Introduction
According to Dr. Nemko’s pessimistic view, marketing promotes psychological mechanisms that entice customers to purchase what they should not is totally insane. Though his arguments cannot be flashed out owing to the factual references that he presents, a rational and logical customer would find it hard to act as per his proposals. This is because there is absolutely no tool and technique of reaching out to customers that is open and more effective and promotes ethical practices than marketing. Through marketing, big corporations have had successful stories, building their business from scratch to the international level. It has proven to be an ideal tool through which organizations can reach potential customers when introducing a new product to the market.
First of all, when a new product is introduced to the market, there is no better approach that will be transparent, honest, and integral enough than a marketing platform (Gerald, 2018). It acts to expose all the information relevant to the customer in response to them purchasing a particular product. It provides a platform where potential customers can present all their worries concerning the product without any form of coercion. Marketing is able to help these customers make well-informed and viable decisions (Gerald, 2018). At this critical phase of product inception, a customer is persuaded by honest and factual details to avoid making haste decisions.
Ethical marketing practices propose values that aim at invoking the right kind of emotions and comparisons that are not exploitative and exaggerated (Gerald, 2018). One such firm that has managed to stay ethical in its endeavors is Coca-Cola. Being one of the big beverage enterprises in the world, it has continually promoted ethical behavior in its mode of marketing (Mitchell, 2020). Through its vigorous campaign “Share a Coke,” it has managed to stir optimism, social spirit, and acceptable acts of human relations (Mitchell, 2020). While Dr. Nemko might argue that marketing plays on an individual’s hot buttons to purchase a sub-optimal product, I would counter his argument with the strategies enforced by Coca-Cola in its quest to capture more people and sustain the available customers (Nemko, 2017). In as much as taking a smoothie will be healthier than grabbing a coke, it is pretty much the customer’s discretion to opt for the coke than the smoothie because they have been presented with the negative side effects of taking a bottle of coke prior. A customer is made fully aware of the ingredients thereof; hence any side effects acquired from consumption of such a product would be absorbed by them.
Big brands in the field of insurance, car, clothing, and other merchandise would opt to use popular individuals to drive their products to the market (Nemko, 2017). In as much as this strategy exposes the financial insecurities of a person where they are persuaded to purchase such products but are not able, on the contrary, it is done most professionally and ethically. The companies are careful to present their customers with all the necessary information; otherwise, they would risk being convicted (Gerald, 2018). The famous artists chosen are those that uphold the virtues of good ethical behavior; hence the product would not only portray its satisfaction to the customer but also traits like honesty, empathy, and loyalty projected by the popular persons (Gerald, 2018). In the process, the synchrony of promoting humanity concepts are profit realization is achieved.
Conclusively, though Dr. Nemko’s arguments cannot be overly dismissed, they present ideas that fail to recognize the superiority of customers in having the ultimate decisions when presented with all facts before purchasing a particular product. Ethics in marketing would advocate for complete knowledge of the product by the customer before buying it, which firms like Coca-Cola are always keen to adhere to.
References
Gerard, J. (2018, July 27). 12 principles of ethics. Bizfluent. https://bizfluent.com/info-7746524-12-principles-ethics.html
Mitchell, S. (2020). Coca Cola | Ethical Marketing News. Sands Releases 2019 Environmental, Social and Governance Report. https://ethicalmarketingnews.com/tag/coca-cola
Nemko, M. (2017, January 17). Marketing Is Evil. Psychology Today. https://www.psychologytoday.com/intl/blog/how-do-life/201701/marketing-is-evil?eml
