Core Concepts of Marketing

110 CHAPTER 5 EXTERNALCONSIDERATIONSINMARKETING

'Wbileethi':sdealwiththerelationshipbetweenbuyerandseller,therearealsoinstances

whentheactivitiesofmarketinginfluencesocietyasa whole.Forexample whenyoupur-

chasea newrefrigerator, thereisa needtodiscardyouroldrefrigerator.Thrownina trash

dump,theoldrefrigeratormayposea safetyrisk, orcontaminatethesoil,andcertainly

willcontaminatetheaestheticsofth e countryside,thusrequiringsocietytobearpartofthe

costofyourpurchase.Thisexampleillustratest!leissueofsocialresponsibility,theidea

thatorganiz(ltion~arepartofa largersocietyandareaccountabletosocietyfortheiractions.

Thewell-beingof~ocietyatlargeshouldalsoberecognizedinanorganization'smarket-

ing decisions.Infact,somemarketing expertsstressthesocietalmarketingconcept,the

view[hat anorganizationshould discoverandsatisfytheneedsofitsconsumersina way

[hatalsoprovidesforsociety'swell-~eing.A definitionforsocialmarketingis providedby

AlanAndreasen:

Socialmarketingistheadaptationofcommercialmarketingtechnologiestoprograms

designedtoinfluencethevoluntarybehavioroftargetaudiencestoimprovetheirper-

so/wiwelfare andthatofthesocietyofwhichtheyarea part.^5

Thereislittledoubtthattheimportanceofsocialmarketingisgrowing,andthatformany

marketers,it willbecomepartoftheircompetitiveadvantage.

Economic/PoliticalIssues

Variouseconomicforcesinfiuenceanorganization'sabilitytocompeteandconsumer'swill-

ingnessandabilitytoouyproductsandservices.Thestateoftheeconomyisalwayschang-

ing. Interestratesriseandfall.Inflationincreasesanddecreases.Consumers'abilityand

willingnesstobuychanges.Theeconomygoesthroughfluctuations.Twoaspectsofthe

economyareconsumer's buyingpower andthebusi:1esscycle.

TABLE 5 .3 EthicalIssuesinMarketing

Issue

Percentof

Marketing

Professionals

Responding

Bribery

Fairness

Honesty
Price

Product

Personnel
Confidentiality
Advertising
ManipulationofData
Purchasing

Giftsfromoutsidevendors,payp-Ientofquestionablecommissions,"money

underthetable"

Unfairlyplacingcompanyinterestsoverfamilyobligations,takingcreditforthework

ofothers,inducingcustomerstouseservicesnotneeded, manipulationofothers

Lyingtocustomerstoobtainorders,misrepresentingservicesandcapabilities

Differentialpricing,charginghigherpricesthanfirmswithsimilarproductswhile

claimingsuperiority,meetingcompetitiveprices

Productsafety,productandbrandinfringement,exaggeratedperformanceclaims,

productsthatdonotbenefitconsumers

Firing,hiring, employeeevaluation

Temptationstouseorobtainc lassified, secret,orcompetitiveinformation

Crossingthelinebetweenexaggerationandmisrepresentation,misleadingcustomers

Falsifyingfiguresormisusingstatisticsorinformation,distortion

Reciprocityintheselectionofsuppl iers

15%

14%

12%

12%

11%

10 %

5%

4%

4%

3%

Marketingprofessionalswereaskedtodescribethemostdifficultethicalissuetheyface.
Source:Lawrence B. ChonkoandShelbyD.Hunt," EthicsandMarketingManagement:AnEmpiricalExamination:'JournalofBusiness
Research,Vol.13,1985,pp.339-359.