Huang Shan Today

Archive for November, 2009

Promotion is the component of the marketing mix that gives rise to the majority of ethical questions. Personal selling has always been the target of ethically based criticism. Early traders, pack peddlers, greeters, drummers, and today’s used-car salespeople, for example, have all been accused of marketing malpractice, ranging from exaggerating product merits to outright deceit. Gifts and bribes are common ethical abuses. Advertisers now sWow women in varied situations, especially in nontraditional work roles such as bus driver, bank officer, and heavy-equipment operator.
Since the early 1970s, the auto industry has advertised air bags as a breakthrough safety device. For years, air bags have been mandatory safety equipment on all new cars sold in the United States. Auto companies promoting safety as a distinguishing characteristic have even begun to install side air bags in door panels. But in recent years, some have called the devices child killers. As data on deaths of children and short adults caused by the pressure of inflated air bags accumulates, questions arise about the responsibility automakers have to inform the public of the danger and to take steps to solve the problems.37
Providing consumer information in promotional strategies also presents ethical dilemmas for Internet marketers. Because the Web is still in its infancy, deciding on how to regulate Internet transactions must involve careful consideration of the outcomes of any such rules. Marketers agree that the most important benefit in Web advertising is the staggering number of consumers that can be reached, and the greatest challenge is holding their interest. Any restraints placed on Internet marketers should not hinder these two fundamental activities. One of the more recent issues concerns hill and fair disclosures in Web advertising. The question is whether disclosures must be placed at the very top of the Web page—a small area that marketers do not want to relegate to an official notice—rather than an interest-grabbing promotional message. So far, the Federal Trade Commission has not made any hard rules but, instead, has offered guidelines on how to make disclosures easy for consumers to find.