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Chapter 8
Social Responsibility in
Marketing Plans
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BUSINESS ETHICS & SOCIALLY
RESPONSIBLE MARKETING

 To be socially responsible is when

the organization is concerned about
people, society and environment
with whom and where it conducts
business.
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BUSINESS ETHICS & SOCIALLY
RESPONSIBLE MARKETING

 In its most basic form, socially responsible

marketing is taking moral actions that
encourage a positive impact on all the
company’s stakeholders, including
employees, community, consumers, and
shareholders..
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BUSINESS ETHICS & SOCIALLY
RESPONSIBLE MARKETING
 The main responsibility of marketers in
this aspect is to package and
communicate the organization’s decisions
that will impact the various communities
with which they interact. Consumers have
the right and power to decide which
companies succeed or fail
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BUSINESS ETHICS & SOCIALLY
RESPONSIBLE MARKETING
 so, marketers have a major responsibility to
ensure their practices are seen as
philanthropic without being phony. Brand
Karma is the perfect example of one of the
means by which consumers make these
decisions.
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Ethical Marketing in General

 Ethical Marketing is a philosophy that focus

focuses on honesty, fairness and
responsibility. Though wrong and right are
subjective, a general set of guidelines can be
put in place to ensure the company’s intent is
broadcasted and achieved. Principles of this
practice include:
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Ethical Marketing in General

 A shared standard of truth in marketing communications

 A clear distinction between advertising and sensationalism

 Endorsements should be clear and transparent

 Consumers’ privacy should be maintained at all times

 Government standards and regulations must be adhered and

practiced by marketers.

 American Ethical Norm

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American Ethical Norms and Values for marketers

 The American Marketing Association has

designed a statement of ethics that
governs marketers’ actions. The
introduction of the statement reads in
summary that values are the
representation of the collective idea of
desirable and morally correct conduct.
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American Ethical Norms and Values for marketers

 And that the values outlined in the

document serve as the standard by which
individuals measure their own actions and
those of others including marketers.
These values facilitate best practices
when transacting business with the public
and all involved.
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There are 6 ethical values that marketers are expected to
uphold, and these are:

Respect – Acknowledge basic human dignity of all

the people involved through efforts to communicate,
understand and meet needs and appreciate
contributions of others.
Transparency – Create a spirit of openness in the
practice of marketing through communication,
constructive criticism, action, and disclosure
 as well as giveback to the community and protect the ecological environment.
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There are 6 ethical values that marketers are expected to
uphold, and these are:

Citizenship – Fulfill all legal, economic, philanthropic

and societal responsibilities to all stakeholders as well
as giveback to the community and protect the
ecological environment
Honesty – Be forthright in dealings and offer value and
integrity.

 as well as giveback to the community and protect the ecological environment.

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There are 6 ethical values that marketers are expected to
uphold, and these are:

 Responsibility – Accept consequences of marketing practices

and serve the needs of customers of all types, while being good
stewards of the environment.

 Fairness – Balance buyer needs and seller interest fairly, and

avoid manipulation in all forms while protecting the information
of the consumers.
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Canadian Marketing Code of Ethics and Standards and
Practices

 The Canadian Marketing Association also

has a code of ethics and standards, which
is a self-regulatory guideline for marketers.
Though marketers are responsible for their
marketing content, members of the CMA
must abide the code. The principles of this
code include:
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Canadian Marketing Code of Ethics and
Standards and Practices
 Truthfulness, which is an accurate representation of products
and support of claims, made.

 Personal Information protection, which is defined in the Personal

Information Protection and Electronics Documents Act
(PIPEDA).

 Campaign Limitation covers non-involvement in disparaging or

exploitative practices and the protection of vulnerable consumer
groups such as children, teenagers, people with disabilities and
the elderly.
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Canadian Marketing Code of Ethics and
Standards and Practices

 To be socially responsible is when the organization is

concerned about people, society and environment with
whom and where it conducts business. In it’s most basic
form, socially responsible marketing is taking moral
actions that encourage a positive impact on all the
company’s stakeholders, including employees,
community, consumers, and shareholders.
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Canadian Marketing Code of Ethics
and Standards and Practices

 . The main responsibility of marketers in this aspect is to package

and communicate the organization’s decisions that will impact the
various communities with which they interact. Consumers have
the right and power to decide which companies succeed or fail; so
marketers have a major responsibility to ensure their practices are
seen as philanthropic without being phony. BrandKarma is the
perfect example of one of the means by which consumers make
these decisions.
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Merging Social Responsibility and Marketing

 Companies are aware that consumers

are savvy and opinionated. So with this
in mind, firms should create an ethically
sound marketing plan and integrate it
into all aspects of their marketing mix.
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Merging Social Responsibility and Marketing

 Do good not just to look good – focus on being responsible and

how your firm can truly help the neighborhood or country. It is in
doing so that your customers, the press, and all those watching
will be impressed.

 Think about long term effects, not short term gains – short
sighted companies will undervalue the impact of responsible
marketing for instantly gratifying increase.
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Merging Social Responsibility and Marketing

 Speak up against company policies that

do not reflect the ethical profile of the
company – as the face of the company,
marketers should voice their concerns
when there is a potential for a practice
to be seen as unethical.
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DEVELOPING AND IMPLEMENTING A
SOCIALLY RESPONSIBLE MARKETING PLAN

 While ethics and social responsibility are

sometimes used interchangeably, there is a
difference between the two terms. Ethics
tends to focus on the individual or marketing
group decision, while social responsibility
takes into consideration the total effect of
marketing practices on society.
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DEVELOPING AND IMPLEMENTING A
SOCIALLY RESPONSIBLE MARKETING PLAN

 . Next, marketers should forecast the long-term

effects of the decisions that pertain to those changes.
Bearing in mind that a company cannot satisfy the
needs of an entire society, it best serves marketers to
focus their most costly efforts on their target market,
while being aware of the values of society as a whole.
Five simple steps every marketer can take to create a
sustainable socially responsible market plan are:
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DEVELOPING AND IMPLEMENTING A
SOCIALLY RESPONSIBLE MARKETING PLAN

 Define what is ethical marketing for your firm.

 Decide which branch of ethics your marketers will apply.

 Determine how the ethical approach to marketing will be

implemented.

 Discuss areas of the firm’s operations that ethical marketing will be

included as part of the program.

 Analyse and assess how much ethical marketing will cost the
company and compare this against the benefits of ethical marketing
in the long run.
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MAIN ASPECTS OF SOCIALLY RESPONSIBLE
MARKETING

 Social conscious marketing addresses the

shortcomings of traditional marketing practices and
follows the philosophy of mindfulness and
responsibility. This philosophy states according to
Chron.com, that company-marketing practices should
be based on consumer satisfaction, innovative ideas
and offer society long-term value and benefit.
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Consumer Orientation

 This socially responsible practice teaches that

companies should base policies and operations on a
consumer perspective. Not only will the marketer
discover the customers’ needs, but they will also,
look at their plans as if they were the users. As an
example, an over crowded website with lots of ads
dumped onto it will be easily spotted if the marketers
were to practice this method.
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Innovation

 Improving products and services in

innovative manner improves the
experience for users. And improving
marketing strategies, polices, and brand
personality, on an ongoing basis will
position your company as an innovative
experience to be repeated and passed on.
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Value of the product

 A company that produces valuable products and

focuses on offering the customer great pricing,
excellent experiences and great customer
service will not have to resort to pushy sales
tactics and gimmicks. Apple brand is famous for
having people happily wait in line overnight to
be first to own an upgraded product.
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Sense of Mission

 A clearly defined corporate mission will

help companies be clear about their plans,
goals, and practices. By putting the good of
the community and associates over profit,
companies will indeed see an increase in
the number of consumers willing to pay
premium prices for their products.
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CHARACTERISTICS OF SOCIALLY RESPONSIBLE
MARKETING

 Marketers get the right products to the

right people at the right time. Ethical
marketers ensure the products meet and
exceed their needs, back up their claims
and offer value to the customers over time
while finding opportunities to pay it
forward.
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CHARACTERISTICS OF SOCIALLY RESPONSIBLE
MARKETING

 A company that uses ethical and socially

responsible marketing strategy will gain the
respect and trust of the customers they target
and interact with. Over long term, this will
translate to greater benefits all round. Today’s
firms can make their practices more ethical and
responsible by perfecting the following
characteristics.
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Safety

 Any product or service that could be

hazardous to the health conditions of people,
animals or the environment should have clear
advisories and warnings. Once the problem is
identified the company can collect data to
help improve the product and reduce or
eliminate the danger.
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Honesty

 Ensuring a product satisfies a need it

promises to, or aids in providing a lifestyle
it advertises. Advertising should be
transparent about possible side effects
and not puff up results, so clients come to
respect the honesty of your advertising.
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Transparency

 Any techniques to manipulate and hide

facts and information customers need
could harm a company. Just think of the
way people regard a company such as
Enron that hid information and was not
open to the stakeholders about what was
happening.
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Ethical Pricing:

Gathering data about your target market will give

you information on how much they are willing to
pay for your product. The rest of the pricing
strategy, in a simplified manner, should be based
on overhead costs and supply and demand.
Creating fake shortages and bad mouthing the
competition are considered unethical marketing
practices.
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5 BENEFITS OF INTEGRATING ETHICS
INTO YOUR MARKETING STRATEGY

 1: Moral Marketing Compass: This is especially

important in economic downturns, when unethical
practices become tempting.

 #2: Win-win Marketing: The focus on customer value

will increase company value.
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5 BENEFITS OF INTEGRATING ETHICS
INTO YOUR MARKETING STRATEGY
 #3: Keeps marketing legal: Reduces the risk of cutting corners
and turning a blind eye.

 #4: Goodwill: Goodwill and strong reputation among clients and

associates are the benefits which companies cannot afford to
overlook. Not only will customers believe that the company
cares for them but will also associate the brand with pleasant
feelings and experiences and spread the word.
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5 BENEFITS OF INTEGRATING ETHICS
INTO YOUR MARKETING STRATEGY

 Improved quality of recruits and increases

retention: A good company attracts good
employees, suppliers, investors, and customers,
who will be happy to help the company to achieve
its goals. Great marketing practices make new
marketers feel like their time on the job will make a
difference and so will be less likely to change jobs,
as will suppliers and other people have involved.
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ETHICAL ISSUES FACED IN MARKETING

 So far we have seen that ethical marketing

can guide advertising, research and data
use, strategies for gaining an edge over
the competition and company polices.
However, there can also be some
problems that arise from trying to employ
an ethical marketing strategy.
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Irresponsible Market Research:

 Improper market research and grouping can

lead to stereotyping that shapes undesirable
beliefs and attitudes and consequently affect
marketing behavior. For example, assuming
that all women like pink and therefore basing
an entire advertising campaign on that belief
could be a costly mistake.
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Selecting Specific Market Audience:

 The use of selective marketing practice is to weed out

the consumers considered by companies as less than
ideal, but often causes social disparity and unrest.
Practices such as Victoria Secrets’ “Perfect Body
Campaign,” which came under a lot of fire from
consumers for excluding every woman but those
shaped like the long legged, thin and well-endowed
supermodels in their ad, can turn people away from a
company.
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Unethical Advertising and Promotion:

 Making false claims about what the product does and

its importance is an unethical way to gain profit. For
many years, Nestlé has been the target of many
boycotts for predatory and aggressively marketing
baby foods, especially to women in poorer countries
as a better substitute to breastfeeding. This
manipulative marketing technique has caused a lot of
damage and loss to these children and their families.
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Delivery Channel practices

 Marketing in ways like cold calling through

telemarketing companies that purchase leads are not
only annoying, they are disruptive and untrustworthy.
Unsolicited approaches are these days almost
synonymous with direct marketing and has left the
industry with a tainted reputation. So have television
commercials, email spam and direct mail, which
people are going to significant lengths to avoid.
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Dealing with competitors

 : Many companies advertise cheap prices as a

“bait” and then once they draw in the customers,
“switch” them over to a more costly product,
because the advertised good was not available,
insufficient or not of any value to the customer.
Many online surveys and work at home
opportunities use this unethical marketing
technique.
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Pricing strategies:

 Predatory pricing or pricing beneath the

competition so as to cannibalize the market
and restrict the competition is an unethical
pricing strategy. And setting up barriers that
prevent smaller companies from entering the
market is unethical as well.
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SUMMARY OF (UN)ETHICAL MARKETING

 To sum this all up, in order to be ethical in marketing

attempts, businesses should make honest claims,
and excel at satisfying the needs of their customers.
This practice over time builds trust and customer
confidence in your brand’s integrity and therefore
leads to loyalty, customer and employee retention,
greet public relations and increase in business from
customers spreading the word.
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SUMMARY OF (UN)ETHICAL
MARKETING

 Unethical marketing behaviors will achieve

the exact opposite and in time could even
lead companies into legal troubles and
dissemination of a bad reputation and worse
customer experience. Below are practices of
unethical marketing, which you should avoid
in order not to ruin your company.
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SUMMARY OF (UN)ETHICAL
MARKETING
 Exploitation – avoid using scare tactics and
hard sell and protect the vulnerable consumer.
 Spam – avoid flooding a customer’s voicemail,
mailbox, email or any other means of
communication with unsolicited messages or
aggressive advances.
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SUMMARY OF (UN)ETHICAL
MARKETING

 Bad mouthing Competition – focus on the value and benefit

of your product and point out its unique selling point, the
consumers are smart enough to choose the better product.
 Misleading Advertisement and Information –any
exaggerated claims or dishonest promises will cause the
customers to mistrust you and even determine the failure of
your brand.
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SUMMARY OF (UN)ETHICAL
MARKETING

 Philanthropic gestures for public relations –

giving to charities solely for a tax write off
will make the company appear callous and
uncaring and people tend to shy away from
these types of companies and spend money
where they feel the leaders and marketers
are especially humane and gracious.