现代生活中营销已根深蒂固

现代生活中营销已根深蒂固

营销伦理-几个世纪前道德的研究就已经成为人类状况的一部分。伦理是一种哲学的概念，试图在一个特定的时间和文化事件中解释道德组织。它更关注的是道德观念的提出方式而非在社会这一概念下评判这些观念。然而，将其放在任何哲学主题历史下看，注意关于哲学观念的区分又是非常重要的，它们往往是历史和文化在时间中交织的产物，进而从被同时代人所接受的形态演变为更容易被后代接受的形态。（MacIntyre 2006）。对于西方哲学来说，伦理研究的基础始于古希腊。例如，苏格拉底认为，一个人行为的最终目的就是幸福的终极目标，而美德（道德）是实现这一目标的根本方法。既然所有人类都在本质上追求幸福，那就意味着，所有人类都是道德的，而任何邪恶只不过是无知而已。苏格拉底的学生，柏拉图根据其观点的主要内容把这种观点扩大为美德不仅仅是做到不无知，更加体现在道德美德正义、坚韧、节制、和谐上。

 

Marketing Is So Ingrained In The Modern Life 

 

Ethics in Marketing- The study of ethics has been part of the human condition for centuries. Ethics is a philosophical concept that attempts to explain the moral organization within a given chronological time and cultural event. It is more concerned with understanding the way that ethnical ideas are presented, than judging those concepts within the construct of the society. However, when one looks at the history of any philosophical subject, it is important to note that differing concepts of philosophy often arise "out of" that very historical and cultural fabric of the time - and then evolve so that they become more acceptable to future generations rather than contemporaneous ones (MacIntyre 2006). For western philosophy, the basis for the study of ethics arose in Ancient Greece. Socrates, for example, believed that the pinnacle action of anything that makes one human is the ultimate goal of happiness, and virtue (morality) is the manner to reach that. Since all humans intrinsically seek happiness, it must mean, then, that all humans are moral and just, and any evil is nothing more than ignorance. Socrates' student, Plato, took this view and expanded on it by indicating that virtue is not just the absence of ignorance, but in such moral virtues like justice, fortitude, temperance, and harmony. Aristotle, taking both ideas, used his observation of the world to show that it is really only happiness that all humans strive; and everything else is simply a part of that ultimate activity (Roochnick, 2004).

 

As capitalism evolved and has now matured, it is not surprising that there are ethical issues surrounding some of the mechanisms of capitalistic templates (sales, marketing, etc.). Marketing ethics is simply a way to apply ethics and moral principles to the overriding need for principles of action within the field of marketing. The overriding idea of ethics within the field of marketing and marketing research is the view that as a discipline, marketing can be inherently evil. This populist view says that marketing damages personal autonomy, induces buyers into decisions that require purchasing something they do not need or really want, but have been coerced into purchasing based on the impact of self-image, relations to one another, and cultural knowledge and background (Schneider 1983).

 

One of the primary functions of the very nature of marketing research is interpretation. Interpretation is analyzing the data and making recommendations. This involves understanding of the market, the firm, the firm's goals, and the gaps and then recommending the actions to close the gaps. Ethical lapses include: 1) Maliciously misrepresenting recommendations to meet personal or functional goals at the expense of the firm's goals and best interests; 2) Misrepresenting the expertise and understanding by the marketing research group

 

3) Being less than knowledgeable in the marketing research craft, improperly conducting the research and then analyzing and making recommendations based on this incompetency; 4) Discovering a mistake in the analysis and interpretation and not coming forward to correct this mistake. Consequences are, of course, many - from the level of trust in the data to a legal suite and monetary damages (Wayde 2006).

 

This places the entire rubric of marketing research into three potential frameworks:

 

Value Oriented - This theoretical framework takes on ethical problems on the basis of what they may impact; honesty, integrity, privacy, adherence to moral standards, etc. The American Marketing Association's Statement of Ethics is an example of this type of approach (Essential Connections - Your Marketing Society 2010).

 

Stakeholder Oriented - This approach focuses on ethical problems and the way results and/or approaches might affect consumers, competitors, society as a whole, other countries, etc. This is more of a causality (deontological) approach, and considers the basic question of ends justifying the means and actual, measurable impact (Davidson 2002).

 

Process Oriented - A process oriented framework analyzes ethical problems in terms of the language of marketing: product, price, place, promotion, and positioning: Product - What is the item or service that one is offering? How is this product "positioned" with the competition, other parts of the same company, etc?

 

Price - What is the pricing strategy? At what point must that change? How can price influence competitiveness and/or positioning?

 

Place - The Distribution aspect of marketing - how does the service or product get to the consumer or end-user? What are the fees involved? Is it a national or international product - what complexities does distribution add to the product?

 

Promotion - Advertising, and how will this product or service become known to the intended audience? Is it specific (e.g. widget a), or generic (brand "Nike"). What is the goal of promotion, and how does price affect the company's ability to spend dollars in this area.

 

Positioning in marketing is a bit more complex, and must be constantly reevaluated: Where is the product or service in relation to the competition? What is the target or intended audience and is that market new, saturated, or lagging? What repositioning needs are three - discounts, sales, tie-in offers (Garrison 1990).

 

Corporate Social Responsibility Within Market Research - The essence of corporate social responsibility (CSR) is a self-regulated approach integrated into a strategic and tactical business model that assures that organization's compliance with the spirit, ethics, and standards of the law. The goal of business in using CSR is to encourage actions and functions so that it does not become necessary for governmental regulations to force compliance. CSR does this by encouraging community growth, public disclosure and eliminating practices that harm or have the potential to harm society - whether legal or not. The basis of CSR is doing what is right - in the public interest while still maintaining corporate growth and profitability. In a way, this harkens back to the Social Contract theories of Rousseau and Locke - if one does what is right for the individual, then society, one will profit as an organization (See also Figure 1) (Kerr 2009).

 

Figure 1 -CSR Overview CSR interacts dimensionally with convergent levels of the environment; physical, social, consumer, and employees, really - all stakeholders in the organization's milieu. It is most certainly not country or region specific, although there is some strife between the developed and developing world over the issue since the developing world believes it is unfair to hold them to the same standards when the developed world has had hundreds of years after industrialization to prepare, make errors, and atone (Koestoer 2008). Nevertheless, the manner in which CSR is affected by Internet Research, advertising, and as a fundamental privacy issue is huge. From an ethical point of view, then, one must ask how the Internet and subsequent technologies must be used in order to keep in line with the basic principle of CSR (Jonker & De Witte (eds.) 2010).

 

The Internet and Market Research - We now live in a computerized, Internet based, society based on the paradigm of globalism. The concept of globalization in economic and cultural development is a reality for the 21st century. The Internet and advances in telecommunication has made it easy to do business with any country in the world, to increase cultural and social contact, and to extend more timely communication between individuals. Similarly, the end of the Cold War signaled a different type of realignment of nations - rather than East West philosophically dividing the world, global cultures are now looking to trade and economic growth to change the pattern of their own structures. The developing world, able to see and hear news and entertainment from the developed world, wants to change. This change resulted in a new and different paradigm for marketing research - not only in the collection of data (the means), but the review and interpretation of data based on a citizenry that may not be as marketing sophisticated as those in the first world (Green 2010).

 

Marketing research is usually divided into two formal parts: primary (field) and secondary (desk research). Within both types one can format quantitative (general themes and feelings, emotions, views, etc.) and qualitative (statistical or mathematical focus). Within both of these templates there are sub disciplines: exploratory research (investigates an assumption); descriptive research (describes the market or product as it is); predictive research (conducted to predict what might happen if certain other things occur); and conclusive research (designed to provide managers with a conclusion about a technique, product, or service. The approach of each particular mode, or combination, is dependent upon the type of project, scope, budget, and long-term goals and results (Ibid.).

 

As the popularity of the Internet grew, and marketing became a necessity, not an option, it was obvious that the Internet was also a superb tool for gleaning more information about the consumer. Here was a relatively captive audience with which one could collect volumes of data very quickly and inexpensively. Too, internet transactions are far more dynamic and less predictable than their physical counterparts - clicking through and ordering a product has different barriers to entry and psychological pressures than the traditional sales and marketing format. However, collection of information about customers, necessary as it in any form of relationship marketing, has different challenges on the Internet than in face-to-face marketing and/or data collection and research programs. First, web clients may often be anonymous - consumers may be whoever they wish to be over the Internet and the researcher has no way of verifying such. Second, consumers are increasingly wary of providing personal information about themselves over the Internet for fear of cybercrime, misuse of data and even companies purporting to be market research and collecting information for something entirely different. Thus, the trust and accuracy level diminishes on both sides when someone is not physically present - even though the amount of data collected and the cost per collection is quite low (Lee 2001, 12-14).

 

While all this information is valuable, it does not really answer some of the vital questions necessary for the contemporary global market researcher. To glean actual data, marketing professionals need to know more detailed demographic and psychographic information about purchasing, whether that be in person or on the Internet. Thus, the way survey research is conducted has changed because of the Internet - almost ninety percent of marketing research is now, in fact, done online. The success and continued use of the Internet for this type of research is based on five solid reasons: 1)It allows for better and faster decision making; 2) Business intelligence is available 24/7 - changes are easy to make and publish; 3) It improves the ability for companies to respond quickly to consumer need; 4) Follow up studies, tracking, and verification are easier; 5) Costs of research are diminished (mailing, calling, data entry, tabulation, etc.) and marketing budgets can now focus on use and interpretation of data (Vine 2000).

 

Ethics and Marketing Research on the Internet - As noted, the dramatic evolution of the Internet continues to present a number of superb opportunities for the global collection and dissemination of market research data. Like many tools, though, it raises a number of ethical questions that must be addressed so that continued research will be both possible and believable. Besides the obvious reasons already mentioned, because Internet research is so easy and inexpensive, along with a very difficult regulatory environment, means that its potential misuse by inexperienced or less ethical organizations, often based outside the standard European or American Marketing fields, may fall below acceptable standards for research. Any misuse of methodology or information has several potential fall outs: it can impact the industry as a whole, making legitimate information and the collecting of such suspect; it can harm the consumer's perception of the validity of marketing research; it can diminish the value of marketing research within the business community (Chansarkar 2002).

 

Following these ethical guidelines protects both the research company and the public from nefarious research, but moreover, sets a strong tone of CSR. Indeed, the number of Internet users is so vast and the information so tempting that it was necessary to legislate national standards for the sending of commercial e-mail over the Web. The Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations Act of 2003 does just that, but is highly criticized as only controlling certain types of email. Many critics refer to this act as the "You Can Spam" Law because it legalizes most e-mail spam and does not require e-mailers to gain permission prior to sending marketing message (Anti-Spam Laws in the UK 2010; (Privacy and Electronic Communications (EC Directive) Regulations 2003). From a marketing perspective, the law has the threat of EU citations a control over misuse, but in reality, the act prohibits individuals from suing spammers, and is largely unenforced. Unregulated and improper marketing research spam, for instance, comprised 90 percent of all email send during 2009 and an additional forty percent contained bogus headers advertising marketing surveys, etc. that had nothing to do with the actual product being marketed (European Network and Information Security Agency 2010). Further, the EU Commission on Communications calls for more global cooperation against Spam noting:

 

Spam is a global problem that requires global action. If we want to combat spam effectively, efforts made in the European Union and other regions of the world myst be echoed by similar efforts at the international level, not only by governmets but also businesses and consumers (Liikanen 2004).

 

Conclusions - Over the past four-five decades, the marketing research industry has changed dramatically. The tools for collection and analysis are easier, the amount of data more robust, and the sharing of information cross-borders is commonplace. The innovations provided by the Internet, however, are most certainly not static or even mature. The use of Virtual Reality, for instance, can change the experience of the research instrument. "Unlike traditional media, the Internet encompasses the entire 'sales process.' Therefore, online advertising can, and is, integrated with the other processes of selling [and marketing] and is likely to remain the critical element in managing consumer relationships. Managing both these expectations and the information one hopes to glean also remains challenging. At all levels, students must be taught to critically analyze the text they are reading; be prepared to challenge the data with which they are presented, and understand that ethical standards in the field are necessary in order to continue to engender belief in the system. The ease of use and the vast amount of data must, therefore, be tempered with continued vigilance and self-policing of adherence to ethical standards which will, in turn, compliment CSR within any organization.