Basic Marketing: A Global Managerial Approach

Perreault−McCarthy: Basic

Marketing: A

Global−Managerial

Approach, 14/e

1. Marketing’s Role in the
   Global Economy

Text © The McGraw−Hill

Companies, 2002

26 Chapter 1

A number of typical complaints about marketing are summarized in Exhibit 1-5.

Think about these criticisms and whether you agree with them or not. What com-

plaints do you have that are not covered by one of the categories in Exhibit 1-5?

Such complaints cannot and should not be taken lightly. They show that many

people aren’t happy with some parts of the marketing system. Certainly, the strong

public support for consumer protection laws proves that not all consumers feel they

are being treated like royalty.

As you consider the various criticisms of marketing, keep in mind that some of

them deal with the marketing practices of specific firms and are micro-marketing

oriented. Others are really criticisms of the whole macro-marketing system. This is

an important distinction.^22

Certainly some complaints about marketing arise because some individual firm or

manager was intentionally unethical and cheated the market. But at other times,

problems and criticism may arise because a manager did not fully consider the eth-

ical implications of a decision. In either case, there is no excuse for sloppiness when

it comes to marketing ethics—the moral standards that guide marketing decisions

and actions. Each individual develops moral standards based on his or her own val-

ues. That helps explain why opinions about what is right or wrong often vary from

one person to another, from one society to another, and among different groups

Is it an ethical issue?

Exhibit 1-5 Sample Criticisms of Marketing

• Advertising is everywhere, and it’s often annoying,
  misleading, or wasteful.


• The quality of products is poor and often they are not
  even safe.


• There are too many unnecessary products.


• Packaging and labeling are often confusing and
  deceptive.


• Middlemen add too much to the cost of distribution
  and just raise prices without providing anything in
  return.


• Marketing serves the rich and exploits the poor.
  
  
  • Service stinks, and when a consumer has a problem
    nobody cares.
  
  
  • Marketing creates interest in products that pollute the
    environment.
  
  
  • Private information about consumers is collected and
    used to sell them things they don’t want.
  
  
  • Marketing makes people too materialistic and
    motivates them toward “things” instead of social
    needs.
  
  
  • Easy consumer credit makes people buy things they
    don’t need and can’t afford.
  
  
  
  

Marketing has its critics, including
those who express concern that
advertising is too pervasive in all
aspects of our lives.