Is Marketing Ethical?
CONSUMPTION AND MARKETING
How are they linked?…
Hyperbolic sponsored advertising, strategic content, reverse advertising, sponsored online retail content, algorithms, ad formats, strategic targeted advertising, strategic partnerships for targeted consumer groups, marketing tech, behavioural patterning… and the list goes on. Raising the question is marketing ethical, is quite ironic and an interesting paradox, because as I ask this question, I begin to brand a journey on Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn profiles. Although these are known as social media. They are key marketing platforms and it makes me question am I being ethical by using these?
Marketing is multi-faceted and multi-dimensional, however it's essentially companies trying to promote their message, story or brand to their target audience and sometimes it seems that whoever yells the loudest wins. It makes me think marketing in some form has been around since the dawn of time. I’m sure cavemen gathered around talking about which watering holes were better than others, surely?
As much as modern advancements gives us more than just word of mouth, you wonder if we don’t have marketing how are consumers going to find out what brands are trying to tell them? Not all forms of marketing can be bad, right? A billboard on a building of a fluffy puppy dog has to be completely ethical. After all fluffy puppy dogs wrapped in toilet paper are cute! Don’t get me wrong some of the most brilliant women I know (and men) are marketers and absolute professionals in their craft and love what they do. They are not unethical people.
The two areas that I draw the ‘this can’t be ethical card’ are when marketing is used with the intent to manipulate human behaviours and for monetary gain by hurting or knowingly affecting human health. Then there is unethical sales and marketing, the marketing that is just wrong and a lie. Think of dodgy car salesman that when the car drives out of the yard it breaks down, but it was a ‘beauty’. Now I'm not making a broad generalisation as there are many ethical car salesmen. I feel like I’m offending people here which is not my intention.
There have been many marketing ploys in the past that have sat on the tightrope of ethical, think about the Nestle baby formula scandal of the 1990’s or more recently VW’s environmental claim scandal. As science progresses and we can manipulate human genes, create designer babies and manipulate human thinking. As society progresses we hear more job titles due to technology. Like Content Farmer, Copywriting Bots, Search and Consumer Alorithmsist etc. My favourite is, Truth Engineer. Has it got to a point that we don’t know what is truth and what is not?
As a person who has worked in customer service since I was 5 (clearing garlic bread plates from tables in a family restaurant) it makes me wonder have we forgotten that consumer data comes from actual living breathing human beings. Even though technology now allows us to so easily track consumer movement, behaviours and patterns. I know myself on any given day I can be completely flippant with my behaviours. I am an avid online consumer and prefer to have my food come straight from the source. Living in a city the only way I can do this is via an online means. Some days I am so indecisive about my decisions and other times I know what I want and I'm in and out of a site within 2 minutes. So is my consumer behaviour an 'average' human behaviour or are we simply relying on averages of averages. Algorithms and data collection is not subjective but humans are subjective beings. As science, food production and fast paced society and consumerism ramps up so too does the rise of slow movements. Will the next slow movement be slow marketing? Not sure how that is possible. But I guess there is one form of slow marketing that has been around for ever… Word of mouth. Some word of mouth is slightly faster now with online review and word of mouth sites.
Recently I was reading zero waste by Bea Johnson. She suggests ways to 'decrease activities that support or lead to consumption'; Marketing that comes from clever advertising often evokes feelings or need and we often feel having that will make us happy. Have we had our minds manipulated so much that we can believe that things lead to happiness? Sure enjoying life's luxuries is a nice to have but aren't the people around us, not enough reason to be happy. So is marketing ethical? I think it all comes down to intent? What do you think? Contact us ciao@levata.life and let us know
Words By
Anita La Forgia
Life learner, multipotentialite, lifestyle elevator and creator
A treechanger who cooks to elevate life. Anita is passionate foodie using local, quality and seasonal ingredients. Living in the Macedon Ranges in Victoria she frequents the local farmers markets each week, with her beloved luggy. Her grandparents instilled the life skills of sustainable living, before sustainable living was a buzz word. She grew up in a restaurant and completing her International degree at César Ritz colleges in Switzerland, the heart land of hospitality, food and service.
Feature image: Upsplash