1. Section 5.2 Ethics and Social Responsibility
Marketing Essentials
n Chapter 5 Business and Social Responsibility
Section 5.2 Ethics and Social Responsibility

2. Ethics and Social Responsibility
SECTION 5.2
Ethics and Social Responsibility
What You'll Learn
The areas in which businesses are thought to have social responsibilities
The ways that business activities have impacted our environment
The definition of ethics and how marketers can make ethical choices
The meaning of consumerism and a brief history of the movement
The current trends and concerns in the workplace for employees

3. Ethics and Social Responsibility
SECTION 5.2
Ethics and Social Responsibility
Why It's Important
You know the importance of being considerate of others in your daily life. As you move toward a career in adult life, you will want to understand the importance of ethics and social responsibility in the life of a business.

4. Ethics and Social Responsibility
SECTION 5.2
Ethics and Social Responsibility
Key Terms
ethics
consumerism

5. Ethics and Social Responsibility
SECTION 5.2
Ethics and Social Responsibility
Marketing and Social Responsibility
Apart from following the law, should businesses have any further social responsibility? Some businesses feel they should.
Example: Ben & Jerry's Homemade, Inc donates 7.5 percent of its pretax earnings to the disadvantaged and the needy.

6. Ethics and Social Responsibility
SECTION 5.2
Ethics and Social Responsibility
Environmental Issues
Socially responsible businesses follow the laws governing environmental issues and understand their roles in helping to preserve our natural resources.

7. Ethics and Social Responsibility
SECTION 5.2
Ethics and Social Responsibility
Conservation and Recycling
Conservation of our natural resources depends heavily on cooperation of business, government, and consumers. Most local governments require mandatory recycling of glass, plastic, and aluminum through local trash collection.

8. Ethics and Social Responsibility
SECTION 5.2
Ethics and Social Responsibility
Business Ethics
Ethics are guidelines for good behavior. Ethical behavior is based on knowing the difference between right and wrong—and doing what is right.
Laws are made to address ethical concerns involving products or marketing. The following unethical practices are prohibited:
bait-and-switch advertising
price fixing
selling unsafe products

9. Ethics and Social Responsibility
SECTION 5.2
Ethics and Social Responsibility
Business Ethics
To make the right ethical choices, marketers must answer these three basic questions:
1. Is the practice right, fair, and honest?
2. What would happen if the product were marketed differently?
3. What practice will result in the greatest good for the greatest number of people?

10. Ethics and Social Responsibility
SECTION 5.2
Ethics and Social Responsibility
Product Recalls
A socially responsible business will recall an unsafe product before the government forces them to do so.
Example: McNeil Consumer Products pulled Tylenol products off store shelves after someone was fatally poisoned by a capsule that had been tampered with.

11. Ethics and Social Responsibility
SECTION 5.2
Ethics and Social Responsibility
Consumerism
Consumerism is the societal effort to protect consumer rights by putting legal, moral, and economic pressure on business. Consumerism's focus has changed over the years:
Early 1900s—product purity, product shortages, antitrust concerns, postal rates, and banking.
1930s to 1950s—product safety, labeling, misrepresentation, deceptive advertising, consumer refunds, and bank failures.
Slide 1 of 2

12. Ethics and Social Responsibility
SECTION 5.2
Ethics and Social Responsibility
Consumerism
Early 1960s—President John F. Kennedy signed the Consumer Bill of Rights, which stated that consumers have four basic rights:
To be informed and protected against fraud, deceit, and misleading statements, and to be educated in the wise use of financial resources
To be protected from unsafe products
To have a choice of goods and services
To have a voice in product and marketing decisions made by government and business
Slide 2 of 2

13. Ethics and Social Responsibility
SECTION 5.2
Ethics and Social Responsibility
Workplace Trends
Telecommuting involves working at home, usually on a computer. Completed jobs are transmitted either by mail or by phone using a fax machine or a modem.

14. Ethics and Social Responsibility
SECTION 5.2
Ethics and Social Responsibility
Workplace Trends
Flextime allows workers to choose their own work hours. Possible arrangements include early start/early finish (7 a.m.-3 p.m.), late start/late finish (10 a.m.-6 p.m.), and even four-day workweeks (four 9- or 10-hour days followed by three-day weekends).

15. Ethics and Social Responsibility
SECTION 5.2
Ethics and Social Responsibility
Workplace Trends
Family leave is now legally required by federal law for large employers. Workers are entitled to up to 12 weeks of nonpaid family leave every two years. This allows people to cope with births, deaths, and family illnesses without fear of job loss.

16. Ethics and Social Responsibility
SECTION 5.2
Ethics and Social Responsibility
Workplace Trends
On-site child care is a benefit that has grown in popularity with the increase in two-income families. Some employers have expanded it to include on-site schools and on-site clinics for children who are ill. Where the benefit is provided in any form, it tends to reduce employee turnover.

17. Ethics and Social Responsibility
SECTION 5.2
Ethics and Social Responsibility
Workplace Trends
Help for the physically challenged is mandated by the Americans with Disabilities Act (1990). Employers must provide physically challenged people with the same job opportunities and work site accesses that others have. To make this possible, employers may have to alter their workplaces physically, change the way a job is done, or provide individual assistance.

18. Ethics and Social Responsibility
SECTION 5.2
Ethics and Social Responsibility
Workplace Trends and Concerns
Health-care reform at the national level is an employee issue because so many Americans receive health insurance benefits through their jobs. Of the 37 million Americans who do not, virtually all who work are employed by small businesses or hold minimum-wage jobs. How to cover these people and how to hold the line on costs for those who have coverage are key issues in the national health-care debate.

19. Ethics and Social Responsibility
SECTION 5.2
Ethics and Social Responsibility
Workplace Trends and Concerns
Employee issues have been in the center of public interest since the 1990s.
sexual harassment
computer privacy and security
employee monitoring

20. Reviewing Key Terms and Concepts
ASSESSMENT
5.2
Reviewing Key Terms and Concepts
1. What are some areas in which businesses are thought to have social responsibility?
2. In what ways have business activities impacted our environment?
3. Define the term ethics and explain how marketers can make ethical choices.
Slide 1 of 2

21. Reviewing Key Terms and Concepts
ASSESSMENT
5.2
Reviewing Key Terms and Concepts
4. Define consumerism and give a brief history of the movement.
5. What current trends are likely to improve the workplace for employees?
Slide 2 of 2

22. ASSESSMENT Thinking Critically 5.2
How are business ethics related to personal ethics?