Encourages employees to use words and phrases which

encourages employees to use words and phrases which entice and sound attractive to consumers
are likely to have a negative branding. Ethics plays the role of guaranteeing a marketer doesn’t

Online Marketing 5
utter misleading claims or misstating facts. Ethics encourages embracing ethical values and
fostering of trust within the marketing system.
It is legal and ethical to use general terms to describe a product or service. Nevertheless,
it is unethical to tell a customer about the superiority of a product or service in regards to the
competitor without valid proof. For example, it is immoral to say to a customer a product lasts a
year longer than a competitor’s product with evidence. Ethics in marketing reduces the
prevalence of ambush marketing. Ambush marketing is taking advantage a rival positive image
without adequately compensating the competitor ( Laczniak and Harris, 2016) . Stereotyping is
the main issue with advertising. Unflattering stereotypes of groups with the purpose of scaring
off consumers is considered bad taste. Finally, ethics discourage marketers from overloading
customers with misleading without telling a lie, phrases with misleading intention, and technical
information.
2.3. Identify the significant social criticism of marketing.
The way marketing is designed, individual consumer. According to Eagle and Dahl
(2015), five out of ten individuals have a mixed or negative attitude towards marketing
techniques ( Eagle and Dahl, 2015). One of the criticisms of marketing is that it involves
numerous intermediaries who are often inefficient or duplicate or provide unnecessary services.
Marketing directly contributes to higher prices due to three factors. Promotion increases the cost
of distribution. Promotions and advertising costs add to the overall amount of product and
services. Advertising and packaging don’t add functional value, but subjective value.
Social criticism of Marketing is the excessive markup. Pricing tactics that boost higher
prices for a product whose cost was negligible are excessive markup. For example, soft drinks

Online Marketing 6
and bottled water cost little. However, they are advertised at high prices. Marketing emboldens
disguise of the actual amount. Deceptive pricing where prices of factory or wholesale amount are
used. Misleading promotion involves techniques which misrepresent the performance and
features of a product. Deceptive packaging creates an illusory quality and quantity of a product
inside. Sectors such as real estate, banking, and insurance are sold with the promise of bonuses
with every deal closed. Marketers sell hard for more substantial rewards. In most cases, PR
managers exaggerate the product with the purpose of improving the sales. High-pressure selling
damages the trust of consumers.