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Socially Responsible Marketing
Table of Contents
Origins of Social Marketing................................................................................................................................... 1
Definition of Socially Responsible Marketing: .............................................................................................. 2
Social Issues: ............................................................................................................................................................... 2
Bono’s Product (RED) Initiative: Reducing CSR to Cause-Related Marketing by Stefano
Ponte, Lisa Ann Richey and Mike Baab ............................................................................................................ 3
Social Marketing Mix ............................................................................................................................................... 3
Product – offer made to target adopters ......................................................................................................... 3
Price – costs that consumers have to bear ..................................................................................................... 4
Special focus on GAP: .............................................................................................................................................. 5
ETHICS ........................................................................................................................ 6
Definition ..................................................................................................................................................................... 6
The Organisational Moral Development Model – Reidenbach and Robin,1991............................. 6
Concerns ....................................................................................................................................................................... 7
Segmentation.............................................................................................................................................................. 7
Materialization of society – do the young people receive the correct message? ........................... 7
Research - Consumer privacy: ............................................................................................................................. 8
Pricing ........................................................................................................................................................................... 8
Product development: ............................................................................................................................................ 8
Distribution ................................................................................................................................................................. 8
Personal selling ......................................................................................................................................................... 8
Advertising .................................................................................................................................................................. 8
International marketing......................................................................................................................................... 9
EVALUATION: (PRODUCT)RED Criticisms and Articles .................................................... 9
Social Marketing vs. Commercial Marketing .............................................................................................. 10
Mark Rosenman, April 11, 2007 - The Patina of philanthropy .......................................................... 10
Further criticism .................................................................................................................................................... 12
Advertising - Carla C. J. M. Millar and Chong Ju Choi, 2003 ................................................................ 12
Consumer experience – Product Red is a social good and consumers respond back ............... 13
Culture as a commodity ...................................................................................................................................... 14
The dependence effect: ....................................................................................................................................... 14
Vance Packard,The Hidden Persuaders, 1957 ........................................................................................... 14
Origins of Social Marketing
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Kotler and Zaltman (1971): application of marketing to solution of social and
health problems, and “to sell brotherhood like soap” (Wiebe, 1951)
o We can use marketing to make people choose one thing from hundreds, so
why can’t we sell “brotherhood like soap”
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Planned social change which involves an exchange relationship between the client
and change agent (Niehoff, 1966)
Definition of Socially Responsible Marketing:
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Harnesses desirable social causes, such as the environment and consumerism, to
advance the interests of a commercial organisation
o RED campaign works with Global Fund (non-profit organisation) with
each of their partners (Gap, Apple etc.) as the profiting companies behind
them
o MTV as another example for this type of socially responsible marketing
SHOPPING TO SAVE LIVES: PRODUCT RED AND
THE ILLUSION OF CONSUMER AGENCY
By MATTHEW ARKELL
Product Red appeals to this sense of "the real" by claiming to offer consumers a way
to intervene in a "real" problem: the spread of AIDS in Africa. Product Red
essentially constructs a virtual simulacrum of Africa and the AIDS virus for First
World markets. The campaign manufactures a vision of the world in which all of
Africa's problems can be combated through consumer agency, in other words,
through millions of ordinary Americans consuming "Red" products.
Social Issues:
1) Altruistic causes
o E.g. Charity donations
RED works with the Global Fund and gives to the charitable organisation to help alleviate
AIDS in Africa
2) Social betterment causes
o E.g. Anti-discrimination, improved environment
RED and their goal of eliminating AIDS or helping provide funding for the pills which
could save thousands of lives is their way of working towards social betterment
The most widespread misconception about (RED) was that it was a traditional
charity
However:
(RED) saw itself as offering benefits back to its partner companies; as a result, (RED)
had therefore intentionally approached the marketing divisions—not the foundation
divisions—of possible partners
Additionally, “charity” products tended to have a price markup which meant the
donation fell exclusively on the consumer, not the company. (RED) products did not
follow this model; the companies themselves covered the donation from their profits
It aimed not to make people feel responsible for or guilty about world problems in
order to induce them to buy, but instead to tap into their consumerism by offering
them a (RED) choice
Bono’s Product (RED) Initiative: Reducing CSR to Cause-Related Marketing
by Stefano Ponte, Lisa Ann Richey and Mike Baab
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Encourages corporations to earn profits as they pursue charity, and pushes the
agenda of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) towards distant others as
opposed to the issues within their own industries
As consumer attitudes have shifted in recent decades, major brands now
understand—and exploit—the popular culture’s ‘yearning to connect to people
and things that give meaning to their lives’
What does RED mean for CSR and the role of business in society? RED is a
‘disengaged’ form of CSR – almost entirely separated from the operations in
which these corporations are involved
RED does not attempt to change or improve the normal functioning of business
and trade
The RED ‘partner’ corporations have a low level of involvement with Africa in
their day-to-day operations
RED is focused on the welfare of Africans with AIDS in general, not of workers
in factories producing RED products
o Bono stated explicitly at the Product RED launch that labour issues are of
secondary importance to people dying of AIDS: ‘We do not think that
trade is bad. We are for labour issues. Labour issues are very serious but
six and a half thousand Africans dying is more serious’.
RED pushes CSR back towards the disengagement that characterizes ‘old-style’
philanthropy, where companies donated some of their profits to relatively
unrelated projects
Use ‘doing good’ to sell a particular set of products – profit is generated and
donation is given at the same time. With RED, money making and giving are one
and the same
RED embrace that envelops the logos of these seven companies is itself a good
investment
Brand equity has come to incorporate ethical values and reputation, and as brands
are increasingly more about lifestyles than products, actual sales figures of RED
products are less important than the media attention generated
Social Marketing Mix
Marketing ethics examines systematically marketing and marketing morality,
related to 4P-issues such as unsafe products, deceptive pricing, deceptive
advertising or bribery, discrimination in distribution (cf. Smith and Quelch, 1993, p.
13).
Product – offer made to target adopters
Armani - Metal wrap-around sunglasses (style EA 9285/S) launched worldwide.
Available in green, rose, blue, smoke grey, grey and brown, all embossed with the
Emporio Armani Red logo. The forked frame arms, available in shades of
ruthenium, gunmetal and light gold, are superimposed on the single lenses.
Also Product Red Fragrance
Gap - INSPI(RED)"Gap T-shirt: Made in Africa from 100 percent African cotton,
the T-shirt debuted in the UK in spring 2006. We've sourced product from Africa
for more than a decade
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Clothing Line
Kids clothing line
Converse
Motorola
Dell
Microsoft – You get what you want people get what they need
American Express
Hallmark – Greeting cards, note books
Apple - Gift card for purchases at Apple's iTunes online store, for movies, TV
shows or music. Currently only available in the US at Apple's online store.
Also iPod nano and shuffle red
Price – costs that consumers have to bear
Partners were supposed to charge on the same prices – no charity model
50% of the profits went to the product red
However:
The usual presumption about so-called undifferentiated commodities
is that they are exceedingly price sensitive. A fractionally lower price
gets the business. That is seldom true except in the imagined world of
economics textbooks. In the actual world of markets, nothing is
exempt from other considerations, even when price competition rages
- Theodore Levitt (1980)
Begg (2005) described how monopoly can lead to price discrimination
Although Gap is largely known for its “classic” t-shirts that retail for $14, the Product RED t-shirt
sells for $28. Executives state that the 100% price increase is not gouging, but that limited edition
products like the RED clothes are simply more expensive to produce (Beattie, 2007)." (Kuehn,
Katthleen, 2008: p. 9)
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Place – channels by which change is promoted and places in which change is
supported and encouraged
Launch in the UK
US, CANADA
SWITZERLAND
UNIVERSITIES
ORGANIZATIONS
ONLINE AND MEDIA:
o Advertisements for Gap
o Superbowl
o Magazines: Vanity Fair
o Myspace
o VH1
o Oprah (media)
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Promotion – means by which the change is promoted to the target
o Through the use of partners’ own marketing funds
o Used their demographics and target markets to promote (RED); used their
core competencies
o Online media
o Television
o Celebrities
o University ambassadors
o Promotion cards
o Presentations
o Word of mouth
Special focus on GAP:
Products
When Gap was founded in 1969, it was unique and new. Its target customers were
younger generations. Gap's hottest seller at the time was its "basic" look, which
consisted of its signature blue jeans and white cotton t-shirts. Its founders realized
that jeans were becoming popular among the younger generation of customers.
Nevertheless, the company recognized that despite its popularity among the youth,
there were not enough assortments of jeans in the clothing outlets. Capitalizing on
this deficit was merely the next step in expanding. Gap's founders were sure that
jeans could be sold through a chain of small stores devoted solely to that
product.[12] As this business idea became successful, Gap expanded its line of
offering and now Gap offers a range of clothing for men, women, and children. As
Gap's business began to boom, it also began to expand and send its manufacturing
jobs abroad. Gap Inc. added two new entities to its company, Banana Republic and
Old Navy.
Gap also owns an online shoe store called Piperlime, selling shoes for all ages.
Promotion
Gap's promotion strategy has been blamed for the company's bust. Due to lack of a
clear message, it has been alleged that Gap has lost contact with its core
customers[13] which the company is attempting to win back. Gap is the only
national retailer to spend more than 2% of its marketing budget for online
marketing.[14] As a result, the company's e-commerce website has been cited
numerous times as a model of stylish efficiency. Gap promotes its products through
gift cards, catalogs, advertising programs on TV channels and magazines. Gap tries to
position itself as a stylish casualwear retailer in a fair price. However, its marketing
efforts to reach out to upperclass, luxury consumers is blamed for recent problems
in the company.[15]
In addition, Gap's garment designs and products varies from North America and
Europe. Products sold in Europe are targeted towards a European sense of style,
whereas the Gap's North American garments and accessories are designed
particularly for North Americans. This has recently changed and the firm has as of
Summer 2009 reverted back to an enthocentric marketing model, based on North
America.
Place
Gap's main opportunity to reach its customer is through its stores. Gap operates
stores in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, France, Ireland, Korea and
Japan. The Gap, Inc. also has franchise agreements with unaffiliated franchisees to
operate Gap or Banana Republic stores in Singapore, Malaysia, United Arab
Emirates, Korea, Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain, Oman, Saudi Arabia,Cambodia, Indonesia
and Mexico [16]. As of February 3, 2007] The Gap, Inc. operates a total of 3,131 store
locations.[17]. In January 2008, Gap signed a deal with Marinopoulos Group to open
Gap and Banana Republic stores in Greece, Romania, Bulgaria, Cyprus and
Croatia.[18] In February 2009, Elbit Imaging Ltd. secured a franchise to open and
operate Gap and Banana Republic stores in Israel.[19]
ETHICS
Definition
Systematic study of how moral standards are applied to marketing decisions, behaviours,
and institutions.’ (Murphy, 1997, p. 261)
This year’s (2002) Ethical Purchasing Index (EPI) reveals that consumers continue to
take a proactive approach to shopping, and are turning to products that have a positive
impact on the environment and society.The EPI now stands at 125, an increase of 10
points over last year, and up 25 points from the 1999 baseline year – with
unprecedented growth in some key consumer areas. This means that the sales in the
ethical marketplace are growing at a rate of 19%, excluding banking and investment;
and overall market share grew at a rate of 9% in 2001. When ethical banking and
investment are added to the sales value of these products, ethical business activity
contributes a massive £13.9 billion to the UK economy. This growth rate far outstrips
average economic growth of 2.1% in 2001 and is double the rate of growth for goods in
our
total basket.
Market growth Spending on ethical goods and services is, again, on the increase – an
indicator that must come as a welcome sign for those of us who are
committed to sustainable development.
How big is the ethical market? At £6.8bn, the EPI demonstrates, quite clearly, the
importance of ethical consumerism to the UK economy.
The Organisational Moral Development Model – Reidenbach and
Robin,1991
1) Amoral  seeks to win at any cost and with any means, including exposing
workers to life-threatening substances in violation of safety codes for the sake of
profits
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Responsible selling to a new audience is still no substitute for
fundamentally responsible business practices
Motorola’s phones are part of an industry with serious human-rights
issues: a key phone component, the metallic ore coltan, is sometimes
sourced from war-ravaged Congo in Africa (though Motorola claims it
sources from legal suppliers)
2) Legalistic  abiding by the letter of the law
 Gap damaged by allegations of child labour in the supply chain (but
now follows strict codes of conduct and inspections)
3) Responsive  goes beyond profitability and legalistic concerns and attempts to
strike a balance between making a profit and doing the right thing
4) Emerging Ethical  much greater tilt toward ethics, based on the recognition on
the part of managemnet of a social contract between business and society; accept
codes of conduct that are elaborated in handbooks and policy statements, in
committees, by ombudsman, in ethics training programes, etc.
5) Developed Ethical  organisation-wide acceptance of a common set of ethical
values that permeate all organisational actions
 (PRODUCT)RED could be considered to be in the final stage of the
organisational moral devleopment model, because they already have
established ethical values of giving as their common goal, thus being an
organisation-wide action
 “With RED, money making and giving are one and the same” (Ponte et al.,
2008)
 GIORGIO ARMANI – Ethical fashion forum member
Concerns
Segmentation
Materialization of society – do the young people receive the correct
message?
It has also been argued that many CSR efforts are said to foster the “materialization of
society.” As Shaw and Barry (1992) rightly noted, this is already occurring through traditional
marketing activities such as advertising and retailing. These companies are merely appealing
to an already materialistic society.
Increasing awareness in the US - We did a pre-study before we launched in fall 2006 and had 1%
awareness. We went back
in the field in January 2007, and did another test. We found that, in the general population,
we’d risen to 17% accurate awareness of the brand—17% of the public knew that (RED) was
about AIDS in Africa. In our core demographic, that percentage was at 32%.
Were these people really aware of a cause or where following a fashion?
Apple released a multicolor iPod series of iPod nano in 2008 asking which ipod are you?
Research - Consumer privacy:
In recent years consumer privacy has become a greater concern due to expansion of direct
and database marketing. These privacy issues might be expected to arise in loyalty
schemes (Smith and Sparks 2003).
Previous research has questioned the ethical basis of such data (Evans 1999) and provided
evidence that consumers do have ‘underlying’ privacy concerns. More recent work has
suggested that consumers are often quite ignorant of how loyalty card data is used (Graeff
and Harmon 2002), and this may help explain their willingness to sign up for such
schemes.
If consumers have a loyalty card, then retailers know more about consumers that
consumers know about retailers, and moreover can act on these data.
Pricing
Unethical pricing distribution:
Data released by Advertising Age claims retail participants in Product Red including Gap,
Motorola and Apple, Inc. have invested $100 million in advertising and raised only $18
million for The Global Fund[4]. Apple donated $10 of the sale of their $149 iPod during
the initial stages of the campaign, and no longer discloses how much it donates.[13]
Product Red states on their website that they donate "up to" half of their gross profits.[14]
Starbucks is offering to donate 5 cents for every red cup drink they sell. There are
three red cup drinks to choose from. I will not be joining Starbucks Red
Campaign for a mere 5 cent donation. If you're buying a cuppa anyway then it
works just fine, but if you're going out of your way to stop by Starbucks on
December 1st, then why not just go to Africare.org, where they fight AIDS and
poverty every day, and donate a few tax-deductible dollars like I plan to do?
Raising 2 kids I have very little money left over for charity, but 5 cents in my
name, after spending money on a drink I don't really need, is almost an insult.
Product development:
All the standards are maintained – some products are actually made by extra materials –
GAP tshirt – that can come closer to the consumer
Distribution
Manufacturers: The case of GAP scandal
Supplier: Are they abiding to environmental standards
Personal selling
Trained employees
Famous people
Volunteers
Advertising
Use of role models – However are they always the best models? There can controversy –
For example: George Bush was used on one of the cover
(see below for further criticism on advertising)
International marketing
Product is contained to the western practises of selling – iconic brand, the nike kind of
model – When large Western companies rushed to enter emerging markets 20 years
ago, they were guided by a narrow and often arrogant perspective. They tended to
see countries like China and India simply as targets—vast agglomerations of wouldbe consumers hungry for modern goods and services. C.K. Prahalad and Kenneth
Lieberthal call this view “corporate imperialism,” and they show how it has distorted
the operating, marketing, and distribution decisions multinationals have made in
serving developing countries. In particular, these companies have tended to gear
their products and pitches to small segments of relatively affluent buyers—those
who, not surprisingly, most resemble the prototypical Western consumer(2003)
Product promotes multinationals and their power - Poor nations such as Brazil,
China, India, and Mexico, often under pressure from developed
countries, let in transnational companies, but they did so slowly,
almost reluctantly. They were convinced that global Goliaths
would wipe out local enterprises in one fell swoop - Arindam
K. Bhattacharya and David C. Michael, 2008
EVALUATION: (PRODUCT)RED Criticisms and Articles
The Legitimacy of Strategic Corporate Social Responsibility as a Marketing
Tool by J.J. Asongu1
Business organizations are expected to exhibit ethical behaviour and moral management, by
among other things accepting some accountability for societal welfare.
The broadest sense of the concept, CSR refers to the relationship between business and the
society in which it operates. It focuses on the obligations which a business has to fulfill if it is
to be considered a good corporate citizen.
Carroll (2001) says “strategic philanthropy” (p. 200), which means the same to the author as
SCSR, is carried out with the goal of accomplishing strategic business goals - good deeds are
believed to be good for business as well as for society.
Another criticism of CSR has been that it will put the firm at a competitive disadvantage
since social action entails costs that competitors need not bear. Those who put forward this
argument fail to recognize the strategic element of CSR. SCSR is designed not only to
eliminate this type of criticism, but also to give the company competitive advantage over its
competitors
Critics of companies that have clearly designed their CSR program as a marketing tool have
sometimes come under heavy criticism. A case in point is Gap, Inc, and its RED branded
products designed to raise money for the Global Fund for AIDS, tuberculosis, and malaria.
While Gap and other participants in the RED campaign have donated over $20 million to
the Global Fund, detractors claim that they have spent even more on marketing.
Social Marketing vs. Commercial Marketing
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Social marketing is concerned with the market’s core beliefs and values
o Bono and Shriver pushing HIV/AIDS as a serious problem, and trying to
push the message that by purchasing (RED) products, they are working
with the market’s core beliefs and values of trying to eliminate AIDS
 Business marketing deals with superficial preferences and opinions
Social marketing can be accused of adding to promotional noise
Mark Rosenman, April 11, 2007 - The Patina of philanthropy
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(RED) is just another example of corporate world aligning operations with its
central purpose of increasing shareholder profit, but this time it is cloaked by
philanthropy
Cause-related marketing ties consumers’ desires to see a social good with the
corporations’ desires to see higher profits. Corporate altruism has shrunk as
corporate avarice has grown.
Many profits are up, in part, because of businesses’ association with charities
Studies show that people (about 89% of them) more likely to buy from companies
with cause-related arrangements
Self-serving, which further diminishes true altruism in the corporate world
Cannot consume our way to charity and to a better world. Doing good sometimes
requires sacrifice, and we ought not allow ourselves to be convinced that we’ve
done our part because of the color of what we use (BuyLessCrap.com)
Generally don’t know how much goes to the cause and how much goes to profit
for each sale or in the aggregate; there is no true transparency or accountability
Cause-Related Consumerism
by Melissa Davis
October 23, 2006 issue
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Jeremy Dale, VP of global retail and channel marketing at Motorola, explains
why the company decided to participate: "Red isn't about charity; it is about
commerce. It's not just about trying to do some good: we believe that people
want to make a difference in a world that is out of whack, and by us giving
away some of our profits we think we will attract new customers. So we can
help people who need helping, while it also makes good business sense."
People who buy into Product Red are, effectively, buying into an issue (to
alleviate HIV and AIDS in Africa)
o Participating brands achieve a particular credibility among consumers
simply by being part of the Product Red partnership that, as a brand,
has a cool factor. The partnership structure also gives the brands
support and shared knowledge. Red is also clever in that it does not
target one specific demographic audience but rather a psychographic.
Through its work, Red hopes to raise awareness of the crucial humanrights issue of HIV and AIDS and offers a chance for consumers to
participate in actually doing something about its eradication.
American Express did its market research before joining the Red partnership.
Gail Wasserman (vice president of international public affairs and
communications): "There are 1.5 million conscience-consumers in the UK who
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make decisions about brands based on social and ethical values—it is an
audience with increased affluence who can choose where and how they spend
their money. The market is currently worth £4 billion [US$ 7.44 million]
annually and is growing."
Risky for big businesses to invest in responsibility-led campaigns, especially
for brands exposed over the years for poor business practices; attempts to
position a multinational brand as "responsible" opens brand to potential
criticism about other areas of business
Sky and Virgin Group recently started promoting responsibility through their
leaders: James Murdoch, CEO of British Sky Broadcasting, and Richard
Branson, head of Virgin Group, have both taken a stance to tackle climate
change and carbon-emission reduction
o "We think the brands that are in tune with the values of their
customers are more successful," says Ben Stimson, Sky's director of
corporate responsibility
Responsible selling to a new audience is still no substitute for fundamentally
responsible business practices
o Motorola’s phones are part of an industry with serious human-rights
issues: a key phone component, the metallic ore coltan, is sometimes
sourced from war-ravaged Congo in Africa (though Motorola claims it
sources from legal suppliers)
o Gap damaged by allegations of child labour in the supply chain (but
now follows strict codes of conduct and inspections)
Ralph Ardill, founder of The Brand Experience Consultancy: “What will
increasingly differentiate brands are the quality and sustainability of this
responsible consumerism. Brands whose organizational purpose, vision, and
values are driven by this are set to flourish. Those that are simply looking to
promote an ethical veneer will be quickly outed and become obsolete."
Motorola's Dale says: "Motorola doesn't just want to be a great company, but
a good company. It's not about the coolness of cause-related marketing—it's
about wanting to make a difference."
Kuehn, Kathleen. "Compassionate Consumerism: Healing Africa Through
Gap’s Product (RED) Campaign" Paper presented at the annual meeting of the
International Communication Association, TBA, Montreal, Quebec, Canada, May 21,
2008 <Not Available>. 2009-02-03
http://www.allacademic.com/meta/p234360_index.html
“…for-profit corporation is essentially challenging “the separation between private and
public sphere, thrusting consumer society and civil society into collision” (Kraidy &
Goeddertz, p. 15).
“On the other end, Goldman and Papson (1996) demonstrate that the use of social issues
to sell product are more negligible than beneficial and can cause companies to lock
themselves in a contradiction. In the context of green marketing, a study on the
“environmentally conscious” clothing company Esprit. They argue that the company
contradicted itself by condemning overconsumption as a selling point through its
promotion of environmentalism while simultaneously legitimatizing the overconsumption of Esprit products.”
“However, Gap RED takes “trying on the social self” beyond simply “wearing Africa”
because of the celebrity endorsers attached to the campaign. Celebrities have long been
used in advertising to promote goods because of the ready associations we have with
them. According to Goldman (1992), the presence of celebrities in an advertisement
“summons forth the value he or she has accumulated as a star and attempts to transfer it to
a product” (p. 69). Gap RED’s focus on commodities is therefore dually applied through
the use of celebrities.”
“Drawing from Goldman’s work on green marketing, he notes that socially conscious
campaigns justify – and legitimize – consumption for progressive ends by integrating the
conflicting value of morality and superficial aesthetics in its products”
Further criticism
Motorola may be a highly visible Red parner, but irws phones are part of an industry with
serious human-rights issues; a key phone component, the metallic ore coltan, is
sometimes sourced from war-ravaged Congo in Africa (though Motorola claims it sources
from legal suppliers).
Garment company Gap is among brands damaged by allegations of child labor in the
supply chain.
It is unethical for some companies such as Gap which sources its key components from
such countries while being affiliated with prodcut RED. By accepting to join Product
Red, Gap may be exploiting this opportunity in order to revive its damaged image from
the past from allegations of child labour and indecent working conditions, this is an
unethical thing from them.
Targeting the responsible consumer is only a segment of a whole responsible brand
approach- resources must also be dedicated to improving business practices within the
sector, particularly among the less visible brands.
Advertising - Carla C. J. M. Millar and Chong Ju Choi, 2003
Advertising adds to the brand strength, not just creating an ability to recognise goods
from a certain origin, but actually inducing consumers to attribute value, to believe in the
brand and to take action, such as purchase it, purchase more, use it, use it differently.
Tacit knowledge of what the product can mean for the consumer is a large part of what
the advertising tries to transmit. Thus there is a knowledge-like intangible benefit which
advertising transmits and does so for cars and clothes as well as paintings. Its role as
knowl edge intermediary however increases in the case of goods and services which are
themselves intangible.
Subliminal advertisement is manipulative because it acts on us without our knowledge,
and hence without our consent. If an ad appears on TV, we can tune it out or change
stations if we do not want to be subject to it. If an ad appears in a magazine, we are not
forced to look at it. In either case, if we do not choose to look or listen, we can
consciously evaluate what we see and hear. We can, if we wish, take a critical stance
toward the advertisement. All of this is impossible with subliminal advertising. Because
we are unaware that we are being subjected to the message. The advertiser is imposing his
or her message on us without our knowledge and consent (DeGeorge, 1995, p.262)
Consumer experience – Product Red is a social good and consumers
respond back
Nelson (1970) first distinguished between search and experience goods. The quality
of search goods such as commodities including cheap clothing or vegetables can be
ascertained before purchase; while the quality of experience goods, such as holidays,
restaurants can only be learned after consumption. Darby and Kami (1973)
introduced a third category, that of credence goods, the quality of which is rarely
learned. Examples of such goods include the worth of a financial advisor on stock
market investments, the advice given by lawyers, and medical treatment received on
hospitalisation for a non-specific illness (Choi and Hilton, 1995). Cultural goods such
as media, music, arts and film also mostly fall under the third category of "credence"
goods. As mentioned earlier, globalisation, ICT and internet have created an increase
in intangible values being part of all industries, not just traditional cultural
industries. We introduce a fourth category, to supplement the existing categories of
search, experience and credence goods* We posit that in today's glob alised society
account also needs to be taken of a category of what we will call "social goods". Here,
in fact, no single consumer knows the value.
Whilst credence goods' value can still be driven by a business economics type of
rationale, with social goods society-as-a-whole, the com munity determines the
value of the good or service, not a one single person. The market price is not
determined by a seller, or dealer, but by the "social market" of the community as a
whole. The concept of "social goods" can extend to the quality or value of a political
decision, the value of the monarchy, the post-traumatic value of Enron, etc. - all
"issues" or "social goods" that advertising or Public Relations may have to service. It
also shows the increasingly important role of society, social embeddedness
(Granovetter, 1985) and network effects (Giddens, 1998).
The CAP Code (CAP, 2003) standards stating that advertising "should be 'legal',
'decent', 'honest, 'truthful' " do not at this stage help because one is not sure whether
the material one is producing is "legal", "decent", "honest", "truthful", and the second
criterion of "should be prepared with a sense of responsibility to consumers and to
society" (CAP, 2003) only adds to one's uncertainty by introducing a subjective
criterion without any guidance as to what factors might help resolve any personal
dilemmas or doubts.
Advertising is a significant intermediary.
Marketers are portrayed as cultural engineers, organizing how people think and feel
through branded commercial products. Omnipotent corporations use sophisticated
marketing techniques to seduce consumers to participate in a system of
commodified meanings embedded in brands
If an advertisement (or advertising campaign) leaves the consumer with an
impression and/or belief different from what would normally be expected if the
consumer had reasonable knowledge, and that impression and/or belief is factually
untrue or potentially misleading, then deception is said to exist (Gardner, 1975,
pp.40-46)
Culture as a commodity
Likewise, consumer culture is organized around the principle of obeisance to the
cultural authority of marketers. People who have internalized the consumer culture
implicitly grant firms the authority to organize their tastes. Horkheimer and
Adorno's ([1944] 1996) chapter on what they term the "culture industries" is the
locus classicus for these ideas. They assert that the system of mass cultural
production, a set of techniques for rationalizing culture as commodity, is the
ideological glue that maintains broad con-sensual participation in advanced
capitalist society. By the time they wrote this chapter, Horkheimer and Adorno
(1996) had given up on the emancipatory politics of marxism.
The dependence effect:
Advertising is not only used to give information on products, but sometimes used to
create need in the society for a certain product.
Economic argument:
1. Value of goods is associated with desires of customers
2. Customers are the best judges to decide what satisfies them better
Galbraith’s argument:
The higher level of production has merely a higher level of want creation, necessitating a
higher level of want satisfaction.
In the way to do good does product red exploit the dependence of the people on these
products? Is this morally correct? No.
Vance Packard,The Hidden Persuaders, 1957
Influencing customer choice by playing on natural human desires for security,
acceptance and self-esteem.
Risk of overemphasising or underestimating this influence
Legitimate persuasion Immoral behaviour control