Article 16

Ethics can be gauged by three key rules By Dillard B. Tinsley

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field, Ill.-based Kraft Foods Inc. is reducing portion sizes because of obesity concerns in the United States. Kraft is also reducing marketing in schools because children are a controversial target market—just as other market segments, such as lowincome consumers, are controversial target markets with regard to other products. A particularly difficult example in multicultural marketing is injury through cultural pollution, which can be defined as imposing certain aspects of one culture on another culture in a manner that is perceived as detrimental. For example, France tries to prevent the French language from incorporating English words such as “e-mail.” In addition, the rise of American-style coffehouses in Paris is seen by some as a threat to traditional French cafes and coffee. The Silver Rule reminds marketers of ethical concerns about injuries that go beyond legal baselines, including psychological injuries. The Golden Rule leads marketers toward the goal of satisfying customer needs in ways that better their competitors. This goal, however, involves difficulties that can be approached through the two objectives of marketing promotion—to inform and persuade. Assuming that marketers offer a product that customers find fulfilling, how much information do customers need about this product? For example, informational food labeling in terms of serving characteristics is controversial for several reasons. A serving is not the same as a portion, but many foods are packaged such that one portion is more than one serving. As recently noted by The Wall Street Journal, one 20-ounce soda has 2.5 servings at 100 calories each; one muffin may be several servings; some products that are 100% fat may be legally labeled as fat-free; and one slice of cream pie is defined as one-tenth of that pie, but one slice of lemon meringue is defined as oneeighth of that pie. Just deciding which ingredients to include on labels is controversial, as seen in the new requirements for trans-fat labeling. Informational labeling may or may not affect consumption, but one ethical justification given for market systems is that they leave final product selections to informed customers. Ethical concerns arise, however, as to how information is pre-

ecause the Golden Rule appears in many different cultures, it provides a starting place for analyzing multicultural marketing ethics. Situational variables differ between target markets, but marketers may generally expect multicultural approval of ethical intentions to “do unto others as you would have them do unto you.” The admonition is proactive—to do something good for others. Marketers, target markets, regulatory agencies and other interested parties can agree that the Golden Rule has positive ethical implications. Marketers can apply the Golden Rule to their customers as they seek to beat competitors in satisfying customers’ needs, which in essence means: Seek to do good unto customers better than can competitors. For effective use, however, marketers need to understand that different people may understand the Golden Rule in different ways. One difference is the obvious insight that the other person may be different from you and does not want to be treated as you want to be treated. Marketers have long recognized this insight in their use of market segmentation, where a segment’s members have common needs that differ from the needs of other segments. The Golden Rule, therefore, is a reminder to do enough marketing research so that the marketing concept can be implemented in an ethical manner. Marketers who start with the Golden Rule should immediately extend attention to ascertaining the needs of their targeted market segments. Another difference arises because the exact statement of the Golden Rule varies between cultures. The most significant difference lies in statements in which the admonition focuses on merely not hurting others. The admonition to “not do anything that injures someone else” is sometimes called the Silver Rule. It falls short of the Golden Rule’s impetus to actively seek to do something good for others. The Silver Rule, however, is a useful reminder for marketers to fulfill the relevant laws and regulations. This is an obvious need, but implementation can be challenging, especially when social responsibility requirements vary between multicultural target markets. Even within a single target market, injury may be defined differently by different parties. For example, North1

Article 16. Ethics can be gauged by three key rules To deal with the situational variables that will influence the answers to concerns about multicultural marketing ethics, marketers can apply the Open Forum Rule. This rule, popularly known as the Television Rule, cautions marketers not to do anything that they cannot explain satisfactorily on television to the concerned stakeholders. After considering the ethical implications of the Golden Rule and the Silver Rule, marketers should check their programs with the Open Forum Rule. “Would I want to explain my actions on television to the concerned parties?” Such explanations must satisfy ethical requirements as seen by the concerned parties in each market. This means that marketers should know what the cultures in each market deem ethical—not just what the marketers see as ethical in their own culture. These three simple rules provide a basic approach or starting place for achieving adequate multicultural marketing ethics.

sented. What if information is expressed in a persuasive manner? There is no generally accepted theory of ethics with regard to marketing persuasion, and persuasion is endemic in marketing. Marketing persuasion pervades competition. In addition, marketers, as experts in their discipline, often know better what will fulfill customers’ needs than do the customers. Do customers want to be persuaded by altruistic marketers when something is in their own best interest? Will customers think this ethical? Most people want to feel that their decisions are their own—with no undue influence from others. Even if marketers fulfill the Golden Rule and offer a product that fulfills the best long-term needs of customers, ethical concerns arise with regard to marketing persuasion. Who determines that the product really is best? For which needs is it best, and how is it best? What about a product that is desired by customers, even though its effects on society are bad, such as SUVs that cause environmental pollution? How thoroughly must marketers understand customer needs in order to justify a claim of adhering to the Golden Rule?

Dillard B. Tinsley is a professor of marketing at Stephen F. Austin State University in Nacogdoches, Texas.

From Marketing News, September 1, 2003, pp. 24–25. Copyright © 2003 by American Marketing Association. Reprinted by permission.

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