Marketing is an essential part of the profit-oriented organization. Organizations which perform well in the market usually have strong marketing departments. However, with the urge to make more profits, many organizations, through their marketing departments have stretched and even pass the ethical boundaries. Unfortunately, such organizations have always based their reasons on the moral principles of marketing to defend themselves and get away with such cases. A keen look at this ethical principle which Juan Manuel term as the middle-level ethical principles shows that they have some issues which make the sellers benefit more and the clients are hurt, yet they are deceived in a way that make them of the real game. This is what the two authors Juan Manuel Elegido and Abbas Jali suggest in their articles.
Authors’ ideas
Juan Manuel, who is the author of the first article claims that it is the time that the marketing department in the profit-oriented organization and any other sellers in the market reconsider the mutual principle in marketing; since the middle-level principles which for long have been prevailing have failed. His central claim is that the middle-level ethical principles such as the consumer autonomy, the paternalistic principle, the perfect competition and preserving the condition of an acceptable exchange to some create chaos which can hurt consumers and sellers themselves. He gives suggestions that these ethical principles are subject to manipulation and may end up hurting the consumer the more ( Elegido, 2016). He further provides us with alternative principles to the middle-level ethical principles. He suggests the moral law of mutuality. According to the ethical principles of mutuality, is the best and should be enhanced. The ethical principle of mutuality sales the idea that the seller should strive to give the clients what is best for them and that which can have an impact on their lives. At the same time, they also should benefit from the same services or goods offered.
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On the other hand, Abbas Ali and his colleague also argue that the marketing departments in the profit-oriented organization ought to involve ethics and morality within their operational boundaries. The authors claim that we have done a lot of borrowing mostly from the western culture and incorporated many issues in the marketing which end up hurting the consumers. With this in mind, the authors now propose the incorporation of the Islamic culture in the marketing to enhance morality and act as guidance against temptations which may arise ( Ali & Al-Aal, 2015). The Islamic principles according to these authors will bring about equity, mutual benefits and will guide them on the right path to avoid any temptations such as the consumer pricing discrimination and many others.
Evaluation of the information
The main issue in the article authored by Juan Manuel is that the middle-level ethical principles which bound marketing have weaknesses and hence should be replaced by the Mutual principle which the author argued in favor. The author presents a justification for the criticizing these principles. The first principles which have received a heavy share of criticism from Juan are the principles consumer sovereignty and the preserving the condition of unacceptable exchange. These two ethical principles have almost the same meaning when applied to the marketing. The principle of consumer autonomy demands that marketers must provide necessary information for the consumers to decide for themselves to make choices. On the other hand, the principle of the preserving the condition of the unacceptable claims that the customer or the client should not be compelled to make decisions. They should make an independent and rational decision for themselves. However, Juan has criticized these principles claiming that the autonomy which they grant to the clients may not be genuine. First, Juan claims that consumers at many occasions are usually unable to make informed decisions. On the other hand, Juan reveals that these two principles also affect the sellers ( Elegido, 2016). The seller may not have all the information they are required to give to the clients and hence may still lead to discrimination and many others. There is the principle of the Paternalism which claims that people can make a decision for us as long as what they intend or mean for us is right. This too is criticized by Juan as he claims that we are our evaluators and we know what is right for us. If the marketer may set high prices and claim that it is good for us which may not be accurate. The last one is the perfect competition which argues that we should assume the ideal way of actions. To Juan, this is a theory which may not be put in real practice. It is because of all these flaws were seen on the four middle-level principles why Juan proposes policies which can make caterer for both consumer and the seller.
Abbas Ali, on the other hand, has noted on many occasions the flaws on the sellers' side as they only cater to their own needs. Abbas has indicated that all along the sellers have based their actions on the principles of the egoism. Egoism is a principle which needs the sellers to collect as many fortunes or profit as possible despite the consequences of the benefit on the clients. With this in mind, the author now claims that it is high time the marketers have some boundaries defined by the morality which will enhance their operations in the market ( Elegido, 2016). He further promises the Islamic principles which will strengthen truthfulness, honesty and accountability in the marketing. According to him, this principle will create a boundary for the sellers and will also remind them of morality in case they are wrong or are about pass the ethical lines.
The authors have both presented facts which occur in marketing. First, it is a fact that most of the sellers and many other profit-oriented organizations put profit first before the customers' welfare. Most of the sellers are driven by egoism, not mutuality or morality as presented by both authors ( Ali & Al-Aal, 2015). For instance, Juan has stated that Paternalism claims that as long as the sellers have the right intended for their clients, they are justified to decide on their behalf. This may be right, however, how do we know whether or not the seller has the right intention or a bad one? This, therefore, means that discrimination is such circumstances are very possible. The authors speak the same language and read the same page on this issue. Their message is crystal clear in these two articles. The message is that the sellers should adopt a moral and a more profitable approach to both clients and themselves.
Conclusion
In conclusion, both articles have one massage which is very clear. The authors have acknowledges that in the sales department in most profit-oriented organizations have surpassed the boundaries of ethics and most of the ethical principles they are relying on are not mutually beneficial. The authors, therefore, suggest Islamic morality principle and the mutual policies as the only alternatives restore the trust in the marketing field.
References
Ali, A. J., & Al-Aali, A. (2015). Marketing and ethics: What Islamic ethics have contributed and the challenges ahead. Journal of Business Ethics , 129 (4), 833-845.
Elegido, J. M. (2016). Mutuality: A root principle for marketing ethics. African Journal of Business Ethics, 10: 1, 67 , 96 .
