Prompt #2: Defining Ethics

 In the field of marketing, ethics can definitely be a gray area. The goal is to convince the consumer to buy the product, but some companies can be guilty of not being completely truthful in their advertising. According to the American Marketing Association, the moral code of ethics that all marketers should strive to follow includes four main points:

• Strive to be truthful in all situations and at all times.
• Offer products of value that do what we claim in our communications.
• Stand behind our products if they fail to deliver their claimed benefits.
• Honor our explicit and implicit commitments and promises.

As a marketer, it is crucial to always be truthful in your advertising, and not to exaggerate your product’s capabilities just to make a sale. Companies that do so lose their credibility and end up with very unhappy customers.

Truthfully, I feel like some companies do not follow this code of ethics very well. I don’t think that this meshes well with my moral code of ethics because honesty and helping others are both extremely important to me, so personally I would not want to be part of a team that is responsible for trying to sell people a product that I don’t believe in or a product that is unhealthy. In the future, I plan on working for a non-profit organization and doing marketing for their events. I think that this side of the profession will fit my morals well because it focuses on helping people in need and bringing the community together.

The expected moral guidelines for marketers are pretty well known, but some consumers may not see marketers as the most ethical people because companies usually don’t display the negatives to their product and may exaggerate the positives when advertising. This could give people in this profession a bad rep, but some might argue that they are simply doing their job.

By: Rachel Seyfarth

Sources:

Malone, Meg. "Anne Hathaway Saying You Tell Me Lies Because They Sound Better - Gurl.com."            Gurlcom Anne Hathaway Saying You Tell Me Lies Because They Sound Better Comments. N.p.,        24 Apr. 2013. Web. 6 Feb. 2016.
"Statement of Ethics." Statement of Ethics. AMA Publishing, 2014. Web. 06 Feb. 2016.