Deception In Advertising

In marketing and advertisements, there are many ethical issues that may come into play. Deception is one of the biggest ethical issues for those who work in marketing. This means lying about the capabilities of a product or service and not delivering what the customer paid for. In order to follow the ethical code followed by marketers, deception should be permanently discontinued. Many may have experience the disappointment of buying a product and either it breaking or not even working like it was advertised. If following the code of ethics provided by the American Marketing Association, this should never happen. Honesty is the first ethical value listed, and it lists that all marketers should strive to be truthful at all times, honor all commitments and promises, and stand behind their products even if they fail to deliver their claimed benefits (AMA Publishing n.d.). As a marketing student …show more content…
The facts need to be gathered about the product and extensive testing should happen before the product is presented to the public. The main ethical issue would be to lie to make a profit or be truthful and possibly not make as much. The main principles would be those mentioned above Utilitarianism and Ethical relativism. This is because a marketer would need to consider both the good for all and himself when making the decision to lie about the product. Some of the alternatives to deception would be going back and trying to fix the product’s problems or merely listing all the potential problems with the product when trying to sell it to customers. Other alternatives can be eliminated by using utilitarianism and ethical relativism to determine if it would be beneficial to all parties involved. The consequences of every moral decision should be considered, positive and negative. The easiest solution would be to be honest about a product and its potential problems (Rae,