As with all industries, products and services in the world, one can debate the ethical nature of each sector, and the marketing industry is no different. There are those that argue that marketing is inherently evil, whilst others do not even consider the ethics of their practices. However, I think of marketing and all roles as just neutral and it’s the practices we apply to them as the real measure of whether they are ethical or not. When it comes to ethics, there is always going to be a subjective level, so it’s up to your own moral compass to decide how you see ethical marketing and how you will apply it in your business.

What is Ethical Marketing?

I have another article fully explaining the concept of, What is Ethical Marketing? Feel free to read this first to better understand what we mean by Ethical Marketing. A general definition of ‘Ethics’ from the Britannic Dictionary is, “Ethics, also called moral philosophy, the discipline concerned with what is morally good and bad and morally right and wrong. The term is also applied to any system or theory of moral values or principles.” So, in the case of marketing, ethical marketing would be applying values or principles to the practical activities of marketing. As I said in the introduction, each person’s ideas on ethics are different and how you apply your morals will also vary.

Is Marketing Inherently Unethical?

Although I believe marketing can be ethical, I want to be transparent as to why some people believe marketing to be inherently unethical. The positions of anti-marketing and advertising come from many moral standpoints and each may overlap, but all refer to marketing causing harm to others in a direct or indirect way.

Damaging personal autonomy. The victim of marketing, the intended buyer, has their right to self-determination infringed by seeing unsolicited marketing and manipulation to buy.
Causing harm to competitors. Excessively fierce competition and unethical marketing tactics are especially associated with saturated markets and monopolies.
Manipulating social values. The victim, in this case, is society as a whole or the environment. The argument is that marketing promotes consumerism and waste. Or, in the case of greenwashing or woke washing, it manipulates consumers into purchases through aligning with a social or environmental issue.

How Marketing Can Be Ethical

While I understand the viewpoints of the above section and agree with each to a varying degree, a blanket dismissal of marketing as a force of anything but ‘evil’ is misguided. Marketing is a tool and it can be utilised for the betterment of society as well as its destruction. An ethical marketing strategy covers two things; what you market (ethical and sustainable products and services) and how you market ****(sales techniques without the sleaze!)

Marketing For The Public Good

Those who discount marketing as inherently evil do not consider that marketing is simply the process of identifying customer needs and determining how best to meet those needs. While marketing is often applied in a commercial way, marketing can be applied to other types of organisations such as charities or public services. The government utilises marketing to promote service announcements such as reminding people to register to vote, while charities may use marketing to raise funds or awareness of issues. While there are nuances in these examples, it’s important that public awareness messages are able to be broadcast to the population.

Ethical products and Services

Now, if we look at marketing for a commercial entity that seeks profit, we need to consider whether their products and services are ethical. Once again, we must define what is ethical to you but marketing can be ethical when the products and services promoted are themselves ethical. One could argue that the only way to market ethically is if the business one is promoting is ethical in the first place. If the company isn’t ethical, any marketing, no matter how well-intentioned, will fall into the pitfalls of greenwashing, woke washing or purpose-washing.

Ethical Marketing Campaigns

Producing marketing campaigns can be done in an ethical way by considering whether your messaging is truthful, transparent and responsible. I discuss in more detail what each of these areas can mean in the article, what is ethical marketing. But in general, when you stick to the facts of your products and services you will be promoting business in a clear and transparent way. If telling the truth makes your company or the company you are promoting look bad, then maybe it’s the company that is the issue, not the marketing in itself.

Ethical Marketing with Middleton Marketing

For my business and the businesses I promote, I focus on an ethical marketing strategy at all times. There are businesses I will not work with from a moral standpoint which stops the first issue of promoting unethical services and products. From a marketing campaign perspective, I focus on producing quality, well-researched educational content for my various audiences which means I am transparent and honest about the offering available. When producing content, I also consider the societal impact of my writing and images by being inclusive in my language, creating content that is accessible to a wider audience, promoting environmental issues where possible and making potential customers feel welcome rather than force-fed advertising. I am in no way perfect and I work on improving my ethical credentials every day, but we can all do our bit to make ethical marketing the norm and not the exception.

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