Marketing ethics and the marketing concept

Ever since the snake sold Eve an apple, the ethics of marketing have been of concern. The ancient Romans, well aware of such concerns, urged 'caveat emptor', that is, the buyer beware. In more recent times Chonko and Hunt (1985) identified the major ethical issues in marketing. These included the paying of bribes, manipulating other market participants, being dishonest to customers, issues of product safety, misleading advertising, misusing information, falsifying data, price fixing and other such practices. In the Garden of Eden, Eve experienced misleading advertising; in marketing all those issues continue to exist.