This is the continuation of my marketing research paper. Click here for Part 1.

All about ethics
It is when a manager does not fully consider the ethical implications of a decision that problems arise (Perreault & McCarthy, 2006). The misuse of marketing often concerns the question of ethics though not always overstepping the legal boundaries. Marketers, if gone unchecked, can get away with irresponsible practices that cannot be directly charged in court. There must, therefore, be a driving force that keeps marketing practices in place.

The fact remains that there is no single “set of standards that are appropriate for all practices” (Kirby & Marsden, 2006). But this is no reason for businesses to allow themselves to be unmonitored. Organizations must exemplify by setting up their own code of ethics to keep true to (Perreault & McCarthy, 2006), and simultaneously obey the Code of Ethics created by the American Marketing Association (AMA) for marketers. Should one fail, the apparent effects will always be visible by organizational authorities and critics. Here are examples of controversies stirred by large companies

Controversy: Drink responsibly, says the alcohol industry (Source: Boone & Kurtz ?Contemporary Marketing 2005?)
One instance of unethical marketing is the launching of campaign ads to promote “drinking responsibly”. The alcohol beverage industry spends millions in campaigning against underage drinking. Critics point that the industry should not look as if they condemn the use of their own products. While companies initially justify their ads as positive messages targeted to under-aged people, the alcohol-beverage industry should stop marketing through television altogether; television viewers mostly consist of children and teens.

However, the past few years sees a decrease in underage drinking and alcohol-related traffic casualties. Some still worry about the mixed messages in the whole “Drink responsibly” move; beer brands or even the idea of drinking still gets across the ads. Though such practices remain debatable, the industry must nonetheless keep ethics in check. This is how sly marketers can get, their possible cruel intentions hidden in seemingly harmless acts.

Controversy: The infant formula (Source: Carroll & Buchholtz “Business and Society: Ethics and stakeholder management”)
This is a classical example of marketing practices that raise ethical questions. In tropical areas of the world, bottle-feeding is severely unhealthy for babies; infant formula is diluted with contaminated water by poverty-stricken mothers. Despite such a calamity, infant formula companies still extensively market their products, increasing the act of bottle-feeding instead of breast-feeding. This increased the risk of disease and diarrhea for the infant.

Nestle is one company that opposes sales codes by pushing infant formula products to these helpless consumers in developing countries. Boycotting protestors finally made their point when Nestle agreed to change the criticized business practices in 1984. However, criticisms continue as the company made an aggressive move by dumping huge quantities of retracted baby formula in Third World hospitals. The controversy and its monitoring go on today.

Controversy: Overuse of painkillers due to marketing (Source: Mark Kaufman, The Washington Post, 25 January 2005)
A study has revealed that arthritis patients are persuaded to use Celebrex and Vioxx when cheaper and older alternatives would have worked just as well. Research shows that these heavily marketed products, the COX-2 drugs, increase the risk of serious heart attacks and stroke. Physicians and consumers seem to have the tendency to believe that “newer is better” though it’s not entirely true all the time.
Due to the massive spending on marketing, which includes direct-to-consumer advertising, more low-risk gastrointestinal patients use COX-2s than high-risk patients when they don?t need it. The fact is that millions of consumers pay a lot more for medication that does not provide the money?s worth. This is just one of many cases in pharmaceutical business misconduct.

Social responsibility in marketing
The supplying end of marketing has a responsibility in the social context, for marketers have a powerful ability to alter consumer behavior (Wikipedia, 2006) and power is always susceptible to evil use. Concepts include profit responsibility, stakeholder responsibility and societal responsibility, which includes serving the general public (Kerin, Hartley & Rudelius, 2004). The influence of corporate marketing extends to an entire society if not a network of several (Boone & Kurtz, 2005), and can be held socially responsible for traceable adverse effects.

Hence, companies must uphold their responsibilities by marketing campaigns such as encouraging people to adopt socially beneficial behavior (Boone & Kurtz, 2005). For example, HomeDepot channels volunteers to build homes for needy citizens (2005). Colgate makes toothpaste of various attractive flavors for children to encourage brushing (Kotler & Armstrong, 2006). Nike Corporation has set out to uplift its once shameful image amongst critics by improving working conditions of the production line.

Final note
To think it over, some criticisms of marketing could be exaggerated. Generalizing must be avoided for descriptions that apply to some companies may not be so for others. Marketing and advertising in itself is not evil. Like any other technology, marketing is amoral; it can be used for good and evil purposes (Wikipedia, 2006). While we do our best to quell the evils of marketing and its negative effects, businesses of any size must also use it to the fullest so that all parties can benefit from it.

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References
Boone, L. E. and Kurtz, D. L. (2005), Contemporary Marketing 2005, Eleventh Edition, Thomson South-Western.
Carroll, A. B. and Buchholtz, A. K., (2006). Business & Society: Ethics & Stakeholder Management. Thompson, 6th Edition.
Cohen, C., (2002). Corporate Vices: What’s Gone Wrong with Business? Capstone Publishing Ltd.
Crane, A. and Matten, D., (2004). Business Ethics, Oxford University Press
Kaufman, M., (2005, January 25). New Study Criticizes Painkiller Marketing, The Washington Post. Retrieved 17 July, 2006, from http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A33786-2005Jan24.html
Kerin, R., Hartley, S. W., & Rudelius, W. (2003). Marketing: The core. New York: McGraw-Hill.
Kirby, J., Marsden, P., (2006) Connected Marketing: The Viral, Buzz and Word of Mouth Revolution, Butterworth-Heinemann Ltd.
Kotler, P., Armstrong, G., (2006) Principles of Marketing. Pearson Higher Education.
Lancaster, G. and Massingham, L. (1999). The Essentials of Marketing. McGraw Hill.
marketing. (n.d.) The American Heritage? Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition. (2003). Retrieved July 16 2006 from http://www.thefreedictionary.com/marketing
Marketing. (2006, July 15). In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved 14:37, July 16, 2006, from http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Marketing&oldid=63878911.
Palmer, A. (2004), Introduction to Marketing: Theory and Practice, Oxford University Press.