s privacy, especially when marketers collect personal data for databases in direct advertising. Excessive commercials and high broadcast frequency can also annoy consumers. Advertising can increase feelings of restlessness or insecurity, particularly when promoting medications, life insurance, or other health and security-related products or services. The excessive use of sexual connotations, which has historically been effective in promoting various products like chocolate, cars, clothing, and cosmetics, has resulted in numerous protests from society. Advertising manipulates people by both the content and presentation of its messages.
The language of advertising itself, through the use of associations, stereotypes, structural omissions, substitutions, and wordplay, creates specific meanings in individuals’ minds, promoting intimate resorts and automatic actions. The paralanguage, including gestures, facial expressions, and sounds, also elicits specific responses from the target audience who are repeatedly urged to focus on the transmitted messages. Those in the advertising industry are increasingly accused of enlisting psychologists and neurologists to develop manipulation techniques that operate on the boundary between subliminal and conscious perception. These techniques involve deliberate confusion and the creation of doubt within advertising messages to capture heightened attention. Moreover, advanced techniques and technologies are employed to produce naive audio-visual content reminiscent of children’s cinema clubs. (Prutianu, 2000, pp.32-234).Images in these productions rapidly follow one another without any logical sequence, captivating the viewer’s attention until the final message. An example of this is seen in the Coca-Cola clip where a character named Henderson is devoured by an alien who has infiltrated the spaceship’s crew. The technique of gust is employed through intense sequences of sounds and images, pushing the limits of the viewer’s ability to process and comprehend them. Subconsciously, the viewer’s mind strives to store and interpret these stimuli, resulting in increased attention. Furthermore, perceptual automatisms are utilized by conveying sounds and images that have different connotations for human activities, such as baby cries, police sirens, and sexual temptations. This aims to stimulate attention, imagination, and memory. Short-term hypnosis is frequently achieved through brief flashes and pulsating sounds and images that manipulate the viewer’s perception, leading them to believe they are acting of their own free will. In marketing communication, these techniques target the receptor’s sensibilities and influence their decision-making processes.
In order to validate these allegations, a multitude of studies and research have been conducted since the second half of the 20th century. Specialists acknowledge that there is no clear evidence that subliminal advertisements are effective in persuading people to purchase goods and services. This is due to the lack of studies indicating whether marketers actually utilized these theoretical approaches to boost sales (Bratucu and Bratucu, 2007, p. 17). The content of advertising messages often raises ethical concerns in international marketing, particularly due to cultural and linguistic variations among different countries and regions. Certain words, gestures, colors, and symbols hold diverse meanings across different parts of the world and are subject to varying interpretations.
The cultural norms and values of different European countries vary greatly, leading to differences in what is considered natural, honest, or appropriate. What may be seen as acceptable in one country could be seen as offensive or inappropriate in another, causing harm to the pride, modesty, and vanity of its people. An example of this is the significance of colors in different cultures – green is considered sacred for Muslims, white symbolizes purity in Western culture, but in Asia it represents death and mourning. Additionally, another undesirable aspect of advertising is the tendency to reuse ideas from previous commercials, whether blatantly obvious or more subtly concealed. Creating advertising messages based on preexisting ideas raises significant ethical concerns in the advertising industry.
All these various aspects demonstrate that there are numerous deceptive techniques employed in the advertising industry (often with questionable moral standards) to influence and manipulate consumers into buying products, ultimately benefiting both the companies producing the goods and the advertising agents who represent them. One area within marketing communication that frequently sparks ethical debates is public relations. The initial ethical concern regarding public relations lies in the authenticity of the positive images being portrayed. PR creates and promotes these images, which in turn influence public perception and behavior (Tabacu, 2008, p.12).
The International Ethics Code in Public Relations, adopted by the International Associations of Public Relations (IPRA) in 1965 and revised in 1968, underscores the importance of respecting ethics in public relations. This code outlines various responsibilities, including providing accurate information, avoiding distortion of the truth, fostering personal engagement and accountability, and considering the interests of all relevant parties (IPRA, 1965). One of the primary objectives of public relations is to cultivate a positive image for companies and their offerings while minimizing any negative impacts on the public or the broader external environment. Such impacts may arise from company decisions or activities. When striving to shape their desired image, public relations specialists often rely on communication with the press through press releases, conferences, and statements. This engagement with the press becomes particularly crucial during unpredictable and crisis situations. Consequently, the main ethical challenge faced by these specialists revolves around how they structure and present their ideas to ensure accurate transmission and representation of reality.
No matter the situation in which public relation techniques are utilized (such as crisis situations or events with a positive significance), it is challenging to determine the meaning of ethics in PR. This difficulty arises when considering the various perspectives that analyze the appropriateness of how these techniques are employed. While some experts in PR believe that ethics involves refraining from manipulating the public through incomplete statements, others argue that ethics can be defined as serving a client whose self-defined interests align with what PR specialists consider ethical (Neculai, 2005). 6.
Direct marketing and sales promotion activities are subject to international and national regulations, such as the European Conduct Code for Direct Sales by FEDSA and the ethical conduct Code for sales activity in Romania by RODSA. These codes address ethical issues related to information usage, data privacy, clarity of communication, and protection of minors.
In the field of sales promotion, there are various aspects that may give rise to ethical concerns. For instance, the organization and execution of contests, games, and lotteries must be conducted with integrity. Price reductions should be used correctly, and the value and significance of promotional gifts and the occasions for their distribution must be carefully considered.
When marketers plan a sales promotion campaign, they need to consider several factors such as national safety standards, cultural differences, prejudices, and suspicions. This is essential to ensure compliance with regulations in different countries. For instance, a detergent producer in Thailand organized a campaign where consumers had the opportunity to win a house if they found one of the six golden coins hidden in the detergent boxes by the marketing communication organizers. This led to long queues forming outside stores selling the detergent, and buyers even spilled the contents of the boxes on the street in their search for the coins.
Only five people liked the detergent, but despite that, it continued to be purchased for a long time after the campaign ended due to government intervention (Kotler, Armstrong et al, 1998, p. 885). One highly regulated sales promotion activity is organizing contests with promotional aspects, which is prohibited in Holland, Belgium, Luxembourg, and Germany and regulated in Great Britain, Ireland, France Italy, Denmark (Pop si Dumitru, 2001, p. 326). 7. Conclusions Regardless of their nature and intensity of use, marketing communication tools must be appropriately utilized, and the messages conveyed must provide accurate information in order to meet the expectations, demands, and characteristics of the target audience.
The concerns surrounding the achievement and maintenance of high moral standards in marketing communication have resulted in the creation and enhancement of declarations and codes that regulate ethical practices. These codes prescribe that marketing professionals must conduct themselves with integrity, respect for the public, responsibility, honesty, and concern for people and the environment. Organizations that engage in communication strategies must consider their own motivations, such as profitability, the needs of their audience, and the overall well-being of society and its members. References
The Statement of Ethics from the American Marketing Association (AMA) can be accessed by visiting their website.
