Ethical and Social Marketing in Asia

By Bang Nguyen and Chris Rowley

There is a growing interest in firms’ adoption of ethical and social marketing approaches among academics and practitioners alike. Ethical Marketing is the application of ethics into the marketing process, and Social Marketing is a concept that seeks to influence a target audience for the greater social good. Ethical and Social Marketing in Asia examines this so-far unexplored area, investigating why differing cultures and consumption behaviours require different emphasis in different markets. The diversity of the Asian countries provides a perplexing environment to the development and management of ethical and social marketing. The belief that bottom line profits is enough for a company, is often not favourably viewed by Asian countries emphasising collective, social and long term benefits for the people and country. Due to these interesting characteristics and complexities, the study of ethical and social marketing in Asia is a timely topic. The first chapters introduce Ethical Marketing in Asia, followed by case studies of how the approach is used across 14 diverse economies, geographically based on ‘clusters’; North East, (China, Taiwan, Japan, South Korea), South East (Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, the Philippines, Indonesia) and South Asia (India, Pakistan, Bangladesh). The second part discusses Social Marketing using the same sequence of regions and economies and the third part explores the unique link to Fairness Management in Asia, followed by a conclusion.

• Explores the nature of ethical and social marketing from an Asian perspective
• Discusses current ethical and social marketing researches and practices in different areas, industries, commercial and non-commercial sectors
• Serves as an invaluable resource for marketing academics and practitioners requiring more than anecdotal evidence of different ethical and social marketing applications
• Compares and contrasts unethical situations covering important aspects related to ethics, society and fairness
• Includes an interesting mix of theory, research findings and practices

• Language: English
• Publisher: Elsevier Science
• Release date: Feb 16, 2015
• ISBN: 9780081001042

Bang Nguyen

Bang Nguyen, PhD, is Associate Professor of Marketing at East China University of Science and Technology (ECUST), Shanghai, China. Previously, he held faculty positions at Oxford Brookes University and RMIT International University Vietnam and was a Visiting Scholar at CEIBS. Bang is an experienced consultant and advises on marketing and brand development for SMEs and start-up, and has extensive knowledge in service organizations (consumer products/services). He has published widely in journals and has published in more than 70 peer reviewed scientific articles and books, as well as presented at national and international conferences. His research interests include customer relationship management, services marketing, consumer behaviour, branding and social marketing.

Book preview

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Introduction to ethical and social marketing in Asia

Incorporating fairness management

Bang Nguyen and Chris Rowley

There is growing interest in the ethical and social marketing approaches of companies among academics and practitioners alike. Ethical marketing is the application of ethics into the marketing process. Social marketing seeks to influence a target audience, not for the marketers’ benefit, but for the greater social good, such as the general society. In this chapter, we make and develop the links between ethical and social marketing with fairness management, which is associated with justice and morality. There is scant research on all these areas in Asia. By putting these concepts and practices in context, our book also provides insights and knowledge for general management. We outline the main themes, cases and sectors across the 14 economies we cover in North East, South East and South Asia, and each of the chapters.

Keywords

ethical marketing; social marketing; fairness management; ethics; social; fairness; unethical; unfairness; Asia

Introduction

There is a growing interest in ethical and social marketing adoption by companies among academics and practitioners alike. Ethical marketing is the application of ethics to the marketing process. Social marketing seeks to influence a target audience, not just for the organisations’ or marketers’ benefit, but for the greater social good, such as the general society. Fairness management is concerned with justice and morality. Fairness is the quality of being honest and just, and is associated with morality, impartiality and uprightness.

However, the study of ethical and social marketing topics in Asia and their links to fairness management is limited. We found only a few books exploring similar topics as ours (Arnold, 2009; French et al., 2011; Gilliland et al., 2005). Also, our book is particularly unique both in linking the three topics of ethical marketing, social marketing and fairness management and in doing so comprehensively across 14 diverse economies.

While some parts of Asia are often known for copyright infringements, labour exploitation, environmental pollution and other unethical business practices, other parts are known for fair trade, consumer welfare and strict government regulation to mitigate unethical issues. Thus the sheer diversity of Asian countries provides a perplexing environment for the development and management of ethical and social marketing. Varying cultures, economic development stages, resources, politics and consumption behaviours all require correspondingly varied emphasis in different markets.

The belief that bottom-line profit is enough for a company is often not favourably viewed by Asian countries emphasising collective, social and long-term benefits for the people and country. Indeed, in many ways, social marketing should be particularly well received by Asian firms and consumers because of its emphasis on the greater societal good, which is often promoted by countries. Due to these interesting characteristics and inherent complexities, we view the study of ethical and social marketing and fairness management in Asia to be timely topics for further investigation. Our book therefore addresses the following three areas.

1. Ethics: Readers will gain insights into research on ethical marketing issues in Asia. Our book will enable readers to compare, contrast and comprehend how firms organise and manage ethics in different parts of Asia. For example, we observe how issues such as corruption, labour exploitation, bribery and copyright infringements are viewed differently across countries. Furthermore, our book presents important aspects of decision-making processes, influencing consumer perceptions towards ethical marketing and general management.

2. Social: Readers will be exposed to differing perspectives of social marketing in Asia and its effects on consumption behaviour. We present a wide-ranging collection of cases. This covers business-to-business and business-to-consumers, encompassing different industries and sectors, including non-profit organisations. Readers will be exposed to differing management approaches that, once applied to their organisation, could increase the likelihood of successful implementation of social marketing, as well as being of relevance for managing more generally.

3. Fairness: An innovative aspect of our book is the inclusion of fairness in the ethical and social marketing processes. Our book explores fairness from extant consumer behavioural and psychological theories and research. Important aspects of cultural and social indicators that influence consumers’ fairness perceptions in the Asian context are provided. This enables readers to understand the role of fairness and subsequent application towards both managing their own marketing approaches and managing more broadly.

Overview

We include original and recent works in ethical marketing, social marketing and fairness management in Asia, creating a unique book in marketing and management. The organisation of our sections has been structured for the individual seeking to grasp the realities and peculiarities of particular marketplaces, methodologies and sectors. Each chapter, written by internationally renowned experts in the field from around the world, includes an interesting mix of reviews of the literature, theory, research findings, competing perspectives and practices that will provide knowledge, information, examples and cases for students, academics and practitioners of both marketing and management. As such, our book is also useful for management in a more general sense, especially for practitioners with an interest in the Asian economies that we cover.

Our book provides key reviews and analyses of ethical and social marketing theory, practice and fairness management across Asia. We treat the nature of ethical and social marketing in the Asian context comprehensively. By drawing from varying perspectives, our book explores research and practices in different areas, industries, and commercial and non-commercial sectors and organisations. In terms of sectors and industries, the coverage of our book is wide. It includes: services, retail, advertising, media, hospitality, real estate, e-commerce, legal, online finance, banking, tourism, health, non-profit, government, aviation, pharmaceuticals, manufacturing, electronics, technology production and beverages.

Throughout our book we have included features such as ‘Stop and reflect’ and ‘In practice’ boxes where appropriate; these highlight interesting points and managerial implications arising from the text. For example, we ask questions such as: ‘How are marketers making (or how should they make) ethical decisions across countries?’ These questions encourage readers to reflect and contemplate issues in more depth.

The text can be used on a variety of courses, including: marketing management; international marketing; consumer behaviour; contemporary issues in marketing; and ethical marketing/social marketing. These courses are widely taught. Often all undergraduate students undertaking degrees in marketing are required to select at least two of these courses. Moreover, often all undergraduate students in business or management have the option to take contemporary issues in marketing, international marketing or ethical marketing options – and many do. Marketing management is a required course for MBA programmes worldwide and for many MSc programmes in business. Thus this book will have worldwide appeal.

Our book provides those interested in marketing, management and business with a comprehensive treatment of the nature of ethical and social marketing and fairness management in the Asian context. We hope it will become a key and handy resource for students, academics and practitioners, from a range of areas in management, who require more than anecdotal evidence of different ethical and social marketing application and fairness management, as well as Asian economies and contexts more