Marketing and its Social Implications - Concerns and Initiatives

Companies adopt marketing practices to delight their customers, develop customer relationships, and generate revenues and profits. However, sometimes, companies focus solely on their selfish motives of growth and prosperity forgetting about customer welfare and welfare of the society. Marketers are criticized for such practices and the negative impact created on the society. The practices include high prices of products, high distribution costs, high advertising and promotion costs, excessive mark-ups, deceptive practices, high-pressure selling, questionable products, planned obsolescence, and poor service to disadvantaged customers. Marketers are criticized for creating false wants and materialism, scarcity of social goods, and cultural pollution. They are accused of harming and reducing competition. In this age of social marketing, companies should consider societal concerns of various stakeholders and maintain a balance between their own objectives of generating revenues and profits and long-term societal requirements. This will help in sustaining the society.

Point of Sale Advertising and Promotion of Cigarettes, Electronic Cigarettes, and Heated Tobacco Products in Warsaw, Poland—A Pilot Study

Prevalence of smoking and e-cigarette use among teenagers in Poland is high. Polish law bans most advertising and promotion for cigarettes, e-cigarettes, and heated tobacco products (HTPs). This study investigates marketing for these products at points of sale (POS) near secondary schools in Warsaw, Poland, noting if the advertising and promotion were allowed under current Polish laws. All POS within 250 m radii of five selected secondary schools in each of three Warsaw districts were assessed for tobacco and e-cigarette direct advertising, inside and outside; offers of gifts or promotional discounts; tobacco merchandising, and tobacco displays. Of the 112 POS surveyed, 83% exposed customers to some form of advertising or promotion of cigarettes, e-cigarettes, or HTPs; in 76%, advertising or promotion that violated Polish law was present. More than 80% of POS surveyed displayed tobacco products; in 19%, these products were displayed near products of interest to minors. POS density observed here was 30.3 per km2, higher than in other European cities. In Poland, a high proportion of POS near schools violates the law banning the advertisement and promotion of tobacco and nicotine consumer products through a dense tobacco retailer network.

A scoping review on disparities in exposure to advertising for e-cigarettes and heated tobacco products and implications for advancing a health equity research agenda

Background Disparities in exposure to and density of tobacco advertising are well established; however, it is still unclear how e-cigarette and heated tobacco product (HTP) advertising vary by age, education, sex, gender identity, race/ethnicity, sexual orientation, socioeconomic status (SES), and/or urban/rural area. Through a scoping review, we sought to identify potential disparities in exposure to e-cigarette and HTP advertising and promotion across populations. Methods In January 2020, a systematic literature search was conducted in five databases: PubMed, Scopus, Embase, Web of Science, and the Cochrane Library. The search was updated in October 2020. Articles reporting on exposure to e-cigarette and/or HTP advertising and promotion across age, education, sex, gender identity, race/ethnicity, sexual orientation, SES, and/or urban/rural areas were included for full-text review (n = 25). Of those, 15 were deemed relevant for data extraction. Results The majority of the studies were from the U.S. (n = 12) and cross-sectional (n = 14). Studies were published between 2014 and 2020 and focused on determining causal relationships that underlie disparities; only one study assessed HTP advertising and promotion. Exposure to e-cigarette and HTP advertising was assessed at the individual-level (e.g., recall seeing ads on television) and at the neighborhood-level (e.g., ad density at the point-of-sale). Studies addressed differences across age (n = 6), education (n = 2), sex (n = 6), gender identity and sexual orientation (n = 3), race/ethnicity (n = 11), SES (n = 5), and urban/rural (n = 2). The following populations were more likely to be exposed to e-cigarette advertising: youth, those with more than a high school diploma, males, sexual and gender minorities, Whites, and urban residents. At the neighborhood-level, e-cigarette advertisements were more prevalent in non-White neighborhoods. Conclusions Exposure to e-cigarette/HTP advertising varies based on sociodemographic characteristics, although the literature is limited especially regarding HTPs. Higher exposure among youth might increase tobacco-related disparities since it can lead to nicotine/tobacco use. Research should incorporate and apply a health equity lens from its inception to obtain data to inform the elimination of those disparities.

An analysis of customer’s purchase intention towards the green products and its effect on manufacturing: A statistical approach

The study is based on finding the impact of consumer behavior on green manufacturing. The opinion of the consumer has been taken regarding the production of auto components in Delhi NCR. Most of the consumers are not aware of detailed manufacturing processes of the auto componentswhich leads to difficulties in finding the impact of consumer behaviour on production of the products having no direct application. To know the opinion of the consumer, a questionnaire survey is used to observe the consumer awareness and its impact on production of green product. The PLS-PM (partial Least Square-Path Modeling) is used to formulate the structural equation modelling. It was found that the perceived quality and cost of the product influencing consumer behaviour and purchase intention towards green consumptions. Some more green initiatives, advertising and promotion, and social welfare also influence the consumer significantly towards the use of green products.

Pricing and Public Policy Issues

Companies adopt pricing policies to maximize the revenues and profits generated. Some of the policies are not fair. Major public policy issues in pricing include unfair pricing practices within distribution channel levels such as price-fixing and predatory pricing, and across distribution channel levels such as retail price maintenance, deceptive pricing, and discriminatory pricing. Companies set dynamic pricing and high prices for products to cover distribution costs, advertising and promotion costs, and excessive mark-ups. Companies try adopting fair pricing policies. Nevertheless, laws and regulations are enforced to ensure that the policies are followed and customers are benefited. Sometimes, it is difficult to ensure that the practices are legal and ethical. Governments and companies should also be aware about the pricing implications of the social goods used by customers. Proper understanding and implementation of pricing policies will benefit both companies and customers and help in developing sustainable strategies and long-term customer relationships.

Pricing and Public Policy Issues

Companies adopt pricing policies to maximize the revenues and profits generated. Some of the policies are not fair. Major public policy issues in pricing include unfair pricing practices within distribution channel levels such as price-fixing and predatory pricing, and across distribution channel levels such as retail price maintenance, deceptive pricing, and discriminatory pricing. Companies set dynamic pricing and high prices for products to cover distribution costs, advertising and promotion costs, and excessive mark-ups. Companies try adopting fair pricing policies. Nevertheless, laws and regulations are enforced to ensure that the policies are followed and customers are benefited. Sometimes, it is difficult to ensure that the practices are legal and ethical. Governments and companies should also be aware about the pricing implications of the social goods used by customers. Proper understanding and implementation of pricing policies will benefit both companies and customers and help in developing sustainable strategies and long-term customer relationships.

The Determinants of Global Expansion: A Study on Food and Beverage Franchisors in Malaysia

In the past decade, franchising has become a well-known platform for business expansion. Various strategies have been employed by franchisors in expanding their business into the global market. However, few studies have assessed the determinants that can be adopted by the franchisors in bringing value as well as opening up opportunities for global market expansion. This study aims to explore the determinants of global expansion based on Malaysian franchisors’ experience. A qualitative research approach was adopted through various case studies with ten franchisors from the food and beverage industry in Malaysia. In-depth interviews were carried out to explore this topic. Thematic analysis was performed through the “Atlas.ti” software package version 9.0, which was also used in analyzing the data. The findings indicated that there are four themes, and nine sub-themes were discovered from the grounded data. The franchisors agreed that franchise brand, business location, product, advertising, and promotion were able to influence franchisors in designing strategies for global expansion. The data were also able to provide an in-depth understanding of the determinants for global expansion that can be undertaken as a guide to prospective franchisors who want to start exploring the global market. These results are expected to assist the government as well as the agencies involved with franchising in improving related policies, strategies and programmes. Thus, it is important to understand these determinants in order to survive in a competitive global market.

6. Blasphemy and media

‘Blasphemy and media’ studies how blasphemy has been profoundly changed by media revolutions: first, print, woodcuts, pamphlets, and newspapers; then, in a massive wave of transformation from the late nineteenth century, telegraph, radio, photography, film, and television; and finally, the age of digital technology and social media. The media revolutions of 1880–2020 have greatly expanded capacities for making, amplifying, spreading, monitoring, and prosecuting ‘blasphemies’. New media supports new forms of blasphemy. Blasphemous cartoons, ‘blasphemous’ plays and musicals, blasphemy memes, and ‘blasphemies’ and insults which are being auto-generated by algorithms, are important elements in the media revolution. Blasphemy has become an explicit form of advertising and promotion.

Kredibilitas Influencer dalam Membentuk Kepercayaan Konsumen terhadap Brand

Advertising and promotion campaigns often involve influencers to deliver messages through the media to increase consumer trust in the brand. In addition, influencers have a level of credibility which has an impact on the level of trust in the brand. Zilingo is one of the fashion e-commerce brands on the online platform, which also takes advantage of influencers' credibility in their advertising campaign strategy. However, in entering the eMarket Platform, Zilingo as a new E-commerce platform is required to be able to build brand trust in order to compete with e-commerce brands that have previously existed as market leaders. Establishing trust in a brand is very important because Brand Trust is the main consideration for consumers to buy products. The research has several variables, namely Trustworthiness, Expertise, Similarity, Attractiveness as the independent variable and Brand Trust as the dependent variable. This research uses a quantitative approach and a positivist paradigm based on observations of social realities that occur. The research population is Zilingo consumers. The data collection technique is done by using non probability sampling. Based on the calculation of the sample formula, it is known that the number of samples in this study was 100 respondents. The results showed that Trustworthiness, Expertise, Similarity, Attractiveness had a significant positive effect on Brand Trust. Abstrak. Kampanye periklanan dan promosi seringkali melibatkan influencer untuk mengantarkan pesan melalui media guna meningkatkan kepercayaan konsumen terhadap brand. Selain itu, Influencer memiliki tingkat kredibilitas yang berdampak pada tingkat kepercayaan terhadap brand. Zilingo merupakan salah satu fashion e-comerce brand pada Platform online, yang juga memanfaatkan kredibilitas influencer dalam strategi kampanye iklannya. Namun, dalam memasuki eMarket Platform, Zilingo sebagai new E-comerce dituntut mampu membangun kepercayaan brand agar dapat bersaing dengan e-comerce brand yang telah lebih dahulu ada sebagai market leader. Membentuk kepercayaan terhadap brand merupakan hal yang sangat penting karena Brand Trust menjadi pertimbangan utama konsumen untuk membeli produk. Dalam penelitian memiliki beberapa Variable yaitu Trustworthiness, Expertise, Similarity, Attractiveness sebagai Variable independent dan Brand Trust sebagai Variable dependent. Dalam penelitian ini digunakan pendekatan kuantitatif dan paradigma positivism berdasarkan pengamatan terhadap realitas sosial yang terjadi. Populasi penelitian yaitu konsumen Zilingo. Teknik pengumpulan data dilakukan dengan non probability sampling. Berdasarkan perhitungan rumus sampel diketahui bahwa jumlah sampel penelitian ini adalah 100 responden. Hasil penelitian menunjukkan bahwa Trustworthiness, Expertise, Similarity, Attractiveness memiliki pengaruh positif yang signifikan terhadap Brand Trust.

Emerging market orientation: advertising and promotion in the French telecommunications sector: 1952-2002

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to analyze the level and forms of advertising in the French telecommunications sector between 1952 and 2002 in order to understand the transformation of the leading organization in the sector and its succesful adoption of increasingly sophisticated practices. The context of increased market orientation is examined to investigate how such practices emerge. Design/methodology/approach Extensive historical study of primary source material and secondary sources was conducted to develop acomparison of three eras. For each era, major changes in relation to advertising and promotional practices are identified along with key contextual elements to understand the relative importance of internal or external influences on the adoption of market-oriented practices. Findings Initially, advertising and promotional practices studied were introduced gradually within the state-run organization (1952–1973). They subsequently became increasingly important and systematic (1974–1985) before finally becoming those of a modern organization (1986–2002) in the competitive sphere. In addition to single institutional messages aimed at either consumer or business markets, more abstract forms of communication were used over time and publicity was increasingly targeted at different segments.The French telecommunications sector was aware of the necessity to engage in advertising and promotional activities prior to the existence of competition in its main consumer market. Adoption of such customer-oriented practices was more pronounced initially in the business segment. Advertising and promotional activities to consumers became increasingly significant as the administration modernized and developed innovative services. This growth in promotion and in its sophistication accelerated within the new competitive environment following deregulation and, in particular, with the growth of the mobile sector. Both the external environment and internal organizational transformations thus need to be taken into account when analyzing growing adoption of advertising and promotion. Originality/value This systematic study of the introduction of advertising and promotional practices in the French telecommunications sector highlights how public organizations can introduce practices linked to market orientation. In the organization studied, the fact that increased advertising and promotional activity was driven by organizational transformation in the second of the three eras studied indicates the importance of investigating internal influences and external factors such as competition.