Genitori e consumatori: le scelte alimentari tra figli e marketing

Quanto l’etica del marketing alimentare – soprattutto quando indirizzato ai bambini – influisce sulle scelte dei genitori? C’è una sensibilità crescente che porta i genitori – in qualità di consumatori – a boicottare le aziende alimentari poco virtuose?

Questo è il primo articolo del blog in italiano, proprio perché tocca da vicino le famiglie italiane e le loro scelte di consumo. Ho infatti deciso di dare qui spazio alla ricerca da me condotta tra Luglio e Settembre 2015 per la mia tesi di laurea “Marketing ethics and children: how ethicality impacts on parent’s purchasing behaviour”, basata su un questionario rivolto ai genitori italiani di bambini di età compresa fra gli 0 e i 12 anni. Il questionario – condiviso su Facebook in gruppi dedicati alla genitorialità – era volto a verificare alcune ipotesi:

• Relazione positiva tra riconoscimento di un comportamento di marketing alimentare poco etico e comportamento punitivo (boicottaggio) delle aziende poco virtuose
• Relazione positiva tra attenzione all’approccio etico e comportamento premiale nei confronti delle aziende virtuose
• Relazione positiva tra attenzione a una dieta salutare e attenzione all’approccio etico
• Relazione positiva tra grado d’informazione sui temi etici e comportamento punitivo

Il metodo era presentare ai genitori un comportamento – dall’advergaming, ossia  la creazione di videogiochi connessi a prodotti alimentari e alla loro sponsorizzazione, alle pubblicità che promuovono come colazione ideale dei bambini cibi ricchi di zuccheri e grassi, dalla pubblicità “mimetizzata” all’interno di programmi interamente dedicati all’infanzia alla promozione di bevande molto zuccherate e gasate per i bambini – e testare la loro reazione di fronte a esso.

Genitori e consumatori: le scelte alimentari tra figli e marketing

I risultati più rilevanti sono stati:

• 406 risposte in 3 giorni! Questo risultato sorprendente – considerando il tema, abbastanza di nicchia – è già di per sé un segnale che le famiglie italiane hanno un interesse crescente per l’aspetto etico, soprattutto in un settore delicato come quello alimentare.
• Il 98.3% dei rispondenti sono donne: questo dato è un segnale del fatto che l’educazione alimentare dei bambini italiani è ancora ad appannaggio quasi totale delle madri.
• La relazione positiva tra riconoscimento di un comportamento poco etico e comportamento punitivo delle aziende poco virtuose è stata verificata: i genitori italiani sono più pronti ad agire concretamente contro le aziende dai comportamenti non etici.
• La relazione positiva tra l’attenzione a una dieta salutare e l’attenzione all’approccio etico è stata verificata: le famiglie più sensibili a educare i propri figli a uno stile di vita sano e ad abitudini alimentari equilibrate sono anche più attente ai comportamenti etici delle aziende che operano in questo settore.
• Maggiore è l’informazione sul tema, maggiore è la disposizione ad adottare comportamenti punitivi nei confronti delle aziende poco virtuose.

Genitori e consumatori: le scelte alimentari tra figli e marketing

Le mie conclusioni convergono intorno a un punto focale: l’etica del marketing – soprattutto in campo alimentare – è un tema d’interesse crescente per la società, soprattutto per le famiglie, che sentono in particolar modo la responsabilità di proteggere i propri figli da un tipo di marketing spregiudicato e poco attento alle esigenze dell’età infantile. Attualmente, la popolazione “salutista” è in forte aumento – basti pensare alla crescita esponenziale del trend vegetariano e vegano – e questo va di pari passo con un approccio più critico nei confronti del marketing alimentare e dei suoi aspetti più privi di scrupoli, che possono nuocere a una società già gravata dal problema pressante dell’obesità infantile – che, ricordiamo, non è solo americano.Da neolaureata in economia che ha appena avuto accesso al mondo del marketing, suggerisco alle aziende di non sottovalutare l’impegno etico e di considerare che comportamenti spregiudicati, sebbene profittevoli nel breve termine, possono essere puniti dai consumatori in un futuro quanto mai prossimo.    

Coop and ethical marketing to kids: an Italian example of responsibility

I was in a supermarket, walking down a corridor dedicated to croissants, biscuits and snacks. I was greedily glancing at some snacks  full of chocolate and coconut, intended to leave them on the shelf – it’s swimsuit season, dammit! – while I noticed the following symbol printed on the box:

Coop and ethical marketing to kids: labels

“Moderate consumption for kids”

This thing impressed me positively, since it is a good example of honest and ethical marketing towards kids. It is not profit-oriented at all: some parents, reading it, could avoid buying the product or, at least, drastically reduce their consumption of it. It is an act of responsibility. 

I searched on the Internet some information about this symbol and the philosophy of the company producing these products, Coop. Coop (abbreviation of Consumers’ Cooperative) is a system of Italian consumers’ cooperatives which runs the largest supermarket chain in Italy. Coop was created to buy and resell high-quality goods at fair prices to its members and to consumers in general, striving for biological goods and for food safety. 

More precisely, Coop is committed to offer healthy products to kids, dedicating to them tailored goods and launching informative campaigns in order to support parents’ in their buying decisions and to fight children obesity. Researches show that, in Italy, 22.9% of children between 8-9 years old are overweight and 11.1% are obese. One of the main causes is having wrong eating habits: too many animal proteins, too many sugars and fats, and food with a very limited fiber content, for a total caloric intake that is too high for children. Vegetables are not generally appreciated by kids and parents, instead of educating their children to eat them, they simply get over it. 

Coop and ethical marketing to kids: fighting obesity

For these reasons, Coop launched a project supervised by ECOG (European Childhood Obesity Group) and SIO (Società Italiana dell’Obesità), in order to sensitize families about this problem and to offer their children some healthy product created expressly for them. The campaign is called Club 4-10 (the children ages to which the campaign is mainly dedicated) and it has some goals. First, the increase of information, in order to guide parents in their buying decisions: the symbol presented above is one of the main measures adopted, an immediate and clever way to dissuade parents offering these products to their kids on a daily basis. Then, the creation of a line of products called Club 4-10 Coop addressed to kids between 4 and 10 years old and nutritionally balanced, and of another one called Crescendo Coop (Growing Up Coop), dedicated to children up to three years old, which uses organic ingredients and which avoids salt and sugar, unnecessary in the early stages of children’s life. Finally, Coop has a website entirely dedicated to this topic and campaign: if you are interested in it, just have a look!

Coop and ethical marketing to kids: Club 4-10

I praise this responsible approach to kids and I strongly suggest consumers to reward this kind of behaviour: doing so, in the end this will become the only conduct admitted and “unethical companies” will gradually disappear.

Beverage companies and marketing to kids: PepsiCo's case

Marketing to kids and ethics: dichotomy or duo? In PepsiCo, it seems that the two concepts are not antithetical, indeed they coexist successfully. In 2015, PepsiCo was honoured with the World’s Most Ethical Company title in the food and beverages field by Ethisphere, together with Kellogg’s, Ingredion Incorporated, the Hershey Company and the Italian brand illycaffé. 

Beverage companies: PepsiCo's case

Their marketing philosophy is based on transparency, and on their website they claim:

«More and more, consumers want and expect clear product nutrition information that allows them to make dietary decisions to meet their individual and family nutritional needs.Providing that information is our goal and, in many geographic markets, our nutrition labelling practices go beyond local requirements, with additional information to support consumer choice».

On its packaging, PepsiCo provides the key nutrition information – calorie count and key nutrients - its customers need in order to make aware dietary choices. 

Moreover, PepsiCo has a special commitment towards children: the company ensures that

«only products that meet our strict science-based nutrition criteria are advertised to any audience made up of more than 35 percent children under the age of 12». 

The products advertised, as said, respect the PepsiCo’s Global Nutrition Criteria for Advertising to Children. Moreover, PepsiCo promotes healthy eating habits among children, directing sales to schools focusing on water, juice, milk and low-calorie beverages. In 2013, PepsiCo implemented a policy according to which the company refused to buy advertising in programs addressing for more than the 35% children under the age of 12. 

On the contrary, the report Sugary Drinks FACTS 2014, released by the Yale Rudd Centre for Food Policy & Obesity in 2014, claims that beverages companies have still a log way to go to improve the responsibility of their marketing practices – especially when addressing kids. Jennifer Harris, Yale Rudd Center’s director of marketing initiatives and lead author of the report, commented:

«Despite promises by major beverage companies to be part of the solution in addressing childhood obesity, our report shows that companies continue to market their unhealthy products directly to children and teens. They have also rapidly expanded marketing in social and mobile media that are popular with young people, but much more difficult for parents to monitor.» 

Beverage companies and marketing to kids: Sugary Drinks FACTS 

The report shows some improvements: children between 6 and 11 years old viewed fewer TV ads (-39%) in 2013 than in 2010, sugary drinks advertising on website primarily visited by young people declined by 72% and Coca-Cola Co., Dr Pepper Snapple Group and PepsiCo provide more nutritional information on their packaging and on their websites. 

On the other hand, the report found out that preschoolers saw 39% more ads for PepsiCo's sugary drinks in 2013 than in 2010 (25% for kids between 6 and 11 years old). These data are in contrast with PepsiCo's ethical statement, and a representative of the company defined the findings 'misleading' and claimed: 

«the truth is that PepsiCo is, and will continue to be, a responsible marketer, particularly when it comes to children.»

The American Beverage Association – an industry trade group – object that the researchers of Sugary Drinks FACTS 2014 report do «not adequately differentiate between marketing to children, who are widely viewed as a special audience needing particular care, and marketing to teens and general audiences.» 

In conclusion, the food and beverage industry is a field in which irresponsible marketing practices targeting children are really popular. It is positive that companies are trying to eradicate these unethical techniques from their marketing strategy, but more efforts are required in order to protect children from unhealthy eating - and drinking - habits. Anyway, we cannot deny that companies like PepsiCo are striving to redefine their marketing conduct towards children, in order to act more responsibly and with a focus on their wellness, even if the attention towards children's health should be more and more enhanced. 

McDonald's VS Italian pizza: an ethical issue

Happy Meal VS pizza: the new McDonald's spot challenges the traditional Italian pizza, with a subtle, insidious message: that McDonald's Happy Meal suits children's needs better than pizza.

As you can see in the spot, an Italian family is sitting in a pizzeria - of course, the place is presented as gloomy and unpleasant; the waiter arrives and asks the kid which kind of pizza he prefers. Determined, he replies: "Happy Meal!" and the spot closes with these words: "Your son has no doubts, Happy Meal", while the family eats happily in a full-of-light McDonald's shop. 
Then, the voice adds: "Always at 4€", leveraging its low price to attract also parents, and not just children. Pizza margherita's price, in fact, is often higher, especially in big cities.

This spot could be the perfect example of unethical food marketing to children, in which an unhealthy diet is presented as the best option for kids. 
Marketers' are really clever: also the appearence of the pizzeria is not casually chosen; they present a dingy, old place, not really attractive to kids. On the contrary, McDonald's shop looks bright and kids-friendly.  
McDonald's may object that Happy Meal has many possible combinations and not all of them are unhealthy. The choices are:

• One main dish, chosen among hamburger, McToast and McNuggets
• A side dish, chosen among French fries and carrots
• A soft drink (Coca Cola, Coca Cola Zero, Fanta, Sprite, Peach tea or Lemon tea, still or fizzy water, biological peach juice)
• A dessert (Parmesan cheese, biological yogurt or fruit)

Each combination has a very different calorie count: from 254 kcal (if I choose McNuggets, carrots, water and fruit) to 733 kcal (McToast, fried potatoes, a fizzy drink and Parmesan). But let's face the reality: which kid goes to McDonald's to eat carrots and biological peach juice? 
A pizza margherita grants a calorie count of 800 kcal ca., but its ingredients are far healthier than the "junky" version of the Happy Meal: it is composed of 70% of carbohidrates, 20% of proteins, 10% of fatty acids, vitamins A and C, iron and calcium. Moreover, kids usually do not eat the entire pizza, often they just eat half of it: so, the calorie intake is 400 kcal.
It is definitely healthier than a Happy Meal composed by a McToast, French fries, Coke and Parmesan cheese, so it may be considered as an act of a marketing irresponsibility to create a TV advertisement aimed at children encouraging them to choose Happy Meal instead of pizza. Let's keep in mind that McDonald's food has been proved unhealthy by many documentaries, like the famous Super Size Me, in which the independent filmmaker Mogan Spurlock - from February 2nd to March 1st, 2003 - only ate at McDonald's and brushed against death.

Pizza margherita is candidate to become UNESCO world heritage and a spot which questions its healthy nature is an outrage to this traditional Italian dish. 

Neapolitan people, particularly touched by McDonald's misleading commercial, reacted with this parodic video:

In this ironical video, they offer a Happy Meal to a child, who reacts asking "Daddy, what do I do with this sleaze? I want pizza!". Then the voice says: "Your son has no doubts: pizza a portafoglio. 1, 1.5€ maximum".

Some people may say that eating pizza every day is not good for children's health, too. I totally agree, but if I had to choose between offering pizza or a junky Happy Meal to a kid, as the child in the spot, I would have no doubts.


Carlotta Neuenschwander

For a Lush, ethical World

Virtuous cases of marketing ethics: that was the topic of my latest post, which was dedicated to a French brand – Michel et Augustin. Today, I am going to talk about another example of ethical firm, operating in the cosmetics industry: Lush.

Actually, Lush does not like to be defined as an “ethical firm”: companies respecting the environment, including its inhabitants – people and animals -  should be considered normal businesses, and not particularly virtuous ones.

This company is not massively advertised, but I am pretty sure that you will easily associate its name with the sweet and inviting scent that comes from its shops. 

The perfume is so strong because Lush chose not to package most of its products: the company's slogan is we love it Naked, and its claim is that it is more concentrated on what is inside the package than on the package itself. Moreover, since Lush has a rigorous Green Policy, it prefers avoiding packages in order not to pollute the environment. Lush’s products that cannot avoid being packaged are wrapped up in recycled – and recyclable – materials.  

Lush's naked products

Because of its “green philosophy”, the firm patronises suppliers respecting the environment and animals, and operating locally: «we work closely with our transportation providers to source low-impact and ethically responsible fuels for moving materials and finished products around the globe», the company states in its website. 

Fresh ingredients form the basis of Lush's production process: the company avoids synthetic alternatives and preservatives, preferring fresh fruits, flowers and vegetables bought in farmers’ markets and flower shops. This guarantees the naturalness of Lush’s products, coherently with its environment-friendly standards. Moreover, its products strictly avoid animal testing.

Lush's ethical principles

The company feels the importance of the truthfulness of its message: «in 2011, we started reporting our environmental performance on an annual basis to ensure that our policy delivers on what it promises», it claims. Lush wants to put in practice the beliefs it claims it has, and it seems to be good at doing that: that is why the founder – Mark Constantine - has been awarded with the Observer Ethical Award 2014 as Best in Business. 

The marketing message is honest, transparent – Lush's motto is we mean what we say, and the quality of its products is traced: moreover, its marketing strategy is unusual, since Lush chose not to advertise its brand – e.g. on magazines and TV. Lush is only promoted online – through its website and social networks – and in-store: according to it, a good, qualitative product is the best kind of advertising. 

An aspect of its ethical commitment is charitable giving: 100% of the purchase price of its lotion Charity Pot goes towards supporting humanitarian, environmental and animal rights causes locally and around the world. 

Lush's ethical commitment: the Charity Pot

I am glad to talk about these firms, which are ethical and successful at the same time: they do not need a lot of advertising to triumph, they do not manipulate potential customers with deceptive messages, they do not promote unhealthy attitudes to obtain profits and they do not puff up their products describing them as the “best” ones: quality and respect for the environment – and people in it – are their banner, and that’s the true spirit of ethical marketing and business ethics.  

Carlotta Neuenschwander

Hello Barbie: toy or marketers' spy?

Good morning everybody,

we have already talked about the controversial practice of targeting children, creating products dedicated to them or just trying to attract them through advertising – no matter what type of good marketers are selling. Indeed, marketing for children is massive in food & beverage sector, but a lot of goods are commercialised leveraging on children’s influence upon their parents, such as cars, clothes, software and computers, family trips and excursions and so on. “We’re relying on the kid to pester the mom to buy the product, rather than going straight to the mom”, says Barbara Martino, advertising executive. 

This is potentially dangerous for children’s health – if the promoted item is not safe, as for junk food and soft drinks – or psychology – since this type of marketing induces them to desire something and to feel dissatisfied and marginalized if they do not obtain it. 

Children as the favourite marketers' target

Today’s topic is even more frightening: it is about creating toys which may store information about kids.

Everyone knows Mattel’s Barbie, personally I played a lot with it when I was a child. Getting Barbies dressed, making them travel, decorate their house and, above all, chatting with them. If they had answered me, it would have been great: every kid would like an interactive toy, a playmate always available when your friends are not around.

Today, the interactive Barbie exists: it is called “Hello Barbie” and it has been presented by Mattel on the 16th of February at the 2015 Toy Fair in New York City, but it will go on sale this fall. It is a Wi-Fi connected doll able to answer when kids are talking to her, because it stores information with a cloud-computing system. 

Hello Barbie presented at the 2015 Toy Fair

The problem is clear: these information are in possession of Mattel, for this reason children’s thoughts, emotions, fantasy will be  a sort of information that the company could use for commercial reasons. It is kind of creepy and, immediately, words as privacy violation and children manipulation come to our mind. 

Hello Barbie has been co-created by ToyTalk, and its CEO, Oren Jacob, stated:

«All of ToyTalk's products in market have been designed to meet or exceed the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act and have also been independently verified as such by KidSAFE+. While the underlying technology of our products works much like Siri, Google Now and Cortana, ToyTalk products never search the open web for answers. Responses are carefully crafted by our own writing team, and conversations recorded through our products are never used to advertise or market to children or anyone».

According to them, the conversations are only used to developing, testing and improving speech recognition technology and artificial intelligence algorithms, and absolutely not for marketing and advertising. 

Let us assume that this is true: but don’t you find it sinister? These toys are eavesdropping: they listens to our children private thoughts and they store them. When a little girl plays alone with her Barbies, she opens up her heart: she expresses wants, desires, dreams that no one should be able to listen – not even her parents. I believe that also kids need their privacy, and it is really disturbing that people could eavesdrop what children say in their own rooms. 

Hello Barbie may spy kids

The children advocacy group “Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood” has started a campaign against Mattel’s Hello Barbie, called Stop Mattel’s "Hello Barbie" Eavesdropping Doll. They believe that

«Kids using “Hello Barbie” won’t only be talking to a doll, they’ll be talking directly to a toy conglomerate whose interest in them is financial. It’s creepy – and creates a host of dangers for children and families”. 

Clearly, Mattel and ToyTalk may claim that they will not make use of the information provided by their dolls to create customised marketing campaigns, but who knows? And, assuming that it is true, there would still be an ethical issue, wouldn’t it?

I will be really glad to have your opinion about this topic, and to know the position you are going to take when Hello Barbie will be on sale.

Carlotta Neuenschwander

Marketing to children: a critical issue

Target selection is a critical phase in marketing decision-making process: choosing the right target for your product is the best way to increase sales and to obtain profit. 

You have to select who is the potential customer that you can easily attract and persuade: and who is as sensible as a child?

Indeed, children have always been one of the marketers’ favourite targets: they are too young, innocent and unspoilt by the society to react and refuse the proposed marketing message; they do not have a rational identity that can protect them from an external manipulation.

One could argue that kids do not have purchasing power: false. Even if it is not a direct purchasing power – they do not go shopping by themselves – they exert a strong influence upon their parents’ shopping decisions. Moreover, nowadays, from a certain age they start receiving a little amount of money from their parents. The sum of these two aspects gives them a strong purchasing power, making them attractive preys to marketers’ eyes. 

Marketing to children: children's purchasing power

If the message we are trying to communicate is safe, we can debate about the ethicality of the choice of targeting helpless customers, but, actually, children will not be damaged. According to me, marketers should have the possibility of targeting children, but they must be really careful of the product they are promoting: if it can be dangerous for children’s health, if it boosts unhealthy behaviours, if it embeds violence and sexual innuendo, marketers should be prevented from targeting children.  

One of the biggest industry in which children play a big role in companies’ profits is food & beverages one. This is the field in which marketing to children proliferate: it is easier to tempt children, because they spend more time watching TV compared to adults – who are often at work – and because they get influenced quicker. 

Marketing to children and TV

Moreover, children do not care about diet – as often adults do; for this reason, they may insist with their parents to obtain a certain snack or drink.

Marketing to children and negative influence

Childhood obesity is a pressing health concern in Western countries – especially in the US – and food and beverage marketing often targets children: it is impossible to ignore the connection between these two aspects. 

Free-market supporters claim for self-regulation in this sense, while others think that a government regulation should be required.

I want to stress one particular point that I always underline: consumers may react towards these marketing campaigns, in this particular case parents should be really careful about what their children watch on TV and what kind of advertising hits them. They have to be ready to protect their children from unethical marketing and to boycott firms that show an irresponsible marketing conduct towards them. If they did so, companies would understand that this marketing technique is not profitable at all and they would cease to adopt it.

This is better than any kind of government intervention: public opinion is far stronger than it and, if exerted in an intelligent and proactive way, could be able to stop these behaviours.

Carlotta Neuenschwander

What kind of consumer are you?

Good afternoon everybody,

In the previous posts we have talked about companies’ responsibility of taking ethical marketing decisions. It is true, firms should have a responsible conduct, and it would be beneficial for society and for them as well.

However, today I am going to focus on consumers. What kind of consumer are you? It is also our duty to be careful about marketing campaigns, to recognize unethical marketing techniques, to avoid deceptive advertising and to boycott firms that cheat on us. 

I am trying to figure out some kind of consumers and I want you to choose the category which best fits you – you need to be honest, do not lie to yourself!

Unaware consumer

You are a person with your own interests, but keeping updated is not so important for you. You are not really into reading (books, newspapers or whatsoever). Your main channel of information is TV: you spend enough time watching it and you let advertisements influence you. How you can understand that? When you go to the supermarket, you usually buy products of the most famous brands, without caring too much about health and their production process.

Consumers and unhealthy food

Average consumer

You are better informed, even well-informed in some fields, but marketing is not really your thing. You are not a TV addict and, when you go to the supermarket, you prefer buying products on offer instead of choosing the most popular brands, since your focus is the price. Of course, you trust more famous companies than unknown ones.

Half price offers to attract customers

Aware consumer

You are an informed person, you read newspaper and you navigate the Web to keep you update. It does not mean that you avoid TV, but it is definitely not the only way to obtain the information you need. Advertising influences everyone, but you are not that much persuaded. You take into consideration the quality/price ratio when you do shopping, choosing the products of the firms you trust but also experimenting something new. 

Customers and their focus on the quality-price ratio

Proactive consumer

According to you, shopping is a way to express your beliefs and to change society as well. You keep updated about marketing ethics and you make responsible shopping decisions, preferring more ethical companies than others. You try to fight for your ideals also through your shopping habits: you certainly do not think that changing the world is impossible; you firmly believe that everyone’s decisions could be useful to shape a better world. Health, respect for the environment and ethics are often their main interests. 

When you have a bad customer experience, you complain or you give a negative review on social networks. Vice versa, when you find a firm that satisfies your needs, you become a loyal customer.

Consumers with a preference for healthy products

Clearly, creating these categories means stereotyping a little consumers’ behaviour. I am sure that nobody is always proactive, or always unaware – at least, it is very difficult to reflect exactly the members of these groups. 

What about you? With my post I am neither saying that everyone should be proactive, nor judging unaware consumers. Sometimes, a person does not take into consideration marketing ethics in his/her shopping habits because he/she is more interested in saving money – a totally respectable decision. Of course, if you understand that you are unaware, be careful: try to keep you updated, informed, because this would be useful not just for you as an individual, but for the society in its entirety. 

As I said in the other posts, consumers do have power, which they can exert through their shopping decisions: you cannot claim for a responsible marketing if you are not the first to be responsible. 

Carlotta Neuenschwander

Deceptive marketing: how to fight it.

Hi readers,

Today I want to talk about a concrete project in the field of marketing ethics, run by the University of Pavia: if you are interested, just have a look at Protect Yourself From Deceptive Marketing Practices.

Universitiamo - logo of the campaigns run by the University of Pavia

This project aims at protecting consumers from irresponsible marketing techniques, especially from those targeting children. Kids are often manipulated by marketing campaigns, consequently inducing parents to buy what advertising tells them to. The project is focused on food & beverages field, since it is one of the main areas in which children are targeted, and one of the most dangerous ones, too. In fact, marketing can promote wrong eating habits and products that are detrimental for children’s health: consumers should be educated, in order to bypass the kind of marketing which promotes these products.

The project is based on:

• a detailed analysis of customers’ eating habits and their exposure to marketing practices
• study of virtuous and vicious marketing cases
• in-depth interviews with experts in the field of irresponsible marketing
• focus groups with parents (shoppers) to identify their problems and needs

Of course, this project needs funds to be enacted, and in a period of economic crisis people may think that spending money on such a project would be useless.

That is wrong: learning how to avoid evil marketing is learning how to spend your money in a better way. Keeping away from treacherous marketing campaigns is crucial, because it prevents you from being exploited by irresponsible marketers, who leverage on your children to reach you and make you one of their consumers. At the same time, choosing virtuous companies induce even irresponsible ones to change their strategy and converge on a more ethical marketing.  

Nowadays, customers do have the power: if your shopping habits are ethical, firms will get more and more ethical as well. 

Carlotta Neuenschwander

Why choose ethical marketing

Hi everybody,

I am a neophyte blogger and I have decided to deal with this topic: why?

I am an Italian business student - at the last year of my master-course in International Business and Economics - and marketing is one of my greatest interests, the area in which I would like to work and in which I am currently serving an internship. 

I am writing my thesis about marketing ethics and I am discovering this intriguing world, which I want to explore, but also promote, since I strongly believe in its relevance. 

For years, firms have been adopting a laissez-faire philosophy - typical of Milton Friedman's school of thought - in marketing and business in general, but now the growing impact of social networks and the increasing power of the public opinion are causing a turnaround. Stakeholders' rights and welfare should be taken into consideration before launching a marketing campaign, since even the smallest irresponsible behaviours may lead people to boycott your firm.  One of the most famous firms in food & beverages sector - the Swiss Nestlé - has been eavily boycotted in 1977 because of its unethical marketing campaign related to breast milk substitutes, especially in LDCs: if you are interested in the topic, just have a look at Nestlé boycott. 

Boycotting campaign against Nestlé unethical marketing

Today, firms are getting more and more involved in ethical issues: for this reason, they are gradually putting ethical marketing as one of their main goals. Virtuous firms' number is increasing, and the organisation Etisphere compiles an annual ranking of the world's most ethical companies. 

So, as a future marketer, I want to stress some aspects in this blog:

• marketing does not mean acting unethically: the old-fashioned idea that marketers are inhenrently evil is definitely surpassed.
• ethicality means profit: someone thinks that acting ethically is equal to charity, but this is definitely not true. Nowadays, having a clean public image makes you profitable, especially because consumers are getting more and more conscious about ethical issues.

Firms, do not forget the ethical side: it is crucial to create a strong and good reputation to attract customers and to make them loyal. 

Carlotta Neuenschwander