Digital Marketing: Good or Evil - Essay Example

Digital Marketing: Good or Evil? Introduction Profit generation in a business is a resultant outcome process that is achieved when good strategies and approaches are used to lure the customers into buying a company’s product. Marketing is a very key department in a business organisation. Businesses invest a lot of resources in ensuring that good and services that a firm produces can be largely sold to the customers so that revenue can be generated (Blythe, 2006: 89). In the contemporary world today, business operations have taken new shifts with the changes that have been trending in the society. One thing that has changed the outlook of businesses is the technological advancement. Many firms have sought to improve their performance and reach their long term objectives with the aid of new technologies that have since been developed. Marketing sector has not been left out as many managers have been observed to be moving towards marketing strategies that integrate latest technological methods and systems that can largely help reach out to the targeted customers. Brand promotion is one of the areas that have embraced digital approach in marketing and a lot of questions ranging from ethical concerns, micro environmental issues to cooperation. A debate has ensued amongst various players in the socio-economic sector arguing whether digital marketing is good or evil based on the three aforementioned dimensions. This essay aims at critically weighing up both the positive and the negative attributes of digital marketing in order to conclusively take a stand whether it is good or evil. Thesis statement: digital marketing is both good and evil depending on how it is carried out. Description of Digital Marketing According to Evans and McKee (2010: 35), digital marketing is an element of electronic commerce or e-trading that utilises electronic devices to engage those they target. It is a marketing method that is supported by technology and cushioned by media. Internet is a major player in digital marketing and emails, websites, as well as social media, are used in reaching out to the target customers so they may be allured into purchasing the company’s products. Moreover, digital marketing encircles other electronic platforms that do not use internet such as the television, radio among others to promote businesses. In the recent times, the emergence and broadcasted influence of both social and electronic media have had a substantial Effect in the lives of the society members. People have turned from the analogue ways such as letter writing, poster adverts and other unsophisticated traditional methods to modernised and advanced approaches that have since improved convenience and efficiency. It is for this reason that businesses as well have resorted to modernised ways such as creating social media accounts and engaging the potential customers thereby improving the company’s reputation, fame and touch with the public. How does Technology Relate to Digital Marketing? The major drive behind digitisation of marketing observed in the contemporary society is a fundamentally as a result of wave of enlightenment that has seen advanced technology come up. The first thing that rings in a person’s mind when they hear about the world digital is technology. With the realisation of convenience, efficiency and cost saving benefits that technology brings, many businesses have resorted to its application especially in the marketing arena. Internet marketing is indisputably one of the major trends in the current world (Ryan and Jones, 2012: 110). Businesses have created online accounts and profiles that they use to communicate with customers as well as update them on the developments. Internet marketing has a lot of advantages that a company can accrue, and this has influenced many organisations into investing a lot of resources to so as to exploit this. A major reason internet marketing is preferred is due to the cheaper cost that are likely to be incurred. Once the company has identified some particular base where the target customers or stakeholder is, all that is necessary is to create a social media account, and the process is done. Additionally, the fact that internet marketing has a relatively large audience makes the mode of marketing attractable. It is a possible for an advert to reach a very big number all over the world. Its convenience is as well non-debatable. Business promotion and marketing can be done all day and night long unlike in other cases where time is restricted as seen in newspaper advertisements (Van Tassel and Poe-Howfield, 2010: 144). Technology is the major principle that underpins digital marketing. It is through the mobile phones, computers and other electronic gadgets that are technologically-enhanced to accesses the online market that allows this activity to be carried out. The manner in which digital marketing is refined and polished enables many organisation managers to be able to inspect and trace the trend of their ‘Return On Investment (ROI) something that could not be achieved with the previous outmoded systems of marketing (Ryan and Jones, 2012: 122). What is the Microenvironment Perspective on Digital Marketing? Digital marketing has a great influence in the internal environment of a business organisation. From a micro-perspective, it can be seen that the need to shift to digital marketing affects all the internal stakeholders in the company from employees to management. The need to impress on the digital world that is marked with up-to-the-minute, stylish and erudite commodities compels the company to operate in particular ways so as to meet these demands in the digital market. For example, the recruitment of employees in certain departments and units may be restricted to certain younger age so as to have a workforce that is updated on the latest technology that can help capture the modernised market. This, arguably, can create discrimination and segregation when it comes to hiring of workers; something that is a real ethical concern (Richardson, Gosnay and Carrroll, 2010: 157). Utilitarian Theory of Ethics This theory posits that what is good is so because it serves the majority interest of the society members. It posits that an action or activity is deemed good or bad depending on the benefits or harm it brings to a larger population of the community (Ess, 2009: 133). This, therefore, means that digital marketing, according to this theory is only good if it does not harm the society. Consumer exploitation, irresponsible ads and other activities that are likely to be associated with digital marketing cancel the ethical golly of this marketing method. As in the case where a young consumer would be hoodwinked into believing that a commodity is of high quality simply because it has been advertised with the best graphics, digital marketing may be a frustration in safeguarding and the social norms and protecting the consumers (Schwartz, 2011: 11). When the company operates to benefit itself through discriminating against relatively aged workers, it becomes an unethical action according to the utilitarian theory. Actions such as selective recruitment that seeks to only benefit a smaller section (recruiting company) at the expense of a bigger population are rendered unethical and evil. This ethical perspective construes what is right as non-discriminatory actions that leave larger percentage of the community happy (Brenkert and Beauchamp, 2010: 156). How is Cooperation achieved through Digital Marketing? According to social capital theory, benefits are accrued when social networks connect diverse people especially on online platforms. The pooling of different people from diverse economic backgrounds can help connect and improve their economic values. Through information sharing and cooperation, consumers are much more likely to have an advantage when subscribing to digital marketing. However, the issue of privacy has always been a major concern especially when social media is used. Most organisations advertise their products in electronic spaces that require users to either ‘like’ or ‘follow’ those pages they use. For example, one’s privacy is exposed when a person ‘likes’ some page on Facebook or ‘follow’ a certain brand on Twitter. Those who would want to secretly be associated with certain brands without the knowledge of their friends or relatives find it almost impossible. In most cases, their information is usually passed on to other people even without knowledge (Dahl, 2014: 236). What is the Ethical Concern with Digital Marketing? Although there are plenty of reasons why businesses would want to recourse to digital marketing, ethical concerns have been raised about whether the activities involved in this marketing method align well with the moral/ ethical framework in the society (Vogel, et al. 2014: 210).. Does digital marketing work for the good of the social standards of the community or it violate the social ethics and moral codes? It is worth noting that the era of social digitalisation has come with a great transformation that has virtually drifted the society into a unique world where everyone is expected to act, speak and think in particular ways. Since marketing has been ‘digitised’, everyone is therefore expected to automatically respond by getting online. This means the online economic market influences people into acquiring digital platform such as social media accounts, electronic media gadgets such as televisions among others that can help provide them with information regarding the products they aim to purchase. In a nutshell, the society is responding to digital marketing by building structures and putting mechanisms that can help support digital marketing (Dahl, 2014: 233). Various studies have reported the negative social impacts that electronic media, as well as digital platforms, have on the social lives of the society members. With the current trending social media and electronic spaces that provide for global e-space interactions, businesses have also been seen to be plunging into unlawful and unethical conducts (Tuten and Solomon, 2013: 123). Research reports have conceptualised that the digital marketing breakdowns ethical oversight mechanisms that are mandated to regulate and mainstream organisations into ethically warranted paths (Evans and McKee, 2010: 100). The disruption of the normal social order is a real breach of corporate social responsibility. According to Bird (2007: 112), the shift towards digital marketing has far-reaching impacts. The ethical concern of digital marketing towards children cannot be downplayed. Children are easily enticed into buying fake products that have not met the required standards when the products are enticingly advertised on social media and other digital platforms. For example, a personal experience in which a six-year-old obese kid fell victim to fraud when he bought some fake weight-loss drugs at very expensive cost having seen its advert on some random Facebook page reveals how extensively vulnerable the young people are. Due to the attraction they get when adverts are run on these dailies that they profoundly admire, it becomes easy for them to be persuaded into buying certain items that they are not meant (Ferrell, 2014: 106). Access to unwarranted products becomes easy to such children who spend time on the internet, and this morally corrupts them. For example, tobacco and alcoholic substances may be magnified and glorified through digital media adverts with no resistance from the government simply because they do not break any law. However, from an ethical lens, these kinds of adverts are unhealthy for children (Conaway and Laasch, 2012: 161). Although there are many advertisements that children ought to be protected from, these cannot be achieved when commercial promotions are still run on the television and social media that encourage them (Palmer,2010: 167). For example, adverts promoting use of condoms have extensively debated on with those against it arguing that such digital marketing schemes erode the morality of the society especially when children view such messages. Unlike in the traditional methods where much of what was cleared to be advertised passed through a sieving process that determines if the content of the advertisement can or cannot be aired, the current digital systems hardly consider such (Dahl, 2014:234). There is no clear cut between legality of an issue compared to the ethical satisfaction it brings. Sometimes it is possible to find an advert that passes legal test but when screened ethically, it is found to be inappropriate this is the dilemma that digital marketing has brought as far as brand/product promotion is concerned. Conclusion Digital marketing is undoubtedly on the rise. It is facilitated by the winds of technology that are blowing off the tradition marketing methods and replacing it with more sophisticated (Hutt and Speh, 2013: 106). The society as a whole has shifted to online and electronic systems in handling the socio-economic activities. Marketers have realised this trend and have therefore resorted to promoting the product and their brands as well as reaching out to other stakeholders on the social media and other digital platforms. There are an extensive number of benefits that marketers get when they engage in digital systems ranging from cost reduction, convenience to wide advert coverage among others. Consumers as well are able to review products before purchasing, connect with other buyers and cooperate as conceptualised by the social capital theory. However, from the microenvironment perspective of an organisation, various impacts have been seen such as discrimination against the older generation and exclusion from certain work since they cannot keep up with the trend and dynamics of today. Other problems faced with the digital marketing include lack of privacy, exploitation of children and other consumers, unethical exposure of children and an unwarranted target to certain adverts that compromises the social, ethical standards. These compromises the companies’ engaged in digital marketing allegiance to corporate social responsibility. It is, therefore, accurate to say that accurate to say that digital marketing has both the good aspects as well as the bad ones and as demonstrated, it is the manner in which it is carried out that defines its morality. References Bird, D. (2007) Commonsense direct & digital marketing, London [u.a.], Kogan Page. Blythe, J. (2006) Marketing, London, SAGE Publications. Brenkert, G.G. & Beauchamp, T.L. (2010) The Oxford handbook of business ethics, Oxford, Oxford University Press. Conaway, R. & Laasch, O. (2012) Communication in responsible business, New York, Business Expert Press. Dahl, S. (2014) Social media marketing, London, Sage. Ess, C. (2009) Digital media ethics, Cambridge, Polity. Evans, D. & McKee, J. (2010) Social media marketing: the next generation of business engagement, Indianapolis, Ind, Wiley Pub. Ferrell, O. C. (2014) Marketing, Australia, Ma son, OH, South Western Cengage Learning. Hutt, M.D. & SPeh, T.W. (2013) Business marketing management: B2B, Australia, South-Western, Cengage Learning. Palmer, D.E. (2010) Ethical issues in e-business: models and frameworks, Hershey, PA, Business Science Reference. Richardson, N., Gosnay, R. & Carrroll, A. 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