1.7. Social Responsibility and Marketing Ethics

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Sometimes, the most effective approach to achieving company objectives and satisfying consumers will hurt the larger sphere in which the company operates. In other words, what might be good for some consumers is not always good for society (Perreault, Cannon, & McCarthy, 2011, p. 22). For example, disposable packaging might be convenient for consumers, but it causes pollution and wastes natural resources. Marketers have an obligation to balance social responsibility with efforts to satisfy consumers, reducing the negative societal effects that production and consumption of their products can have (Kerin & Hartley, 2020). 

Similarly, what might be good for the company (like increased profits via cheap labor) is neither ethically nor morally sound. Today, customers expect value to be delivered in socially and environmentally responsible ways. Therefore, business practices need to be conducted fairly and honestly, upholding consistently high and universally followed ethical standards.

Social responsibility, then, sometimes requires difficult trade-offs that could cut into a firm's profits. Marketers need to balance consumer, company, and social interests.