Page 196 - The Handbook of Persuasion and Social Marketing

188 The Handbook of Persuasion and Social Marketing

The ads stirred intense controversy and criticism for further stigmatiz-
ing overweight children and making them ashamed of their bodies, but
the social marketers who created the campaign argued that the harsh tone
was necessary (Gray, 2012). The possibility of unintended consequences is
implicit in much of the above discussion; because social marketers intend
to do good, any negative outcome is an unintended consequence.
Marketers should be on the alert to recognize any unintended harmful
consequences to individuals, groups, the social marketplace, or society
more generally.

Ethical Issues for Corporate Social Marketers

Additional ethical issues may arise when commercial players and commer-
cial interests enter the social marketing marketplace. Following is a discus-
sion of several ethical concerns that are specific to corporate social
marketing.
Corporate social marketing is a misuse of shareholder assets. Some
scholars assert that the use of corporate resources for social marketing
represents a misappropriation of shareholder assets (Friedman, 1970;
Stein, 1983). In their view, the only social responsibility of companies is
to generate profits for shareholders and jobs for workers. In response to
concerns about misusing shareholder assets, companies and their public
and nonprofit partners must be attuned to whether the company is bene-
fiting and how. Research has demonstrated that corporate social marketing
can result in financial, human, and social capital, and that companies
typically sustain corporate social marketing only if they are benefiting con-
sistently in a compelling way (Berger, Cunningham, & Drumwright,
2004). Sustaining corporate social marketing initiatives is important be-
cause causes rarely benefit significantly from initiatives that are short or
sporadic.
Companies are meddling in areas in which they have insufficient
skills. Historically, companies have not been known for their expertise in
social issues. However, increased pressures and expectations related to
corporate social responsibility have prompted some companies to develop
the expertise needed to address the social issues on which they are most
criticized. Companies often work in conjunction with nonprofit or public
partners to address these issues. For example, in 2007, Coca-Cola, work-
ing in partnership with the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), announced a
goal to return to communities and to nature an amount of water equiva-
lent to what the company uses in all of its beverages and their production
(“Coca-Cola Company,” 2013). In 2013 Coca-Cola’s partnership with