Modern Marketing Communication - Essay Example

Marketing communication is an intense exchange of value that are beneficial to people. The set-up presents an array of logically connected activitiesfor the generation and expression of knowledge in a variety of styles. Marketing communication is about the purposeful trading of ideas. In a sense, modern marketing concept focuses on the aim of addressing consumer needs and wants but the ultimate outcomes may not be for the betterment of either the customers or society (Rotfeld 2001). A lack of understanding of the ethical issues associated with market segmentation and selection has led to tremendous social and economic costs. (Pravat, 2003). Modern marketing communications is not just indicators of availability of products and services. Daily experience and our knowledge of marketing principles show that communication in marketing is much more than informing, since one can observe such actions as sponsorship, product repositioning, consumer targeting, image redefinition and brand renewal. (Varey, 2001). Marketing communication is a set of purposive activities, linked and coordinated to some degree. These activities are simply some of the actions that occur in a situation, impart some influence on the situation and are in turn influenced by the context in which they arise. Contexts are not isolated sets of circumstances that are easily identified - rarely do we have full knowledge Video games promote targeted marketing. Targeted marketing, refers to the concentrated marketing of a product to a segment of consumers due to the economic possibilities of the group, in terms of factors such as its size and growth rate. (Cespedes 1993). When marketers promote a product beneficial to a group of consumers, targeted marketing becomes ethical and is well-received by consumers. The soft and subtle targeting of potentially harmful products at vulnerable consumers has received criticism which includes targeting children with R-rated movies and using animal characters to promote cigarettes and alcohol (Wall Street Journal 1997). Consumer vulnerability has been the essence of marketing ethics. In numerous legal cases, the court system in the U.S. has defined vulnerable consumers as a group of people who, due to various idiosyncrasies, are sensitive and susceptible to the potential negative effects associated with using a particular product (Morgan, Schuler and Stoltman 1995). Marketing is an exchange between marketers and consumers that aims to satisfy consumer needs and maximize the return on investment for shareholders. There is a persistent tension between marketers' interests and those of consumers (Smith 1995). This conflict forms the basis for different positions on the ethics continuum of marketing practices (Smith 1995, 1993). However, placing consumers' interests against those of marketers on the ethics continuum may be too simplistic, because it may imply that marketing is a zero-sum game and reject the possibility of a win-win outcome (Smith 1995). Both marketers and consumers may form their perceptions of the ethics of specific marketing scenarios according to ethical principles such as rights, justice, fairness, and equity (Dunfee, Smith, and Ross 1999 Based on the website of the American Marketing Association commits itself to promoting the highest standard of professional ethical norms and values for its members. Norms are established standards of conduct that are expected and maintained by society and professional groups. Values represent the collective conception of what people find desirable, important and morally proper. Values serve as the criteria for evaluating the actions of others. Marketing practitioners must recognize that they not only serve their enterprises but also act as stewards of society in creating, facilitating and executing the efficient and effective transactions that are part of the greater economy. Behaviour can be modified when people communicate. This explains how some advertising and word-of-mouth interaction affect consumer choices Product purchase is an expression of a preference among a fixed range of options (those offered by providers). This is product or brand selection rather than choice. The normative theories of marketing ethics provide a basis for moral decision of the practitioners and on the ethical issues in marketing (Smith 2001). The contingency approach provides a framework for evaluating the ethics of the marketing exchange and can help decisive decision-making in marketing and public policy. Marketing communications has changed dramatically. Currently, consumers have resorted to direct action against providers' attempts to treat consumers as merely 'necessary profit-making fodder' (Statt, 1997:293), through price increases, service cuts, or adulteration of quality. The buyers and consumers can now launch boycotts, organized complaints, and even legal action. The consumers have taped alternative lifestyles, such as green consumerism, ethical investment, and the exchange economy which are growing movements. Answer to question No. 2: It is essential to study each new technology before and during its introduction into various countries, corporations, schools, and cultures. Ethical issues arise with the introduction of new technology in people's lives. New technologies are being introduced more rapidly into society than ever before, and it is especially important to study the effects and ethical issues accompanying new communications media. Problems include anonymity and mass obsolescence. Many electronic message systems make false, borrowed, encrypted, and unknown identities (fake IDs) easier to transmit further, faster, and en masse. Moreover, cyber automation features new software every month that renders skills and trades obsolete or less necessary. Major media mergers feature old media (broadcasting, print) holding hands with new players leading to oligopolies in the field of information and the press. (Cooper, 1998). Computers, satellites, fiber optics, faxes, the internet, virtual reality, and a host of other technologies have sustained, amplified and transformed, and introduced numerous ethical issues and social effects before society can digest such rapid change. In a runaway technology and effect explosion, it is natural for humanity to wish to regain dominion over technology and its effects. Researchers may focus on specific situations that would raise ethical concerns for marketers, especially variations in consumers' ethical evaluations of marketing practices (e.g., advertising and distribution) for different market segments (e.g., children and the elderly). Information and choice are two important criteria to determine marketing ethics under the principle of consumer sovereignty (Smith 1995). Lynn Sharp Paine, has focused on the ethics of video game marketing. In her book, Value Shift, Paine is pretty critical of "point-and-shoot" games, citing them as an example of "the financial rewards of moral indifference". (p. 58) This is a well-written excerpt from p. 59 of her book: According to one expert in this are, these games...erode resistance to killing. In the process, they also increase players' comfort with lethal weapons, desensitize them to the weapons' deadly effects, and develop their marksmanship skills. Game publications and Web sites still mostly employ low-paid hobbyists who are easy targets of lavish marketing events that encourage inappropriate ties between game makers and game critics. Alex Pham of the Los Angeles Times cited the efforts of producers of video games to put introductions and access for paid review writers. The paid writers then feature the favored video games for good coverage. The preparation for editorial-promotions relationships can cause writers to neglect their role as critics and arbiters of game quality. There is a place of compromise where photos and text is subject to consent by handlers. A Press Conference on Violent Video Games from the Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility (ICCR), a thirty-year-old group of 275 faith-based institutional organization calls on the marketers and sellers of video games to: a.) Establish standards for marketing video games that encourage/reward players for performing acts of violence and brutality, and that depict images demeaning to women and minorities; b.) Take care that minors from purchasing/renting M-rated games by separating these from other games so that parents can shop for products appropriate for their children; and, c.) evaluate and report on their enforcement and compliance programs of policies to prevent minors from purchasing violent video games. (InterFaith Center on Corporate Responsibility). WORKS CITED Choudhury, Pravat. "Consumer interests and the ethical implications of marketing: a contingency framework Journal of Consumer Affairs. December 22, 2003. Cooper, Thomas. New Technology Effects Inventory: Forty Leading Ethical Issues. Journal of Mass Media Ethics. Volume: 13. Issue: 2. Publication Year: 1998. Page Number: 72. Payne, Lynn Sharp. (2002). Value Shift: Why Companies Must Merge Social and Financial Imperatives to Achieve Superior Performance. Seiler, Andy. 2000. Studios Admit to Targeting Children: Some Execs Defiant over Marketing of R-rated Film. USA Today, September 28: A1. Varey, Richard. (2001). Marketing Communication: Principles and Practice. New York: Routledge. Online Sources American Marketing Association on Ethics. Available orld Watch. 1998. "New Blood" for Gun Markets. 11 (4): 28. at URL: http://www.marketingpower.com/content435.php. Press Conference on Violent Video Games. Available at URL: http://www.workplacespirituality.info/ViolentVideoGames.html Read More