Marketing Trust and Scandals

Due to the popularity of my post on Trust. I am choosing to write another blog entry on the marketing subject.

Due to corporate scandals, people are skeptical about the ethics and morals of companies and corporate management. These attitudes pose a major challenge to the marketer because without loyalty and trust, a company’s ability to continue business is in jeopardy. Companies must act in a moral and just manner in order to minimize distrust.

Managers face tough decisions, there is no doubt about this. Therefore, it is important to understand the concepts for ethical decision-making. With this knowledge and understanding, decisions are less challenging. These approaches provide a basis for decisions, especially when the answer is not black or white. A marketer understanding the moral tendencies can talk to the audience with the proper voice.

Textbooks define common terms. The first approach is the utilitarian concept. Using the utilitarian approach a manger chooses whichever outcome produces the greatest good for the greatest number of people. Another useful approach is the concept of individualism. Using this approach the moral decision promotes the decision-makers long-term interests and these interests lead to the greater good. The third approach is the justice concept. This concept holds that moral decisions are based on equity, fairness and impartiality. The last concept is the moral-rights approach. A manager using the moral-rights approach ensures that the decision does not infringe on the rights of others.

How does this concept play out in Marketing?

Marketers are faced with communicating and convincing the public to pick the product they are selling, and knowing which approach to take is key. For example, a simple and easy concept would be selling cigarettes. A cigarette marketer knows that they are going to have a PR nightmare using a utilitarian positioning statement. Rather a cigarette marketer may chose to the justice approach to marketing. The company's PR department would take the stance that everyone has the right to choose to smoke or not smoke and this is fair, and there is fairness in choice.

Moral and proper marketing voice is very important in today's world. As consumers we chose to distrust, and this ignorance cannot continue on the part of successful companies.