Is it ethical to encourage Hindus to eat beef-containing McDonald's products, even if the consumer is free to choose to do so? Is it ethical to alter the healthy French relationship to food, to sell quickly consumed 'food on the go' burgers in that nation? Or to market beauty products in Asia that stress the loveliness of the wider Western eye-shape that Asian women cannot attain, without plastic surgery? If the marketing campaign is fully effective, the culture of the nation will be changed, even though stockholders may profit.
Any business boss can make a strong case for the view that agonizing over the impact of one's business decisions on the health of a competitor weakens your effectiveness," scoffs one industry analyst. (Parry, 2003) but while behaving unethically in the short run may reap rich marketing rewards, one could counter that a culturally exploitative and damaging campaign could generate such ill will, that the immediate surges in consumer purchasing were likely to be swiftly cut by locally voiced outrage. Even a country that was tolerant of its own national corporations foibles might be less tolerant of a United States company engaged in similar practices.
In fact when faced with an unethical U.S. company, it is like that even more vociferous dissent would occur abroad, than would occur in the United States, since the unethical marketing campaign was being wielded by corporate influence representing a more powerful nation, or a nation perceived as more powerful. "When I can get fresh dosas and phulkas next door to the burgers and pizzas in Kennedy airport in New York city, then the...
(Sriniva, 2004) "Today the middle class Bangalorean can eat Thai food, drink lager, and have chocolate tarts at Barista, or visit the local supermarket and have a meal of puliyogare and rasam, or samosas and pav bhaji, in less than fifteen minutes" -- a loss not simply of local cuisine, but of local cultural rhythms of life, to globalization. (Sriniva, 2004)
The perception of the United States as culturally imperialist is a legacy all international marketing campaigns must wrestle with, ethically as representatives (however unwillingly) of the American nation and also in terms of generating long-term profits for stockholders. Ultimately, a "high standard of ethical behavior" combined with astute cultural sensitivity and intelligence "will help cement relationships with staff and customers," aboard, rather than hinder profits.
Works Cited
Boyd, Stephen. (Feb 2005) "Word of Mouth -- Marketing Code of Ethics." (Parry, 2004) Get Real. Retrieved 26 Mar 2005 at http://www.corante.com/getreal/archives/2005/02/09/word_of_mouth_marketing_code_of_ethics.php
Parry, Mike. (2004) "Moral Philosophy and Business." Philosophos. Retrieved 26 Mar 2005 at http://www.philosophos.com/philosophy_article_45.html
Sriniva, Tulasi. (3 April 2004) "When food defines culture: The gastronomic landscape that we inhabit is shifting." Deccan Herald. Retrieved 26 Mar 2005 at http://www.deccanherald.com/deccanherald/apr302004/liv3.asp
