Ethical Issues Related to Marketing Discussion
Ethical Issues Related to Marketing Discussion
I need a 3-4 paragraph post for each Learning Activity. The sources I attach are the only ones you can use for citations. I need at least three of the sources for each post. APA Format. For in-text citations it should be, (Author, Publication Year, page number). If there is no page number just exclude it. Make sure that you really show an understanding of the concepts in each learning activity. Also, see attached for the instructor’s notes for this week. It may give you an idea of what is expected.
SOURCES TO BE USED:
Theme 1: Ethical Issues Related to Marketing
Offensive/Exploitive/Insensitive/Violent—short of illegal
- The Most Offensive Urban Outfitters Products to Ever Exist
- Sorry About That: Wells Fargo to End Ads Suggesting Science Over Arts
- Update: Hyundai Apologizes For Car Ad Depicting Attempted Suicide
- Ikea apologises over removal of women from Saudi Arabia catalogue
False Claims to Making One Healthier, Richer, Younger–illegal
- 14 False Advertising Scandals That Cost Brands Millions
- Controversial Lollipop Ad Goes Up in Times Square
- FTC to Crack Down on Deceptive Weight-Loss Ads
- The fall of “anti-aging” skin care
- FTC Action Puts Deceptive Marketer Out of the Debt Relief Business
- Federal Trade Commission Act Section 5: Unfair or Deceptive Acts or Practices
Exploitive/Dangerous to Children & Vulnerable Populations
- Exploitative Advertising Campaigns are Targeting our Children
- Monster drinks: Are the energy drinks marketed to children?
- E-Cigarette Ads Target Millions of Kids, CDC Says
- Study eyes candy-flavored e-cigarette ads targeted to kids
Stealth Advertising/Conflicts of Interest/Biased Reviewers
- Astroturfing: Government shills are flooding the web
- The Never-Ending War on Fake Reviews
- The Real Problem with Mommy Bloggers
Theme 2: Ethical Issues Related to Brand Protection
Controversial Ingredients and Testing of Ingredients
- Controversial caffeinated products
- 5 Lessons Learned From Mattel’s Lead Paint Crisis
- Doing Well By Doing Good
- Choking Hazards: Are Current Product Testing Methods for Small Parts Adequate?
- Animal Antibiotics
Assembly & Manufacturing Problems
- An Empirical Examination of a Multinational Ethical Dilemma: The Issue of Child Labor
- Ethical diamonds: What Conscientious Consumers Need to Know
- Conflict Minerals and Firms’ Ignorance Over Their Supply Chains
Consumer Privacy
Pricing
Theme 3: Ethical Issues Related to Food & Drink Production
- At sentencing, cantaloupe growers apologize for deadly listeria outbreak
- For first time, company owner faces life sentence for food poisoning outbreak
- Business Ethics Alive: Blue Bell vs Peanut Corporation of America
- 2.5 million pounds of taquitos recalled for salmonella, listeria concerns
LEARNING ACTIVITES
Learning Activity # 1
Baby Needs a New Crib
An on-line retailer that sells home and children’s items, such as children’s furniture, clothing, and toys, was seeking a way to reach a new audience and stop the declining sales and revenue trends it was suffering. A market research firm hired by the retailer identified a new but potentially risky market: lower-income single parents. The new market seemed attractive because of the large number of single parents, but most of these households were severely constrained in terms of their monetary resources.
The research firm proposed that the retailer offer a generous credit policy that would allow consumers to purchase up to $500 worth of merchandise on credit without a credit check, provided they signed up for direct payment of their credit account from a checking account. Because these were high-risk consumers, the credit accounts would carry extremely high interest rates. The research firm believed that even with losses, enough accounts would be paid off to make the venture extremely profitable for the on-line retailer.
Should the retailer pursue this new marketing strategy? Why or why not?
Learning Activity # 2
Advertising and Children: Do We Need Special Rules?
It is widely believed that businesses reap the benefits of billions of dollars in revenue that can be attributed to consumer spending on behalf of children. That children often influence the buying decisions of their parents has not been lost on businesses and in their advertising and marketing strategies, businesses realize that the way to the parents is frequently through their children. In older children who have access to funds, their spending has been a cash cow for businesses. The influence of children on buying decisions and spending in their own right have led to some ethical questions in the way goods and services are advertised and marketed to children (for our purposes you may consider anyone 17 and under as the target group).
The question of advertising and marketing to children has produced at least two schools of thought. There are some who believe that the advertising and marketing rules and laws that apply to everyone are sufficient to protect children. The other school says children are a special category and deserving of special laws and rules aimed specifically to protect them from inappropriate forms of advertising and marketing efforts.
Which side of the debate is the more persuasive to you and why? If you believe there should be separate laws and rules, what would you include in such? If you believe existing rules and laws adequately protect children, explain why this is the case, providing specific examples of how the general laws protect children. In your response, identify and discuss what you believe to be the ethical dilemma, and at least two related ethical issues. Are there any ethical theories that might support your position?
