Tn trod action

Tn trod action

Responsible marketers discover what consumers want and respond with the right products, priced to give good value to buyers and profit to the producer. The marketing concept is a philosophy of customer service and mutual gain. Its prac­ tice leads the economy by an invisible hand to satisfy the many and changing needs of millions of consumers. But does social responsibility and morality have

any role to play? Or is it incompatible with commercial survival in a competitive global market place?

Those are the sort of questions that used to be asked only in classrooms and communes. But in an era when the consumer is wiser to much more of a company's practice, and when there are increasingly wide concerns about en­

vironmental issues, animal testing and human rights, the need for social responsi­ bility and sound ethics in marketing has become crucial if customers' demands are to be fulfilled. How companies behave in the broadest sense is beginning to have an impact on how people; view their products and services. Walkers Snack Foods successfully avoided serious damage to its brand value following die discovery of glass fragments in a packet of crisps last November. Although it was discovered that a broken lens on the production line may have contaminated no more than five or six packets, the company immediately withdrew the entire

offending line ­ totalling 9 million packets of crisps. Press statements were drafted and within 24 hours the company had a consumer helpline running. As we saw in

Chapter 1, another example of a socially responsible act is Johnson & Johnson's very speedy recall of contaminated Tylenol capsules from store shelves to prevent

further possibilities of consumer injury. The 'Tylenol scare' was a serious public issue and caused great consumer concern in markets where the drug was sold. However, in taking responsible action, the brand value remained undamaged in the long run and sales revived when the problem was resolved.

However, not all marketers follow the marketing concept. In fact, some companies use questionable marketing practices, and some marketing actions that seem innocent in themselves strongly affect the larger society. Consider, again, the sale of sensitive products such as cigarettes. Ordinarily, companies should be free to sell cigarettes, and smokers should be free to buy them. Rut this transaction affects the public interest. First, the smoker may be shortening his or her own life. Second, smoking places a burden on the smoker's family and on society at large. Third, other people around the smoker may have to inhale the smoke and may suffer discomfort and harm. This is not to say that cigarettes should be banned, although the anti­smoking lobbyists would welcome that. Rather, it shows that private transactions may involve larger questions of public policy. In practice, the answers are by no means always clear cut. It may be ethical for tobacco firms to stop peddling cigarettes altogether, but this, while seen by absolute moralists as 'the right thing' to do, will lead to companies'

Social Criticisms of Marketing • 43

demise, job losses and the repercussions of increased unemployment on the wider community.

Marketers face difficult decisions when choosing to serve customers prof­ itably, on the one hand, and seeking to maintain a close n't between consumers' wants or desires and societal welfare, on the other. In this chapter, we discuss marketing in the context of society, the need for integrity, social responsibility and sound ethics, and the dilemmas that marketing people face. We begin with a look at the impact of private marketing practices on individual consumers and society as a whole, and examine the social criticisms of marketing. Next we discuss consumerism, environmentalism and regulation, and the way they affect marketing strategies. We address two questions: What steps have private citizens

taken to curb marketing ills? What steps have legislators and government agen­ cies taken to curb marketing ills? This leads to an overview of responsible or enlightened marketing and marketing ethics. Finally, we conclude with a set of principles for public policy towards marketing: consumer and producer freedom, avoiding harm, meeting basic needs, economic efficiency, innovation, and

consumer education, information and protection.

Social Criticisms of Marketing

Marketing receives much criticism. Some of this criticism is justified; much is not. 2 Social critics claim that certain marketing practices hurt individual consumers, society as a whole and other business firms.