Marketing Ethics

Marketing is fundamentally about the customer and meeting customer needs. Chartered institute of marketing(as cited in Mercer, 1996) defined marketing as "Marketing is the management process responsible for identifying, anticipating and satisfying customer requirements profitably" (p.12). According to Gronroos (as cited in Mercer, 1996), " Marketing is to establish, maintain and enhance long-term customer relationships at a profit, so that the objectives in the party are met.This is done by mutual exchange and fulfillment of promises" (p.16).

According to Fernando,(2009) (Business ethics: An Indian perspective by A.C. Fernando),Ethical capacity would include the knowledge of marketing ethics.Organization culture plays an important role in building ethical capacity and ethical thinking in marketing.Ethics must become a part of the marketing planning process.Ethics in marketing can be improved if one could deliberate on what virtues are.According to Wicks, Freeman, Werhane and Martin (2009), Organizations and its leaders should always consider the following questions in ethical marketing:

* Is the organization serious about their value proposition and whether it is used to shape the brand and the value delivered to their customers?

* Does marketing describes about the kind of organization and its commitment?

* Whether organizations consider core stakeholders when they develop their marketing campaigns and takes step to make sure that their project respects not only law but also the basic moral standards?

Abela & Murphy(2007),states that " In striving to be good (effective) marketers by following norms that support the fir's interest, marketers can sometimes make decisions that are not good (ethical) because they violate norms that support other stakeholders's interest" (p.4). Focusing more on the marketing campaign of the firm fails to cater to all the stakeholders of the organization.