Criticisms of Marketing
While marketing is viewed as offering significant benefits to organizations and to society, the fact that marketing is a business function operating in close contact with the public opens this functional area to extensive criticism.
Among the issues cited by those who criticize marketing are:
Marketing Encourages People to Purchase What is They Do Not Need
Possibly the criticism most frequently made about marketing is that marketers are only concerned with getting customers to buy whether they want the product or not. The root of this argument stems from the belief that marketers are only out to satisfy their own needs and really do not care about the needs of their customers.
As we will discuss, while many marketers are guilty of manipulating customers into making unwanted purchases, the vast majority understand that undertaking such tactics will not lead to loyal customers and, consequently, is unlikely to lead to longer term success.
Marketers Embellish Product Claims
Marketers are often criticized for exaggerating the benefits offered by their products. This is especially the case with the part of marketing that engages in customer communication, such as advertising and salespeople. The most serious problems arise when product claims are seen as misleading customers into believing a product can offer a certain level of value that, in fact, it cannot.
But sometimes there is a fine line between what a rational person should accept as a “reasonable exaggeration” and what is considered downright misleading. Fortunately, many countries offer customers some level of protection from misleading claims since such business practices may subject the marketer to legal action. Again, using such tactics is likely to lead to marketing failure as customers will not be satisfied and will likely not return.
Marketing Discriminates in Customer Selection
We will see later that a key to marketing success is to engage in a deliberate process that identifies customers who offer marketers the best chance for satisfying organizational objectives. This method, called target marketing, often drives most marketing decisions, including product development and price setting. But some argue that target marketing leads marketers to focus their efforts primarily on customers who have the financial means to make more expensive purchases. They contend that doing so intentionally discriminates against others, especially lower income customers who cannot afford to purchase higher priced products. This group ends ups being targeted with lower quality (and in some cases less safe) products or for some groups, no product options.
While this criticism is often valid, it is worth noting that while many “lower quality” products are inferior to current high-end products, comparison of their quality to similar products from just a few years ago shows there has been significant improvement. For instance, low cost electronic equipment, such as digital cameras, offer more features compared to low cost cameras of just a few years ago. Thus, while certain customer groups may not be the target market for certain new product offerings they may eventually benefit from higher-end products.
Marketing Contributes to Environmental Waste
In recent years one of the loudest complaints against marketing concerns its impact on the environment. Those critical of marketing’s effect on the environment point to such issues as:
- the use of excessive, non-biodegradable packaging (e.g., use of plastics, placing small products in large packages, etc.)
- the continual development of resource consuming products (e.g., construction of new buildings, golf courses, shopping malls, etc.)
- the proliferation of unsightly and wasteful methods of promotions (e.g., outdoor billboards, direct mail, etc.).
Marketers have begun to respond to these concerns by introducing “green marketing” campaigns that are not only intended to appease critics but also take advantage of potential business opportunities. For example, auto makers see opportunity by creating new fuel efficient hybrid vehicles, the demand for which has accelerated in the last few years. Also, certain retailers are finding financial opportunity and promotional value by asserting their marketing muscle to encourage customers to become more environmentally responsible. This can be seen with retailers, such as Wal-Mart, that are shifting its inventory of light bulbs from standard incandescent types to more efficient fluorescent products. It is expected that as environmental activism gains political clout and more consumer support, marketers will see even more opportunity to market environmentally friendly products.
Marketing Encroaches on Customers’ Right to Privacy
As we will see later in our discussion of Marketing Research, gathering and analyzing information on the market in which marketers conduct business is a vital step in making good marketing decisions. Often the most valuable information deals with customers’ buying behavior and especially determining which factors influence how customers make purchase decisions.
But to some consumer advocates digging deep into customer buying behavior crosses the line of what is considered private information. Of most concern to privacy advocates is marketers’ use of methods that track user activity. In particular, they are critical of the growing use of advanced technologies that allow marketers to gain access to customer shopping and information gathering habits. For instance, marketers can use highly advanced techniques to track user activity on the Internet. Some marketers do so using questionable practices, such as loading tracking software onto a user’s computer, without the knowledge or permission of the user. One type of software called adware allows marketers to monitor users’ website browsing activity and use this information to deliver advertisements based on users Internet habits.
Privacy issues are not limited to concerns with online tracking; marketers also use technique to track customers’ offline purchase activity. One example of offline tracking occurs when retail stores match sales transactions to individual shoppers. This is easy to do when customers use purchase cards (a.k.a. loyalty cards, discount cards, club cards, etc.) as part of the buying process.
Privacy issues are not restricted to marketing research. Other areas of marketing have also experienced problems. For instance, there have been several recent incidences, most notably those involving mishandled credit card payment information, where a breach in customer privacy has placed customers at risk.
The issue of customer privacy is likely to become one of the most contentious issues marketers face in the coming years. If this continues marketers may soon face greater legal limits on how they conduct business.
