دیدگاه مصرف کنندگان در مورد اصول اخلاقی مجموعه ای از استراتژی های بازاریابی مبتنی بر فناوری: یک مطالعه اکتشافی Consumer perspectives on the ethics of an array of technology-based marketing strategies: an exploratory study

Introduction Unless living in a cocoon, citizens today are more attuned than ever before to the controversies surrounding unacceptable business behavior and in relation to an ever-widening range of issues that specifically fall within the realm of marketing. Recent high profile cases have involved issues such as: accusations of price gouging in the wake of a series of natural disasters, uneasiness surrounding the misrepresentation of environmental pollution levels caused by vehicle emission systems in relation to the Volkswagen scandal, and concerns following decisions by General Motors to not issue a recall for cars that were known to have a potentially deadly defect in the ignition switch. More recently, the press coverage surrounding Apple’s refusal, on privacy grounds, to acquiesce to the FBI’s request to unlock a suspected terrorist’s iPhone has once again propelled business ethics to the forefront of public consciousness, especially since the Justice Department called the refusal a ‘marketing strategy’ (Lichblau and Apuzzo, 2016.). Running parallel to these high-profile examples, a litany of similar, albeit lower profile stories appearing in the popular press, have alerted the public to the potential for perceived abuses arising from the increased prevalence of technology-based marketing strategies, i.e. a firm’s application of an emerging technology for the purpose of establishing or enhancing its own competitive advantage. Accordingly, attitudes towards marketers may have changed, and questions as to whether or not they are doing the right things have become more commonplace among the consuming public as well as the various watchdog groups. In this regard, it is worth noting that doing the right thing is commonly viewed as behaving in an ethical manner (Neale and Fullerton, 2010). This reality is important to marketers not in the least because it is becoming increasingly clear that many consumers actively consider a marketer’s ethical standing when evaluating and choosing among alternative offerings (Öberseder, et al., 2011; Singh, et al., 2012; Enax, et al., 2015). Thus, marketing practitioners acknowledge that an ethical reputation can provide a basis for creating a sustainable competitive advantage. Two iconic companies, among others, that have benefitted from just such a reputation are Ben & Jerry’s and the Body Shop (Bertilsson, 2014). Moreover, various groups within the wider marketing community are now bringing ethical considerations to the forefront of their agenda. For example, Fordham University’s ‘positive marketing’ movement is finding traction across a number of publics, as is the concept of ‘humanistic’ marketing (Varey and Pirson, 2014). Significantly, the new battle cry in these circles is to reconfigure marketing so that it becomes a force for good in the world by putting ethical considerations at the center of the discipline. Here, ethical marketing decision-making is defined as much more than simply conforming to the law and ‘doing what is legal’; rather it is the adoption of a philosophy of ‘doing the right thing’ that should guide all of a company’s actions in the marketplace (Reiling, 2011; Futrell, 2011).