A CONCEPTUAL STUDY ON THE DETRIMENTAL MARKETING PRACTICES

EMPLOYED TO, MANIPULATEING AND INFLUENCEING THE CONSOSNUMER

BUYING BEHAVIOR
Abstract:
Marketing practices are important for organizations seeking to promote their products
and deliver solutions to the consumers. They are bound to make an effective
contribution towards society while satisfying the needs of the consumers by delivering
product and services. Yet if the marketing practices turn detrimental to the noble cause
stated above, the situation worsens and Consumers are at losing end. In recent times
such marketing practices are being usedhave come to be used on a fairly large scale
and the element of materialism has added fuel to fire as the organizations in order to
beat the competition; tend to go beyond the limit where ethical standards are
sacrificed.This piece of writing ispaper is an effort by the author to point out such
practices and encourage discussion as on curbinghow to curb the impacts of such
detrimental practices and maintaining the balance amongst the stakeholders,
especially the the consumers. In recent times such marketing practices are being used
on large scale and the element of materialism has added fuel to fire as the
organizations in order to beat the competition; tend to go beyond the limit where ethical
standards are sacrificed. The paper is Bbased on an extensive literature review, the
paper and also discusses also focuses on the historical perspective on the issue.

Keywords:

Detrimental

Marketing

Practices,

Consumer

Buying

Behavior,

Marketing Dilemma, Advertising, Consumer Rights

Introduction:
Historically, it is has been a practice to make the product known to the end users and
consumers through. At different times, different varied marketing modes and practices
have been utilized to ensure the transmittalconveyance of the message to the intended
masses. However, in recent times the degree of competition among the brands has
increased rapidly leaving compelling every organizations to think and rethink its their
marketing strategies. and organizationSuch organizations are is trying level best to
reach the customers first, and that too with a better and convenient package. Although
such attempts appearThe scenario apparently seems very straightforward modes of
drawing in customers, yet a lot of these are underscored by several questionable
practices lay in depth and once if the probe is ponderedwhich when probed reveal a
disturbing picture., the results are shocking.
The organizations Iin pursuitspite of meeting their targets and intended goals, ts he
organizations have started begun to overlooking the rights of the consumers who are
paying for the services and products (Andreasen and & Manning,1990). From deliberate
manipulation of facts about a product to creation of a need that actually is not material,

a lot number of malpractices are prevailinghave become prevalent. Organizations now

botherare now concerned more about making profits rather than delivering the
appropriate solutions. An, one example is of this is creating a need among the
consumers and later addressing it with solutions (Barnett, 2001). According to Viscusi,
Moore and Albright (1993), pPharmaceutical companies are considered unsympathetic in

this scenario as to sell their products, they approach enlist the medical practitioners in
and seek their help to make upforming customer opinion s mind by developing creating
a situation that actually does notnt exist. However, our study is not limited to any
particular product or industry. It is, yet its general in nature and the aspiration aim of the
author is to bring such practices to light; so that the level of customers awareness may
be increased.
By highlighting these aspects, author intendswe intend to suggest a matter of concern
to be addressed on priority basis and also to add to the customers knowledge . The
proposed study is directed aimedis an effort to help at helping the consumers in spotting
anyto detect mal practices or threats to their interests.as their interest are being
sacrificed. A number of such mal marketing practices are very carefully discussed with
proper logics and in the light of previous studies (Carrigan, and Attalla,2001; Carpenter,
Rashi, and Nakamoto,1994; Mason, 2000) to validate the effortsupport the assertions
made in this study. The study does not challenge the notion of marketing; rather, it
questions its mal functionsmalpratices that are put to work very strategically and later
leading to consumer rights violation. However theThe hypothesis and model discussed
under consideration is presented before the research groups to for evaluation and

comments, and to ascertain if the model can be utilized for empirical testing at a later
stage.
Literature Review:
Ingram, Skinner and Tayler (2005) state that if the corporate actions of an organization
are perceived as unethical by the committed consumers, there are certain chances that
the organization may lose its loyal consumers and the customer bucket shrinks. It is
suggested by Alexander (2002) that unethical marketing behavior influences customers
behavior in marketplace, as the customer is sensitive enough to understand though to
some extent that the right is being overrun. If tThe customer perceives the companys
behavior as being unappealing, then in the course of buying, he/she may deny the
products (Bone, and Corey, 2000). The sense of ones rights being violated impulse
compel such behavior, and in return the consequences are severe. Ingram et.al (2005)
further add that customer commitment is driven by psychological or emotional
attachment to a brand or company. However, the judgment of the ethical behavior varies
with individuals. Hence, and it is necessary for companies while initiating any marketing
drive, it is necessary to understand how the stakeholders design the parameters of
judgment (Carpenter, Rashi, and Nakamoto,1994).
Jones (1991) states that any behavior that is illegal or morally unacceptable to larger
community is referred to unethical marketing behavior. Actions like a negative word of
mouth, the frequency of complaints lodged and a few third party survey, are the factors
that help the consumers determine their opinion about a brand and in specific a product
(Carrigan, and Attalla, 2001). The seriousness of consequences exhibited by the

marketing strategies and social consensus, impact the decision making process of the
buyer (Carrigan, Marinova and Szmigin, 2005). Logically, the customer is consciously
evaluating the companys contribution towards society and the hidden interests of
marketing initiatives. There are a number of marketing practices, that are considered
contradictory to the marketing ethics such as, persuading the consumer with deceptive
information and trying to maneuver the customers buying behavior (Chen, Ganesan,
and Liu, 2009). Rotfeld (2005) states that it constitutesis a patently unethical practice,
when marketing people professionals hide vital facts about a product from a customer
rather than merely deliver false information only to boost their sales. H; he further adds
that, most of the marketing experts make a wrong use of customers desire to believe
as mostly, consumers prefer sports over education and entertainment over science. The
practice of using the public icons like actors, sportsmen and other inspirational elements
works on along the line to of usinge the element of emotional attachment of the
individuals with their role models (Creyer and Ross, 1997).
It is also a point to noteworth noting that, in the past, subliminal messaging has also
been used to manipulate consumers paradigm of choice. Subliminal messaging is a
technique introduced in the 1950s to advertise products in movies. Rogers (2003),
refers to a claim made by a failing research firm that he it used subliminal messaging in
a movie to boost the sales of popcorns and drinks. Actually, the marketing agents try to
take undue advantage of a customers psycheic and insteadby developing a need for
him/her that literally is not desired. However, for many products the customers areis so
obsessed that they will to believe anything that comes their wayconveyed to them
(Rotfeld,2005). For example, a number of weight loss products are a source of

attraction for overweight individuals who and they are not rarely bothered to evaluate
the product or question its safety., whereas t On the other hand, the marketers
deliberately skip gloss over the possible consequences that are associated with the use
of that product.
To further validate, Smith and Cooper (1997) state that any product that carries unsafe
characteristics or ingredients towards its intended use is a harmful product. As the
concept of harm chain introduced by Polonsky, Carlson and Fry (2003) which was
actually developed to evaluate the characteristics of a product and evaluate as if it
includes any harmful ingredients. The companies that catch more eyes among the
general public as a positive force will have to face more public scrutiny (Stoll, 2002).
Furthermore companies now days tend to spend more on spreading word about their
contribution towards society rather than actually what they spend. Stoll (2002) adds
that Phillip Morris once spent three times more money on advertising their social work
they actually did. Here, companies tend to put curtains on the damage they dealt to the
consumers in lieu of questionable marketing practices while taking undue advantage of
customers psychic (Sun, Chen and Wang, 2012). Moreover such philanthropic deeds
are brought in to light as a reaction to negative public opinion due to past misdeeds
(Rogers,2003). Academically, the issue of scrutinizing the issue of marketing practices
is under consideration of research groups and particular focus is on the ethics gap
developed in response to allegedly deceptive marketing practices (Quelch, 1993).
Holley (1987) argues that repetitive ads is considered as bully that doesnt give the
customer enough time and space to think and decide rather generate a pulse. The

mass marketing activities make way for advertisers to define a scenario of a good life
and then manipulate our desires and exploiting the insecurities without giving any
chance to think critically and evaluate the choice and define their own parameters of a
good life (Mason, 2000).

Unethical
Marketing
Practices

Manipulated
Consumers
choice

Influenced Buying
Behavior

Hypothesis:
Following hypothesis as extracted out of the model isuggested that:
H1: The uUnethical mMarketing practices are directed towards manipulation of
consumer choice/
H2: Manipulated consumer choice results in Influenced influencing bBuying behavior of
the consumers

Discussion:
As mentioned in the literature review, the practices that are critically and
unreasonably manipulating the consumers buying behavior are much in to act. Now
days people are obsessed with a lot of desires and in order to fulfill one they turn
back towards the important factor that is scrutiny and the marketing agents

unfortunately are taking full advantage if this. Though, consumers are perceived as
innocent souls and with little knowledge about the product they most of the times fail to
distinguish between the usefulness of the product they intend for. The said model
depicts a sense of curiosity to evaluate the notion as if the marketing agents use
manipulation techniques to influence consumers buying behavior.
The organizations at will and quite daringly overlook the ethical standards and put
behind the obligations to deliver to the society rather than taking the undue advantage
and increasing their profit ratio by sacrificing the free will of the consumer. In their
stance they appear to be well justified as their interests are being well served, yet the
consumers are at losing end in all this process. Practices like, hiding or faking the
information, creating undue needs and later addressing them, subliminal messaging
and spreading words about philanthropic activities to cover all the misdeeds, are putting
the consumers at a very uncomfortable place with not much but little of the chance to
opine.
With the historic perspectives, such practices have been occurring in the past but in
recent times the intensity has increased to a greater degree and such practices which
used to be occasional are now carried out regularly. The marketing initiatives are
designed in a way to serve the stated cause and organizations appear to be obsessed
with the fact to increase their profit ratio while sacrificing the consumers rights at any
cost.
Conclusion:

Conclusively, the practices discussed are detrimental and the marketing ethics are
being violated at every step leaving consumers astray. Organizations appear to be
controlling the consumers buying behavior by any means and the most absolute means
of all is through manipulation. Not much space is left with the consumer to think and
decide rather they are unduly directed to opt any option due to false and unrealistic
situations created by the organizations. Author encouraged research groups to give the
fact a thought and think on the lines discussed in this piece of work. The situation if not
dealt properly will continue to worsen and no sooner than later the adversity will
increase landing the consumer blocks in sheer trouble.

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