The objective of this paper is to identify and analyse the policies specified by government and organisations for the protection of consumer interests and the role of ethics in consumer choice. It also analyses the role of ethics in consumer culture and give examples of how the service sector reacts to it.
The aim of this paper is to understand the movement for ethical consumption and reflect on its scope on the constitution of a new consumer culture, and its role in the “public space”.
It is important to consider, as a starting point to study the importance of ethics in business and the involvement of government in consumer policy, to make a short approach to moral and social responsibility These measures aim to increase consumers’ confidence to shop cross-border by ensuring a guaranteed minimum level of protection throughout the EU. The key Directives adopted by the EU Member States are described in a separate report published at www.dti.gov.uk/ccp/publications.htm. However the legal drivers have generally been internal market, and despite the introduction of a legal chapter for consumer policy in the Maastricht Treaty, there is little evidence to date of the integration of consumer policy in other areas. (DTI 2010)
Ethics in Consumer Culture
The rise in popularity of social responsibility over the last two decades has increasingly entered the domain of the market. Organisations have been exhorted to practice corporate social responsibility (CSR), and becoming more aware of environmental and social implications of their every day decisions and starting acting ethical. However, this practice is far from consistent or universal and the question of consumer responsibility for the social, ethical and environmental impacts of consumption decisions has begun to permeate the debate.
To gain a better understanding of this subject, let us explain first the importance and the issues addressed in a code of ethics. For an organisation is standardising its function and duties of
marketing ethics across cultures has been noted by a number of authors (Fletcher & Crawford, 2011; Armstrong & Sweeney, 1994; Singhapakdi, Rawwas, Marta & Ismail, 1999). For…
The impacts of ethics on contemporary consumer cultures Introduction Since 1970s, a new wave of consumer activism which is termed ‘alternative consumerism’ has occurred and developed (Gabriel and Lang, 2006). In this wave, consumers are increasingly aware of issues like fair trade, human rights, animal welfare, organic food, ethics, and environment. Among these elements, ethics are the most highly concerned. Ethical consumption refers to buying eco-friendly and fairly traded goods which have…
Ethics name University of Phoenix professor Date Ethics When companies take the role of being responsible for taking into consideration their consumers and develop a product that will be used or consumed in such a way that does not violate a certain code of ethics. Companies have a social responsibility to their consumers and value their wellbeing. That is especially important while incorporating that into the businesses strategic plan. The confidence of the consumer has been compromised…
Shoulder told me To Ethics is a broad term meaning different things to different people, but the concept behind it is always the same: the difference between right and wrong. Because people are raised in differing environments, their outlook on right and wrong can vary tremendously. Therefore, ethics can be looked at from many perspectives making it hard to actually define, and therein lies the problem. According to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, ethics is defined as “the discipline…
------------------------------------------------- Chapter 1—The Importance of Business Ethics MULTIPLE CHOICE 1. Principles are a. | laws and regulations that guide behavior in the world of business. | b. | mores, values, and customs that guide behavior in general. | c. | specific and pervasive boundaries for behavior that are universal and absolute. | d. | the obligations businesses assume to maximize their positive impact and minimize their negative impact on stakeholders. |…
TASK A - EVALUATION Company Q is a local grocery store chain who does not have their eye on the ball concerning business ethics. Although none of their recent decisions are criminal or morally corrupt in the broader definition of ethics (Merriem-Webster 2014), however, regarding business ethics where Company Q could be focused on increasing community awareness through positive outreach, and decreasing negativity through positive community evolvement (Gruble 2011), they have chosen instead to concentrate…
the United States, which came to be known as the ‘production era’. Goods were at a premium and consumers were always compliant to accept practically anything that was accessible to be sold and be grateful for what they are given. The ‘auction era’ started up soon afterwards that moved into the 60’s, where factories and corporations found out that they could build and produce more items than consumers would be able to purchase and that’s when competition started to grow. In the early to mid-60’s…
Introduction In the given case, it highlights the issue on direct-to-consumer advertising of prescription drugs. Right now, such advertising practice has been allowed in two developed countries like in the United States and the United Kingdom. Indeed, pharmaceutical companies find such advertising as the effective tool in maximizing their profits and creating demands. Basically, direct-to-consumer advertising for prescription drugs was usually done in various promotional materials and mediums.…
The Legal and Ethical Considerations of Marketing in America Paper Evolution of the Market Orientation explains why marketing is a driving force in the modern global economy. First of all, the first stage was covered up until the early years of the 1920’s, in the United States, called the ‘production era’. Goods were scarce and buyers were willing to accept virtually any goods that were available and make do with them. The ‘sales era’ picked up right after the early 1920’s to the 1960’s…
2. How would you define sales ethics, and why is this topic receiving so much attention today? The definition of sales ethics Ethics is to describe the moral content of human behavior (Hair etc. al. 2009). There are four basic type of ethical code about a company's business operations, namely company codes, professional codes, business association codes and advisory group codes (Hair etc. al. 2009). Sales ethics can be said that the moral content of the company, sales managers and sales people…
