Before a consumer purchases a product, that product or service has been marketed in so form. It may have been through word of mouth, social media, business to business, print media or one of many other forms of advertising. Businesses use these tools in order to market and sell products and services to consumers. While advertising is necessary and a huge part of society, many seem to fall and get trapped into false promises and bad advertising practices. Businesses in the used car industry, diet pill industry, or financial industries are known to be repeat offenders of poor inaccurate and false advertising. The ethical and legal ramifications from purchasing and using products and services from a business fall directly on both the business
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Most consumers would agree that at one point or another they fell for a product or service that was too good to be true and or not as advertised. Companies will say and do anything in order for a consumer to purchase a product. The diet pill industry is one of the worst and is a multibillion dollar industry that attracts millions of consumers each year, many looking for the quick fix to a larger problem that does not exist. “Most products on the market don’t actually deliver what’s listed on their labels,” (Heid, 2013) They are mostly a bunch of air and the real recipe for weight loss can be found in diet and exercise. Many companies who fail to deliver as advertised are required to pay back customers in the form of a class action lawsuit. The FTC has recently required Sensa, the sprinkle on miracle diet to pay back consumers over $364 million dollars. (Anderson, 2014) Bigger scams such as the Bernie Madoff Ponzi scheme and the Enron scandal along with many corporate and individual …show more content…
“Ethical marketing decisions and efforts should meet and suit the needs of customers, suppliers, and business partners. Unethical behavior such as price wars, selective advertising, and deceptive marketing can negatively impact a company’s relationships.” (Boundless, 2014) Recent studies show that consumers prefer and want to do business with ethical companies. “As a result ethics itself is a selling point or a component of a corporate image.” (Boundless, 2014) It is important that consumers take the time to do some basic research and use the tools that are around us to our benefit. We are constantly binding ourselves to contracts, even a simple purchase at a department store comes with a receipt and a contract of
Most consumers would agree that at one point or another they fell for a product or service that was too good to be true and or not as advertised. Companies will say and do anything in order for a consumer to purchase a product. The diet pill industry is one of the worst and is a multibillion dollar industry that attracts millions of consumers each year, many looking for the quick fix to a larger problem that does not exist. “Most products on the market don’t actually deliver what’s listed on their labels,” (Heid, 2013) They are mostly a bunch of air and the real recipe for weight loss can be found in diet and exercise. Many companies who fail to deliver as advertised are required to pay back customers in the form of a class action lawsuit. The FTC has recently required Sensa, the sprinkle on miracle diet to pay back consumers over $364 million dollars. (Anderson, 2014) Bigger scams such as the Bernie Madoff Ponzi scheme and the Enron scandal along with many corporate and individual …show more content…
“Ethical marketing decisions and efforts should meet and suit the needs of customers, suppliers, and business partners. Unethical behavior such as price wars, selective advertising, and deceptive marketing can negatively impact a company’s relationships.” (Boundless, 2014) Recent studies show that consumers prefer and want to do business with ethical companies. “As a result ethics itself is a selling point or a component of a corporate image.” (Boundless, 2014) It is important that consumers take the time to do some basic research and use the tools that are around us to our benefit. We are constantly binding ourselves to contracts, even a simple purchase at a department store comes with a receipt and a contract of