The Creeps
There seems to be a negative trend in the
retailer-consumer relationship. It is the deterioration in the ethic of
the seller and the acceptance of this dishonesty by the consumer. It is
creeping its way through a number of retail sectors like a virus. It
can be the lessening of a products usefulness, safety, or general worth
so it can be sold at a better profit. It can also be the
increase of marketing deception to sell more product at a better price.
As an
example, if an
unethical food manufacturer is allowed to add or increase an unhealthy
ingredient in a product to increase profit the ethical corporations
will be pressured to do the same to keep market share.
A
scenario:
Three
corporations sell the same product. Corp A cuts cost and increases
profit margin in a way that also increases the health hazard or
decreases it's true worth in some other way. The result might even be
more appealing, as tastier in the case of food, or prettier in
appearance.
Corp
B and corp C watch their market share begin to shrink but soon both
follow suit. In fact Corp C takes it a bit further and cuts costs more
in the same way, at the same time increasing the hazard or decreasing
the value slightly once again.
The
competitive cycle goes around again and a new standard creeps its way
throughout that industry. Communications marketing comes to mind with
this routine.
How
does it stop? It would require that all parties simultaneously realize
that profit is not as important as the welfare and good will of the
consumer. This will not just suddenly happen.
It
seems that in this era of the corporate drive for more profit for
executives and shareholders that more and tighter government regulation
of business practices are needed.
This
is unfortunate but necessary if ethics are gradually being moved to the
back in retailing to consumers.
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return Greed
Profit Consumerism
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