ETHICAL CODES AND PRINCIPLES q Code of ethics

ETHICAL CODES AND PRINCIPLES q Code of ethics refer to explicit minimum rules that an organization must have to guide the culture and behaviour of organizational members in matters to do with decision making and actions that lead to positive outcomes using justifiably reasonable means q Code of ethics prescribe the behaviour that marketing men and women must display when dealing with the various stakeholders q Although the marketing profession is not governed by a corporation, there exist numerous codes of conduct including that of the American Marketing Association which is the best known. 03/09/2021 owinojoseph@gmail. com 1

Codes of Ethics (Cont’d) q In America for instance, the Better Business Bureau (BBB) in retail sector possesses its own code of ethics by which it is committed to. These include a) Respecting the spirit and the letter of all legislation concerning business and professional practices; b) Presenting information on the products or services offered in such a way that it is clearly understood by all; c) Respecting, without restriction, the obligations contracted towards the client; d) Avoiding unfair practices of trading or competition; 2/25/2019 owinojoseph@gmail. com 2

Code of Ethics (Cont’d) e. Settling customer complaints in a fair manner; f. Banishing tendentious or misleading selling and advertising methods. q In many organizations, code of ethics are developed by the human resource management with the input of other departmental heads including marketing q Codes of ethics are developed as separate document but often reflected through strategic and service document such as service delivery charter, quality policy, Vision and Mission 03/09/2021 owinojoseph@gmail. com 3

1. Principal of Honesty Entails telling the truth through clear explicit communication Specifies minimum levels of satisfaction and standards, independent of outcomes It means honouring the promise (words) The rights principle is based on Kant's categorical imperative which basically incorporates two criteria for judging an action First, every act should be based on a reason(s) that everyone could act on, at least in principle (universality) 03/09/2021 owinojoseph@gmail. com 4

1. Principal of Honesty (Cont’d) • • The second criterion is that action must be based on reasons the actor would be willing to have all others use, as a basis of how they treat the actor (reversibility) False advertising, the modification of a product without informing the consumer, the honoring of guarantees, as well as the recall of defective products are all actions which should be governed by principle of honesty 03/09/2021 owinojoseph@gmail. com 5

2. Justice This principle is designed to protect the interests of all parties involved The three categories of justice are distributive, retributive, and compensatory Distributive justice holds that equals should be treated equally and un-equals should be treated un-equally Retributive justice deals with blaming and punishing people for doing wrong The punishment must be consistent with or proportional to the wrongdoing 03/09/2021 owinojoseph@gmail. com 6

2. Justice Compensatory justice is concerned with compensation for the wronged individual The compensation should restore the injured party to his/her original position Justice means going beyond the law The moral obligation to justice sees to it that individuals are compensated according to their performance, thus avoiding any abusive discrimination 03/09/2021 owinojoseph@gmail. com 7

3. Gratitude q Suggests that our actions must take into consideration the good which others have done us q Policy changes within a distribution network without informing all parties or unannounced changes in modes of payment of salespeople are cases where this principle is not respected 03/09/2021 owinojoseph@gmail. com 8

4. The duty not to place the health or safety of others in danger q Is the most important of these principles q For example, the practice of indicating “no cholesterol” on the packages of such products as chips, without necessarily being false, nonetheless caused confusion for certain consumers and this, at the expense of their health q Think about marketing of candies, broiler chicken (use of antibiotics by farmers), abortion, real estate (rush for quick money amid collapsing buildings), micro-wave and processed products among many examples 03/09/2021 owinojoseph@gmail. com 9