Conclusion
This essay has briefly touched on the vast literature of marketing ethics in general and normative marketing ethics in particular. In addition, some areas that need further analysis in terms of their ethical implications are underscored. In the future, we see a need for comprehensive frameworks that incorporate normative theories of marketing ethics. Several promising proposals, which beg for greater refinement, have been suggested including Robin and Reidenbach's (1993) ‘workable’ theory, Nill's (2003, p. 102) dialogic approach for agreeing on ethical rules and our hard-form stakeholder theory (Laczniak & Murphy, 2012). One grand conclusion should be also drawn: The evasion or neglect of normative content in the field of marketing ethics is untenable, because ethics as a discipline, by definition, advances moral claims about the rightness of marketing actions that have occurred or are being contemplated.
