The Case of the Ethical Marketer

Your organization's chief executive wants help and she has asked for you specifically because she knows you graduated from George Fox University. Her organization needs ethical guidelines for this list of possible marketing methods:

1. digital personalization

2. computer automation of customer relationships "nurturing"

3. analysis of online behavior data to reveal personal buying-patterns

4. rewarding or discouraging behaviors by use of social media gamification

5. willingness to blur the boundaries of privacy

She knows there is a risk of being left behind if too slow to adopt new methods, but she is also convinced that being careful to stay on the moral high ground at the same time will preserve trust and serve the organization best in the long run. She has asked you to identify any of her five methods that you believe might violate one of these five classical ethical tests:

1. fosters the greatest good for the greatest number in the long run

2. respects the rights of everyone to not be manipulated, to act freely in private, and to not be harmed

3. treats everyone the same way without favoritism or discrimination

4. fosters a way of life we want for ourselves and the generations after us

5. fosters the personal virtues one should strive to achieve

She is not looking for a formal policy write-up just yet. At this point, she simply wants your initial thoughts as a digital marketing graduate of Fox:

What are your answers the following four questions, in 300 to 500 words:

1. what concerns do you personally have that a good policy would address?

2. what digital marketing techniques are clearly OK and which are more questionable, and why?

3. is any of these methods clearly excluded by one of the ethical tests above?

4. and if so, can it be modified to be performed ethically?