There are millions of identity theft cases that have resulted in billions of dollars being stolen from consumers. In a consumerist society, it’s becoming more important to practice ethics in the workplace. Good business is designed to help consumers make the best purchasing decisions that benefit them and not another greedy, unscrupulous business. Ethics serves a number of important roles in today’s marketing world.

The fundamentals of ethical marketing.

There are certain principles that every ethical marketer should follow. The professionals are expected to treat their coworkers, employees and customers with respect and dignity. They should also follow local, state and national laws that pertain to ethical marketing, such as anti-spam and telemarketing laws. Any knowledge of ethical behavior by coworkers or employees must be reported and handled in a disciplinary manner, according to the company’s policies. In addition, retaliation for reporting wrong behavior is not tolerated.

Prevent deceptive advertising.

Advertisers and marketers have an ethical obligation to represent the truth in their advertisements. False advertising is a common phrase among consumers that are misled into believing that a product has a certain quality when it does not. This problem is rampant online with pop-up ads that exaggerates claims about certain products or services. The most common examples are get-rich schemes that promise instant wealth or weight loss ads that contain falsified photos.

Prevent scams.

Unethical marketers use deceptive advertising to lure people into buying worthless products or services. Scam artists work in all forms of media to commit fraud, steal people’s identities or destroy their victims’ personal property. Most scams nowadays are perpetuated over the Internet, such as:

• Dating scams
• Lottery and sweepstakes scams
• Computer hacking
• Online shopping fraud
• Job scams

Many scams result in people losing their money after buying nonexistent or damaged products. Other people have their computers hacked into and their personal information stolen, or they receive viruses that destroy their computer systems. Job scammers may create fake job ads that request personal information and lead to cases of identity theft.

With the rise of fraud occurring over the Internet, ethics has become a topic that no modern marketer can ignore anymore. The goal of every company should be to build strong, long-lasting relationships with their customers, business partners and stakeholders. Good, ethical behavior is a necessary concept that all marketers have to understand, practice and maintain in today’s world.