An Examination of Marketing Ethics Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4000 words

An Examination of Marketing Ethics - Essay Example The teleological, or consequences driven ethics, involve the utilitarian principle. Essentially, this means the ends justify the means. It also means someone must determine what is best for the most people, and what hurt tolerance is acceptable for the remainder. The individual perspective drives these utility decisions and perspectives more than a central decision maker can determine.  So, how do researchers use these various rules and theories to study ethics? The first controversy regards whether the ethical application is a framework or a theory. (Laczniak, 1983) There is no real consensus among marketers, so Laczniak opts to deal with these issues as framework: â€Å"a skeletal structure designed to support a perspective.† (1983) Supportive of this framework structure is a lack of empirical evidence to theorize about ethical behavior. The framework discussed will not derive ethical rules or laws, but will help marketing managers deal with decisions that have ethical imp lications. (ibid)   The consequences based ethic framework, that is, teleological, concerns four data points: perceived consequences for considered actions; probability that consequences will affect the stakeholder group; the good or bad of each consequence; and the relative importance of each group. (Hunt, 2006)  The subjective nature of these data is striking. The perceived consequences of any action are likely to be an incomplete list at best and in polar opposition to reality at worst.   Intent.  ... The Ten Commandments are largely codified in modern society. A review of ethics requires a review of certain principles and rules. The following list from Laczniak (1983): 1. The Golden Rule states ethical behavior treatment is based on how the actor would want to be treated. 2. The utilitarian principle implies ethical behavior is a result of the greatest good for the greatest number of people, and by extension, the least amount of bad. 3. Kant’s categorical imperative demands to act so that the action, under the circumstances, could be a universal ethical law or standard of behavior. 4. The professional ethic requires action that would be viewed as proper by a peer review process. 5. The TV test relies on management reflecting on a TV interview and asking â€Å"Would I be comfortable explaining to a national TV audience why I took this action?†Ã¢â‚¬â„¢ The utilitarian principle implies the end is more important than the means in ethical behavior. The other rules or th eories consider behavior to be moral or immoral, and results to be less controllable by the actor. Behavior based ethics are referred to as deontological while the results or consequence theories are teleological. (Hunt & Vitell, 1986) The teleological, or consequences driven ethics, involve the utilitarian principle. Essentially, this means the ends justify the means. It also means someone must determine what is best for the most people, and what hurt tolerance is acceptable for the remainder. The individual perspective drives these utility decisions and perspectives more than a central decision maker can determine. So, how do researchers use these various rules and theories to study ethics? The first controversy regards whether the ethical application is a framework or a