The Health Impact of Cigarettes - Essay Example

Defining Marketing and the Health Impact of Cigarettes BY YOU YOUR SCHOOL INFO HERE HERE Defining Marketing and the Health Impact of CigarettesMarketing is much, much more than just telling and selling. It is a business activity that allows a business to communicate with customers and inform them about the value of products and services. Marketing allows companies or brands to build relationships with important target consumers and promote a brand so that it has more market attention. Marketing is also a competitive tool that helps businesses gain a competitive advantage.

In some industries, there are many competitors offering similar products and services. In this type of market or industry, companies need to find a way to make themselves appear unique from the competition. This is called differentiation. Marketing lets business leadership find a valuable or innovative feature of a product or service and then promote to customers why this product should be purchased over similar competitor products. Marketing is also about cost controls using different metrics to measure whether a promotional campaign is meeting with success.

For example, it might be discovered through market research that making a product costs the organization far too much with the operations budget. This would have an impact on the price to customers so that the company does not lose money in production. Marketing activity lets a business see all of its expenses and make changes to build a more productive manufacturing system. Controls in business strategy are very important to be successful and discover if the business can be more effective. The question of whether or not marketers should continue to market cigarettes is an ethical issue.

If there is consumer demand for the product and it is considered a legal substance, there really is no reason why marketers cannot continue to promote the product. Consumer safety is a big issue in marketing and general business, but in the case of cigarettes, it is consumers that are responsible to make decisions that are good for their health status. Governments and many different special interest groups have provided society with scientific knowledge about the dangers of cigarettes. There are likely few people in the world today, both young and old, that are unaware that cigarettes cause cancer and other serious illnesses and health problems.

If consumers continue to buy the product, it is not likely because of tobacco company promotions, but because they enjoy consuming the product. Ethics differ from culture to culture so there is no one universal set of beliefs and values that should be forced on cigarette marketers. Then the answer is yes, marketers should continue to market this product. Cigarette marketers should not stop using tactics in one country that have been outlawed in another. Again, cultures have different values and morals that do not apply in other countries.

In one country that has banned certain activities or messages, it could be a product of social values that makes some marketing content offensive. In another country, these same messages might be approved and thought of as completely acceptable. It is not the responsibility of marketers to avoid opportunities simply because one culture or government has decided that marketing materials are not good for its society.