LUBS5455 – Marketing Communications – Tony Byng

Leeds University Business School

Lecture 5
Ethics in marcoms

Tony Byng

Learning outcomes for today
• Discuss ethical questions for marcoms
• Consider a framework of potential ethical issues confronting marcoms professionals
• Reflect on personal attitudes to key ethical issues

Leeds University Business School

Leeds University Business School

Ethical questions

1

LUBS5455 – Marketing Communications – Tony Byng

Does marcoms…. provide information?

help us make decisions? create jobs? promote competition? entertain? encourage a higher standard of living? help new firms enter a market?

Leeds University Business School

Or does it…. affect product value?

influence consumer choice? make us buy things we don’t need? make us more affect us subliminally? materialistic? increase prices?

discourage debase language? competition? affect art?

affect demand?

Leeds University Business School

Leeds University Business School

Ethical issues to consider

2

LUBS5455 – Marketing Communications – Tony Byng

Ethical issues to consider
• Manipulation

• Stereotypes
– Gender
– Ethnic / minority
– Body / image

• Materialism
• Truth
• Offensive
– Sex
– Shock

• Children

• Controversial products • Unmentionable products Leeds University Business School

Leeds University Business School

Manipulation

Force of good or evil?

CON Marcoms are superficial and intrusive
Marcoms create needs
PRO Marcoms inform
Marcoms address a wide variety of basic human needs

Leeds University Business School

3

Courtesy, Sketchers USA, Inc.

LUBS5455 – Marketing Communications – Tony Byng

Leeds University Business School

Materialism

4

LUBS5455 – Marketing Communications – Tony Byng

Do we really need it?

CON

Marcoms promote materialism

PRO

Marcoms reflect society’s priorities

Leeds University Business School

5

LUBS5455 – Marketing Communications – Tony Byng

Leeds University Business School

Truth

Mistrust of marcoms
• Many consumers do not perceive ads as honest or believable • History of abuses involving sales promotion
• Deceptive practices involving direct marketing
• Internet scams and abuses

Leeds University Business School

6

LUBS5455 – Marketing Communications – Tony Byng

7

LUBS5455 – Marketing Communications – Tony Byng

What was wrong with the iPhone ad?

Leeds University Business School

8

LUBS5455 – Marketing Communications – Tony Byng

Leeds University Business School

Offensive

An appeal too far?

CON Marcoms (and ads in particular) are often offensive

PRO Marcoms are often liberating

Leeds University Business School

Leeds University Business School

Sex

9

LUBS5455 – Marketing Communications – Tony Byng

Mars vs Venus
• Women are made tense and fatigued by female nudity
• Men are energized by female nudity
(LaTour, 1990)

• ‘Cheesecake’ ads provoke negative attitudes in women, but positive attitudes for men
• ‘Beefcake’ ads reduce recall for women and are not disparaged by men
(Jones et al, 1998)

• Women respond favourably to sexual appeals when there is a strong fit between ad and brand
• Men respond favourably to sexual appeals regardless of fit
(Putrevu, 2008)

Leeds University Business School

10

LUBS5455 – Marketing Communications – Tony Byng

How did you react to the two versions of the Armani ad?

Leeds University Business School

11

LUBS5455 – Marketing Communications – Tony Byng

Does sex benefit the brand?
• Sexual ads are considered more interesting and engaging than nonsexual counterparts
• Nonsexual ads are more likely to stimulate thoughts about informational content in the ad
• Moderately explicit sexual ads deliver higher purchase intention than high or low/no sex versions of an ad

Leeds University Business