Sustainability, Ethics and Social
Responsibility Marketing
Sustainability
• Ability to meet human needs without harming
future generation.
• It now tops may corporate agendas.
• There is a triple bottom line:
• People
• Planet
• Profit
Importance of Sustainable Marketing
• Many CEOs Believe that focusing on
sustainability can avoid negative
consequences of
• Environment Disasters
• Political Protests
• Human Rights
• Work Place Abuses
18-24 Years (Millennial Data Points)
Attitudes about Causes
• 85% likely to switch from one brand to another, if
price and quality same-if other brand is
associated with good cause
• 84% consider company social and environmental
cause, when deciding to recommend others
• 87% consider company commitments before
deciding where to work
• 86 Percent say when a product or company
supports social cause, they care about, they have
a positive image of that product / company
Sustainable Marketing
Sustainable marketing is an attempt to broaden the concept of
marketing, beyond simple economic development. It introduces the
concepts of the three Es of sustainability as outlined below:
1. Ecological—marketing should not negatively impact upon the
environment
2. Equitable—marketing should not allow or promote inequitable
social practices
3. Economic—marketing should encourage long-term economic
development as opposed to short-term economic development (as
we have seen in the late 2000s with the global credit crunch arising
as a result of poor financial regulation in world financial services
markets).
Some Unsustainable
Marketing Practice
1984: Union Carbide and Bhopal - In 1989, Union Carbide and Union Carbide India Limited
(UCIL) eventually settled all claims arising from the incident with the Indian government for
US$470 million, although victims are still seeking compensation from the Indian government
1989: The Exxon–Exxon’s oil tanker accidentally dumped 10.8m gallons of crude oil in the
waters around the Alaskan coastline.
1997: Nike’s alleged tolerance of the use of sweatshops by its suppliers in Asia, often with the
use of child labour in hazardous conditions, for the production of its sporting goods prompted
media uproar and forced it to sign a high profile Code of Conduct on global employment
practices in 1997
Some Unsustainable
Marketing Practice
2001: Enron –improper financial accounting, including inflated turnover claims filed
to the Securities and Exchange Commission, and fraudulent practices, resulted in
convictions for insider trading and securities fraud against senior employees, and led
to the collapse of a Fortune 500 company and its auditor
2008: Sanlu (and other Chinese milk manufacturers) – a major scandal occurred
when China’s largest milk producer, and many others in the industry, were found to
have added melamine to milk to increase its protein content causing sickness in
300,000 infants and 6 deaths.
Socially Responsible Marketing
Importance
Drivers for Ethical
Marketing
An increasing belief that corporate social responsibility leads to increased
business performance.
The increase in global trade and the rise of the multinational company with
cross-country trade, particularly in developing countries.
The rise of 24-7 global media companies with the potential to damage
corporate reputations around the world.
Increasing recognition and belief that climate change is affected by
industrial activity and modern lifestyle choices.
Types of Ethics
Normative ethics – concerned with the rational enquiry into standards of
right and wrong (i.e. norms), good or bad, in respect of character and
conduct and which ought to be accepted by a class of individuals.
Social or religious ethics – concerned with what is right and wrong, good
and bad, in respect of character and conduct. Makes an implicit claim to
general allegiance to something (e.g. God).
Positive morality – Knowledge that is generally adhered to by a social
group of individuals, concerning what is right and wrong, good and bad, in
respect of character and conduct.
Descriptive ethics – the study of the system of beliefs and practices of a
social group from outside that group.
Metaethics – a form of philosophical enquiry which treats ethical concepts
and beliefs systems as objects of philosophical enquiry in themselves.
E t h i c a l No r m s i n M a r k et i ng D ec i s i o n -
M a k i ng
The Chartered Institute of Marketing, the world’s largest member-based
marketing organization, requires its members to (CIM, 2005):
demonstrate integrity, bringing credit to the profession of marketing;
be fair and equitable towards other marketing professionals;
be honest in dealing with customers, clients, employers, and employees;
avoid the dissemination of false or misleading information;
demonstrate current knowledge of the latest developments and show competence in
their application;
avoid conflicts of interest and commitment to maintaining impartiality;
treat sensitive information with complete confidence;
negotiate business in a professional and ethical manner;
demonstrate knowledge and observation of the requirements of other (professions’)
codes of practice;
demonstrate due diligence in using third-party endorsement, which must have prior
approval; and
comply with the governing laws of the relevant country concerned.
Marketing Ethics Defined
‘The analysis and application of moral
principles to marketing decision making and
the outcomes of these decisions.’
Determining Whether An
Action is Ethical
Early attempts to devise frameworks of how to act ethically involved asking
ourselves reflective questions as follows (Laczniak and Murphy, 1993):
Does the contemplated action violate the law (legal test)?
Is this action contrary to widely accepted moral obligations (duties test)?
Does the proposed action violate any other special obligations that stem from the type of
marketing organization in focus (special obligations test)?
Is the intent of the contemplated action harmful (motives test)?
Is it likely that any major damage to people or organizations will result from the contemplated
action (consequences test)?
Is there a satisfactory alternative action that produces equal or greater benefits to the parties
affected than the proposed action (utilitarian test)?
Does the contemplated action infringe on property rights, privacy rights, or the inalienable
rights of the consumer (rights test)?
Does the proposed action leave another person or group less well off? Is this person or group
already a member of a relatively underprivileged class (justice test)?