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Ethical and Legal Issues in Marketing

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The Legal and Ethical Considerations of Marketing in America
Winfred Muthusi
Grand Canyon University: BUS-340
11/ 06/ 2014

Introduction
It is very important for organizations to be ethical in all their transactions. This fosters trust from the society as a whole and good performance from the company. To add to that companies have to be very straight forward without engaging in any illegal acts. As much as being ethical and honest is what is expected from companies, there are many that do not value this two rules especially when it comes to marketing and selling their products to consumers.

Ethical Issues in Marketing
Ethics are moral guidelines that govern good behavior. The US government requires every company to be morally upright in everything they do especially when it comes to transactions with customers.

When it comes to marketing a product or service, most companies are more concerned about the results than the process. Following ethical values such as Honesty, Fairness, Responsibility, Transparency and Respect has become quite rare especially in this day and age where competition is so high. Furthermore, things are continuously changing and before a consumer forms an attachment to one product or service something ‘better’ comes out in the same market.

Each marketing decision leads to a set of expectations from customers. For example when it comes to direct marketing, customers expect the product or service to be exactly how it’s presented on TV commercials or newspapers. For instance a group of students recently sued red bull for false advertising. In one of their Tv commercials red bull claims that when you drink their energy drink you will get wings. Organizations that do not uphold moral values more often than not end up with legal issues.
Another example of an ethical issue in marketing is selective marketing. This is when companies

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