Marketing Ethics in Commerce

Sparrow Pharmaceuticals is the maker of several popular drugs used to treat high blood pressure and arthritis. Over time, the company has developed a positive relationship with many of the patients who use its medications through a quarterly newsletter that offers the latest information on new medical research findings and general health and fitness articles. The company just has been acquired by a group of investors who also own Soothing Waters Hot Tubs and Spas. The marketing director for Soothing Waters would like to use Sparrow's mailing list for a direct-mail promotion.

Ethics Questions:

1. What should Sparrow Pharmaceuticals do?

2. Do you think it is ethical to use customer information across multiple divisions of the same company? Explain.

3. To which marketing management philosophy do you think the marketing director for Soothing Waters subscribes? Explain.

4. Does the AMA Statement of Ethics address the use of the customer information by multiple divisions of the same company? Go to http://www.marketingpower.com and review the statement. Then write a brief paragraph on how the AMA Statement of Ethics relates to Sparrow Pharmaceuticals' dilemma.

(To locate the Statement of Ethics students would go to http://www.marketingpower.com and in the top right corner they would select, "About AMA," and underneath "About AMA," there are several Gray tabs to choose from, select "Statement of Ethics," and begin to review the Statement of Ethics.)

The requirements below must be met for your paper to be accepted and graded:

Write between 500 - 750 words (approximately 2 - 3 pages) using Microsoft Word.

Attempt APA style, see example below.

Use font size 12 and 1" margins.

Include cover page and reference page.

At least 60% of your paper must be original content/writing.

No more than 40% of your content/information may come from references.

Use at least two references from outside the course material, preferably from EBSCOhost. Text book, lectures, and other materials in the course may be used, but are not counted toward the two reference requirement.

Reference material (data, dates, graphs, quotes, paraphrased words, values, etc.) must be identified in the paper and listed on a reference page.