The Ethical and Unethical Dimensions of Marketing

Marketing is a discipline that provokes much debate. In fact, it has been accused of being used for unethical purposes. Opponents of marketing make the accusation that marketing encourages materialism, increases the final price of the product, allures consumers into buying products they might not really need, etc. Other research studies have argued that the very core of marketing is in contrast with the doubt and criticism that is expressed by its opponents because customer satisfaction is marketing’s ultimate goal. This paper critically discusses the opposition’s and supporters’ views of marketing as an unethical science.