Marketers have increased decision‐making responsibility when they work either directly or indirectly with children and adolescents; a vulnerable sector of the population. These young consumers are the target of much‐criticised practices. The objective of this paper is to lay the foundations of a code of ethics for the marketing industry.
First, the stakes for marketers are outlined, in addition to an overview of the epistemological and historic foundations of the marketing discipline; materialism, pragmatic utilitarianism and liberalist individialism.
Finds that each of these concepts is subject to allegations of suspicious and outright immoral marketing practices.
The paper gives food for thought on morality, professional deontology, ethics and individual decision‐making responsibility. This code of ethics is designed to serve as a pragmatic paradigm and it is destined for marketers who are both decision‐makers and social stakeholders.
