Morality in marketing: Oxymoron or good business practice?

Abstract

Marketing morality as oxymoron or good business practice is the primary focus of this research and is a topic deserving of attention by the field. Much theory on morality involves issues like salesperson behavior that fails to examine the impact on important goals. For instance, ethicists evaluate and provide recommendations and prohibitions without concern for their influence on the financial well-being of firms. This disconnect has unintended consequences. First, moral dictates often are naive by the standards of marketing managers, out-of-touch with complexities of real world firms. Second, scholars discount prescriptions for change since they do not reflect the full range of management requirements for success. Is marketing morality an oxymoron or good business practice? The time is right for marketers to take a serious look.