-Determinants of a civil society
-Concepts of civil society

[SLIDE 1]

What makes a society? There are many factors but the core is that a society must rely on behavioral norms, which are standards of proper or acceptable behavior. Those behavioral normal are enforces by societal controls, the means used to maintain norms and regulate conflict. A number of means of social control are important to marketing:

Ethics

Morals and principals that guide conduct of individuals and groups.

Laws

Ethical rules and guidelines are codified into laws which are then enforced by  governmental authority. Laws are not perfect because they focus on the lowest common denominator. Something might be lawful but not ethical, for instance. One example is Log Cabin All Natural Table Syrup. The implication is that it is maple syrup, but though it is all natural, there is no maple syrup in the product.

Formal and informal groups

Organizations provide a way for interested parties to pool resources towards a common societal interest. The American Marketing Association and Ducks Unlimited are two very different groups but both have codes of conduct for their members based on goals.

Self-regulation

Voluntary acceptance of standards is a way for individuals and groups to impact society without the laws that might require specific actions. Trade associations are usually in this class.

The Media

Provides information to the public in order to help citizens make informed decisions. For instance, the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) exists for to protect children on the internet. The media can inform people about their rights to privacy and also publicly report on violations by companies.

An active civil society

An Informed and engaged society is necessary to direct individuals and organizations towards societal good.

[SLIDE 2]

Ethics are a fuzzy concept, but a simple definition is that ethics can be viewed as the standard of behavior by which conduct is judged. Those standards are principles to be followed, even if laws and other determinants do cover those principles.

That is why ethics do not equate to following the law. Laws might be missing or they may be stricter or weaker than the ethics that apply to a situation.

There are many ethical theories, but there are five that have a direct impact on marketing decisions. Those five are:

-Deontology
-Utilitarianism
-Casuist
-Moral relativism
-Virtue ethics

[SLIDE 3]

Deontology is focused on the idea that people should adhere to their obligations and duties when analyzing an ethical dilemma. A person following this theory will be very consistent and others can usually predict actions based on those duties, obligations and laws.

Note that a focus on duty to rules and obligations means that individual consideration of the welfare of others does not matter in deontology. Only the obligations and duties matter.

For instance, following the law is a duty, so a person adhering to this theory must always do how the law requires. However, what if someone is running late to a meeting? There is a duty to be on time and a law prohibiting speeding. Which obligation will the individual violate?

[SLIDE 4]

Utilitarianism is based on the assumption that people should be able to predict the consequences of actions and choose the one that benefits the most people. It provides a guideline to evaluate multiple choices through direct comparison. That can even take the form of a comparison scorecard.

There are two types of utilitarianism theories:

-Act utilitarianism is to simply take the action benefiting the most people. Laws and personal feelings have no place in the decision; it is purely based on the optimal outcome.

-Rule utilitarianism also looks at the action providing the most benefit, but at the same time, it takes into account fairness and the law.

One of the classic examples of utilitarianism is that of the Ford Pinto. A design flaw was known that could cause the gas tank to catch fire in certain crashes. The company looked at the cost of fixing the flaw and compared it to the cost of lawsuits from the deaths of people killed by the flaw. The corporate decision was that not fixing the flaw would better benefit the most people, by offering  a lower vehicle price, or at least benefit the company's bottom line.

The major flaw of the utilitarianism theory is that complex decisions are hard to predict. The decades long fight over the Keystone Pipeline has continued because people have very different ways of evaluating costs and benefits.

[SLIDE 5]

The Casuist theory simply says to look to the past for examples similar to the current dilemma. What were the outcomes from those decisions?

The easiest example is purchase experience. For instance, people tend to dislike buying cars as they are expensive and complex. A buyer can look to past buying decisions that person made, people that they know made, or even rating organizations’ (e.g. Consumer Reports) evaluations of different vehicles.

One conflict in the theory is very simple: How do you evaluate a new product or service, or a new situation? The world is constantly changing, and new situations are constantly occurring. For instance, when the first personal computers came out, how did people evaluate which one to buy? They had no similar experiences to guide them, so they usually used other ethical theories to make the decision.

[SLIDE 6]

Moral relativism simply states there is no universal code of ethics. Every ethical decision is based on the current circumstances, the time, place and the person making the judgement.

One example is something that has a strong political component. While stealing is generally considered wrong, is a parent supposed to avoid it when that is the only way to feed a starving child? How about arson? Is the same judgement used when somebody burns down a residential home versus an abandoned house being used by drug manufacturers or dealers?

The challenge of moral relativism is how it works in a society. If everyone’s judgement is always relative, how do you ensure a basic set of rules to order society?

[SLIDE 7]

The final ethical theory to discuss is that of virtue ethics. Plato and Aristotle said that ethical dilemmas can be best addressed by focusing on virtues, values that are considered good.

In business, those virtues can be self-discipline, compassion, trust and honesty. Customer-support organizations often focus on friendliness and compassion when dealing with upset customers.

The challenge is that different virtues might conflict. Many founders think that dedication and drive are the primary virtues and can ignore what employees and human resources might consider virtues needed to create a good working environment.