Marketing Ethics

Name: Loo Zheng Xian, George 13th September 2011 Marketing Ethics: A Response to Roger Crisp Introduction In his article “Persuasive Advertising, Autonomy, and the Creation of Desire”, Roger Crisp discusses his views on the issue of persuasive advertising. His overarching argument is that persuasive advertising ‘overrides the autonomy of consumers’ and he concludes that ‘all forms of a certain common type of advertising (i.e. persuasive advertising) are morally wrong’. In my response to this article, I will adopt an ethical viewpoint towards my analysis of various points raised by Crisp. Viewing Crisp’s argument from a Kantian perspective, the deprivation of autonomy stemming from persuasive advertising would be deemed as unethical. From a Kantian standpoint, this is undesirable as it does not fulfil the three categorical imperatives. Under the principle of universality, it should be said that many people would not wish to be subject to subconscious manipulation and a universal rule requiring people to subject themselves to this would not hold. Furthermore, during the course of persuasive advertising, humans are being treated as merely a means to serve the company’s profit margin and not as ends in their own right, negating the principle of humanity as well. Thirdly, in an ideal kingdom of ends, advertisers would not be able to subject themselves and their loved ones to the same subliminal tactics they employ on consumers, leaving the third imperative unfulfilled as well. A Kantian would agree that, by depriving consumers of their basic autonomy, persuasive advertising erodes their self-worth and dignity, and would therefore be an unethical practice to partake in – putting credibility in Crisp’s stand. While I support the argument that persuasive advertising is morally wrong to a large extent, I find Crisp’s standpoint that ‘all forms of (persuasive advertising) are morally wrong’ to be too allencompassing. In the following sections, I will discuss possible

References: Roger Crisp (1987) Persuasive Advertising, Autonomy, and the Creation of Desire. Journal of Business Ethics, Vol. 6, No. 5 (Jul. 1987), pp 413-418 Chan, G & Shenoy G. (2009), Ethics and Social Responsibility: Asian and Western Perspectives. Singapore: McGraw-Hill Cameron Barrett (1998) The Great Unethical Marketing Beast. Retrieved 13 September 2011, from http://camworld.org/archives/001176.html Ogilvy & Mather (2004), Ethics in Advertising. Retrieved 13 September 2011, from http://www.aef.com/on_campus/classroom/speaker_pres/data/3001