Marketing Communications

SUMMARY: In this chapter, we discussed the ethics and social responsibility of an organization. Then we discussed ethical issues in various marketing communication instruments like advertising, sales promotions, etc. The main ethical issues in advertising are puffery, bad taste, stereotyping, targeting children, promoting unhealthy products and subliminal advertising. Puffery refers to making exaggerated claims about the product, which cannot be proved. Advertisements are said to be in bad taste when they offend people. Stereotyping refers to portraying men or women in a particular role, with a negative image. Advertisements targeted at children are considered unethical as children are not capable of processing the given information. Consumption of unhealthy products like fast food and tobacco products lead to bad health. So promoting such products is not good. In subliminal advertising, the viewer is exposed to product messages and pictures in such a way that he is not aware of watching them