Applying Catholic Social Teachings to Ethical Issues in Marketing

Abstract

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.

On the Nature of “Good” Goods and the Ethical Role of Marketing

“…18 There are even detailed essays about how Catholic social thought can uniquely help nurture the ethical practice of marketing. 19 We will touch upon all of this below.…”

Implications of Caritas in Veritate for Marketing and Business Ethics

“…We have previously applied Catholic Social Teachings (CST) to these issues (Klein and Laczniak 2009). In that article, our objective was to provide a perspective on ethical issues in marketing, consumption, and public policy that, while rooted in the moral theology of the Roman Catholic Church, could be derived from moral philosophy.…”

“…For example, the principle of human dignity guides product designers to "… place a high priority on safety …." A complete review of this guidance is contained in Klein and Laczniak (2009)…”

“…In the time since publication of Benedict's letter, it would be most difficult to discern significant changes of heart among the world's political and economic leaders, let alone many significant new initiatives that could be attributable to it. Policymakers and business leaders, for reasons previously discussed (Klein and Laczniak 2009), ignore CST because it is perceived as simply sectarian religious doctrine. On the other hand, the thrust of CST, whether directly felt or through its alignment with other sources, can be seen in pragmatic actions such as the growth in corporate environmental sustainability programs, the preference for wage concessions and furloughs as an alternative to long term layoffs, and in stepped up efforts to relieve families from the effects of unemployment and home foreclosures.…”

Indigenous Intellectual Property Rights: Ethical Insights for Marketers

“…Even Catholic Social Thought, recently profiled by Klein and Laczniak (2009) in the marketing literature as to its possible non-sectarian applications to marketing ethics, might be marshalled in terms of its preferential option for the poor principle to support expanded and unique IIP rights. Finally, moral intuitionism, as specifically articulated by Ross (1930), might hold that the principle of merit be invoked in order to apportion unique "community royalty fees" to originators of intellectual property that ought to be understood as held in common by an indigenous people.…”