Ethical Issues in Marketing
Ethical Issues in Marketing: The Context of Developing Countries
Introduction: Marketing, in contemporary times, has seen a tumultuous change in the way it's conducted in developing countries. The oft cited dictum that only change is constant in the marketing genre is an apposite one. Just as the media of social communication themselves have enormous influence everywhere, so advertising and marketing, using media as their vehicles, are pervasive, powerful forces shaping attitudes and behavior in today's world. Four reasons are attributed to the fugacious nature of the way marketing practices are being carried out in developing countries 1. The role of Information and Communication technologies: As ICTs evolve so do marketing practices. If yesterday it was television that revolutionized the way advertisements could create a lasting impact on the consumer, then today the internet and phone text messages are doing just that. 2. The world today is an increasingly global village: Social and ethnic boundaries are fast falling in the wake of cable television and the like. 3. Rapid economic expansions in countries like China and India have meant that marketers have to quickly respond to the changing socio-economic scenarios. Millions of people have entered the middle class and millions more are poised to do so. For marketers, the consequences can be mind boggling-as incomes and spending powers rise, marketers have to respond to increasing demands from consumers. 4. Better and improved marketing research has meant that the entire populace is not seen in totality but rather as a congeries of different types of consumers.
The Upshot: But the outcome of such developments is that a number of ethical issues have arisen. While the globe is indeed becoming a smaller place, marketers have to bear in mind national, local and cultural sensitivities. Very often, in the hope of tapping a larger consumer base, marketers jump headlong in new markets without keeping in mind ethnic and
Introduction: Marketing, in contemporary times, has seen a tumultuous change in the way it's conducted in developing countries. The oft cited dictum that only change is constant in the marketing genre is an apposite one. Just as the media of social communication themselves have enormous influence everywhere, so advertising and marketing, using media as their vehicles, are pervasive, powerful forces shaping attitudes and behavior in today's world. Four reasons are attributed to the fugacious nature of the way marketing practices are being carried out in developing countries 1. The role of Information and Communication technologies: As ICTs evolve so do marketing practices. If yesterday it was television that revolutionized the way advertisements could create a lasting impact on the consumer, then today the internet and phone text messages are doing just that. 2. The world today is an increasingly global village: Social and ethnic boundaries are fast falling in the wake of cable television and the like. 3. Rapid economic expansions in countries like China and India have meant that marketers have to quickly respond to the changing socio-economic scenarios. Millions of people have entered the middle class and millions more are poised to do so. For marketers, the consequences can be mind boggling-as incomes and spending powers rise, marketers have to respond to increasing demands from consumers. 4. Better and improved marketing research has meant that the entire populace is not seen in totality but rather as a congeries of different types of consumers.
The Upshot: But the outcome of such developments is that a number of ethical issues have arisen. While the globe is indeed becoming a smaller place, marketers have to bear in mind national, local and cultural sensitivities. Very often, in the hope of tapping a larger consumer base, marketers jump headlong in new markets without keeping in mind ethnic and