Chapter 10

Marketing With A Conscience: Sales and Ethics

Classroom Applications

 

Preliminary Lesson Planning

Materials:

• Copies of the Background information;
• Copies of Appendix A;
• Copies of Appendix B (one for each pair of students).

Warm Up Activity (25-35 minutes)

Objectives:

• Introduce the topic and vocabulary
• Identify students who have background or knowledge about marketing and marketing ethics, as well as those who are newcomers
• Review content of the Background information
• Practice paraphrasing

Procedures:

1. Have students discuss the reading. Teacher may wish to provide them a template outline. Use the headings and go over each part, one at a time.
2. Ask a student to summarize. Have others paraphrase main points!
3. Some students may wish to offer examples to illustrate the various points.

Objectives:

• Identify and use three approaches for marketing:
  Let the Buyer Beware, Let the Seller Beware, Relationship Marketing
• Introduce use of the World Wide Web in seeking information about marketing;
• Evaluate Web sites for approaches to marketing

Procedures:

1. Have students review the Background with particular reference to the section entitled, "What Is Ethics in Marketing?" Make sure that all students understand the content of this section.
2. Now, ask students to choose a partner to work on locating Internet sites.
   
   Tell them to go to the list of ten Web sites identified in this chapter at the end of the Internet Resources section, entitled "Examples of Companies Who Use the Web to Market Their Products". Tell them to visit each site and determine how each company approaches marketing: If it’s "Let the Buyer Beware," put the name of the company in that column of Appendix B; if it’s "Let the Seller Beware," write the name of the company below the heading so labeled; if it is "Relationship Marketing," put it in that third column.
   
   Note to the teacher: You may wish to remind students that there may be evidence of more than one of these approaches on the site of one company. They should look carefully and surf thoroughly before moving on to the next company. Encourage students to find a minimum of three companies’ sites for each category. Make certain that in the "Documentation" section of the handout that students write down what they found on the Web that led them to believe that the site page fit into that category (buyer, seller or relationship).
   
   Some students may wish to go beyond the list of ten companies’ sites listed here and choose to visit another site or two -- or more! Encourage students to visit as many sites as they wish!
   
   
3. Ask them to complete What Is Ethics in Marketing -- Buyer? Seller? Relationship?

4. Have students report back on their results.

Activity #2 (One 60-90 minute class or more in-depth treatment in several classes over a week or two)

Objectives

• Use concepts and vocabulary presented in the Background section;
• Engage in a real-world Web search for use in an interesting project

Procedures

1. Put students in groups of 3-4, based on language proficiency.
2. Give students instructions on the activity
3. First, the group must agree on a product that they want to market.
4. Second, using the criteria in the Background, determine a strategy for marketing that product.
5. Check at least 3 of the Web sites listed in the Internet Resources section of this chapter to identify models of marketing used by several companies.
6. Prepare a visual of a marketing plan for the product.
7. Present the marketing plan to the class in a group presentation.
8. Class provides feedback on the plan.

Cool Down Activity (about 25-60 minutes)

Have students summarize what they have learned from their visits to the Web sites of companies. They should now communicate a sense of basic understanding about the rules that guide marketing and they should have better judgment about application of those rules.

Possible Extensions to the Lesson

• Go to the Web site noted below. Have students choose a set of exercises on the topic identified and answer the questions. http://www.busmgt.ulst.ac.uk/h_mifflin/titles.html

• Pick any product (automobiles, sports equipment or clothing). Find several Web sites selling the product. Evaluate the site in terms of the criteria for ethical marketing in the Background section of this chapter.

• Look at another company’s Web site and request information about the company’s marketing and promotional plan.

• Have one student compare his/her assessment of a given company’s marketing ethics with another student’s assessment of the same site. Discuss.
  

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