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Direct Marketing and Ethics: A Collision Course

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Abstract

In recent years two concepts have garnered bands of supporters in the marketing discipline. The first of these concepts has been given a variety of labels; however, it essentially embraces the issue of the proper role of ethics in business in general and in marketing in particular. The second is the concept of direct marketing. Both of these are important to the marketing discipline; both have the potential to allow marketing to be more responsive to its consumers--to truly embrace the marketing concept. Unfortunately, the proponents of these concepts may find themselves on a collision course. The purpose of this paper is threefold: (1) to present brief backgrounds of the role of ethics in marketing and of direct marketing; (2) to outline their potential course of collision; and (3) to propose a way to divert this collision.

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© 2015 Academy of Marketing Science

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Marlow, N.D., Marlow, E.K. (2015). Direct Marketing and Ethics: A Collision Course. In: Hawes, J.M., Glisan, G.B. (eds) Proceedings of the 1987 Academy of Marketing Science (AMS) Annual Conference. Developments in Marketing Science: Proceedings of the Academy of Marketing Science. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-17052-7_46

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