Marketing Ethics | Commercial Applications - Class 6 PDF Download

Marketing Ethics or Ethical Marketing is one of the most effective long-term branding, word-of-mouth, and trust-building strategies for optimizing presence, leads, sales, and conversions of a product or service. Marketing ethics revolves around those principles of ethical marketing and standards that guide acceptable marketing conduct.

Ethical marketing is an integral part of the marketing definition that the American Marketing Association suggests, which is- Marketing is the activity, set of institutions, and processes for creating, communicating, delivering, and exchanging offerings that have value for customers, clients, partners, and society at large.

What is Marketing Ethics?

• Ethics in marketing involves the marketing practices of promoting fairness, social responsibility, empathy, and honesty by following ethical standards.
• From marketing tactics to marketing decisions and advertising of products and services, all the ethical marketing practices focus not only on how products would benefit users but also on how they fulfill social responsibility and handle different ethical issues.
• These affect consumers’ benefits and the benefits they take away from related environmental and social causes. It is a philosophy on top of strategy and is instrumental to both the company and its consumers.
• Through ethical marketing, organizations deliberately apply different sets of moral rights and fairness standards when marketing their products and services, practices, and behavior in the overall structure. These organizations can then develop a competitive advantage over time, thereby satisfying the organization’s needs and customers.

Why is Marketing Ethics Important?

• As per stats, 90+% of millennial consumers prefer buying products from ethical companies. Also, more than 80% of those users think that ethical brands outperform other market players that do follow ethical marketing.
• Ethical marketing is essential to the overall growth and development of an organization over time.
• The applied set of guidelines and rules paves the way for a morally good, organized roadmap for everyone to follow. These sometimes overlap with media ethics since they are closely related in terms of definition and functioning.

The following are the reasons why ethical marketing is an integral part of the life of an organization:
1. Long-term gains

• The foundation of a company or organization is not just based on its ability to survive the present, but to plan a bright future.
• With the adoption of proper marketing ethics, brands can employ prospects like high credibility, loyalty to customers, significant market share, increased brand value, better sales, and better revenue.
• These ethical practices will put their right on their way towards the accomplishment of both short-term and long-term goals with perfection.

2. Customer Loyalty

• This is one of the most important factors when it comes to ethical marketing.
• With the proper adoption of ethics in terms of business and operation, the company can win the loyalty, trust, and confidence of its consumers that can go a long way into the future.
• The natural human tendency to go after the genuine brand will surely give them promising gains, both in the present and in the future.

3. Increased credibility

• When the organization looks forward to keeping its promises surrounding its services and products on a continuous and consistent basis, it slowly and steadily goes towards the path of carving itself into an authentic and genuine brand in the market and customers’ minds.
• This is not just limited to these two, and a good process can even build good respect in front of investors, peers, competitors, stakeholders, etc.

4. Increased Leadership qualities

• When a company follows ethical practices of ethics for an extended period, it gradually stations itself as a leader, one who can benchmark its policies and strategies that surround the company’s structure and functioning.
• This eventually gives rise to numerous benefits like increased share in the market, higher sales, inspiration for others, respect, mutual benefits, etc.

5. The satisfaction of basic human wants and needs

• Once an organization is on course for the proper marketing ethics, it solves the basic needs and wants of its consumers in the form of integrity, trust, and honesty.
• When this is displayed for a long time, various other benefits follow.

6. Display of a rich culture

• Not only does such a structure give a positive outlook when seen from the outside, but it also paves the way for a good structure and environment within the hierarchy internally.
• This gives rise to higher production owing to a confident and highly motivated staff.

7. The attraction of the right talent at the right place

• Once the company can create brand value in the market, it becomes a beacon for prominent individuals for the association.
• Various people like prospective employees, consultants, vendors, etc. look forward to associating and working with the ethical brands that boost them exponentially. This further helps them in achieving their goals in a short period successfully.

8. Reaching financial goals

• To function smoothly for more extended periods, the company has to have good financial partners who can help them grow and make significant strides in the market.
• Once the brand follows a proper set of rules and ethical guidelines, it helps them earn the moral ground necessary to attract such people.

9. Enhancement of brand value in the market

• Once a proper code concerning ethical marketing is followed by the organization, the public in the form of customers, competitors, stakeholders, etc. look up to such organizations. They follow such brands with religious dedication, giving them sufficient boost to mark the market.