This article updates earlier work by the authors and proposes the social teachings of the Roman Catholic Church to be an encompassing and coherent normative theory, a source of principles that address contemporary issues in marketing, especially when a manager faces ethically charged questions. The authors propose that this application of a tradition in moral theology offers a novel approach for helping resolve contemporary ethical problems in marketing. Their approach to this task pursues two paths. First, the main tenets of Catholic social teaching are presented, along with some discussion of sources. Then, some of the ethical issues associated with contemporary marketing are introduced. These two paths are joined together by connecting Catholic social teaching principles to these questions. Finally, they argue for the value of this approach outside the framework of any denominational or sectarian context.
Distributive justice, the fair apportioning of benefits and costs, is a social performance criterion in marketing and in organizational and other social contexts. In determining what is more or less just or fair, conflicts arise because of differing perspectives. Benefit-cost analysis offers an appropriate framework and method for evaluating and resolving these conflicts. This article examines several macromarketing issues, and policy alternatives are identified and evaluated. Some correctives that intuitively promise better outcomes, after more careful analysis, may not be more just. However, the principal contribution here is to demonstrate how the lens of benefit-cost analysis can aid in assessing both existing inequities and the effects of interventions intended to correct them. Finally, the limitations and implications of this approach to addressing this aspect of market performance are discussed.
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