Marketing Law and Ethics

Marketing is a key factor in business, which outlines the concepts of society's needs, wants and demands. It is through the exchanging of products and value with others that laws are needed to regulate the market place. However, certain situations are not provided for in law. As a standard of conduct in business, ethical behaviour is important when facing the challenge of balancing the best interests of consumers. This is because consumers are informed buyers who base moral principals in transactions revolving around an organisation's marketing mix of pricing, product, promotion and place.
Almost every decision made in marketing has some legal significance. From hiring salespeople, introducing a new product, to the not so obvious decisions, will include some type of legal ramification. In an organisation's marketing mix, pricing decisions will adhere to competition law where-by legislation prohibits various forms of anti-competitive behaviour. Pricing is also affected by general Government policies such as interest rates & tax legislation, especially the introduction of the Goods and Services Tax (GST). Such legislation is an example of a measure with far-reaching implications for everyday marketing practice.
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