A CONCEPTUAL STUDY ON THE DETRIMENTAL MARKETING PRACTICES EMPLOYED TO, MANIPULATEING AND INFLUENCEING THE CONSOSNUMER BUYING BEHAVIORAbstract:Marketing practices are important for organizations seeking to promote their products and deliver solutions to the consumers. They are bound to make an effective contribution towards society while satisfying the needs of the consumers by delivering product and services. Yet if the marketing practices turn detrimental to the noble cause stated above, the situation worsens and Consumers are at losing end. In recent times such marketing practices have come to be used on a fairly large scale and the element of materialism has added fuel to fire as the organizations in order to beat the competition; tend to go beyond the limit where ethical standards are sacrificed.This piece of writing ispaper is an effort by the author to point out such practices and encourage discussion as on curbinghow to curb the impacts of such detrimental practices and maintaining the balance amongst the stakeholders, especially the the consumers. In recent times such marketing practices are being used on large scale and the element of materialism has added fuel to fire as the organizations in order to beat the competition; tend to go beyond the limit where ethical standards are sacrificed. The paper is Bbased on an extensive literature review, the paper and also discusses also focuses on the historical perspective on the issue.Comment by SWALEHA NAQVI: organizationsComment by SWALEHA NAQVI: Bound in what sense?They will definitely do this? Or they are obliged to do this?Comment by SWALEHA NAQVI: In what sense? You need to be more specificComment by SWALEHA NAQVI: Noble cause not a very academic choice of words---also vague. Again detrimental situation worsens and losing end are very vague. Make these expressions more specific:For e.g Yet, if marketing practices come to be based upon manipulation of consumer behavior (DETRIMENTAL), not only do companies suffer in terms of their public image but also customers experience a sense of betrayal by brands they have placed their trust in (SITUATION + LOSING END MADE MORE CONCRETE).

Keywords: Detrimental Marketing Practices, Consumer Buying Behavior, Marketing Dilemma, Advertising, Consumer Rights

Introduction:Historically, it is has been a practice to make the product known to the end users and consumers through. At different times, different varied marketing modes and practices have been utilized to ensure the transmittalconveyance of the message to the intended masses. However, in recent times the degree of competition among the brands has increased rapidly leaving compelling every organizations to think and rethink its their marketing strategies. and organizationSuch organizations are is trying level best to reach the customers first, and that too with a better and convenient package. Although such attempts appearThe scenario apparently seems very straightforward modes of drawing in customers, yet a lot of these are underscored by several questionable practices lay in depth and once if the probe is ponderedwhich when probed reveal a disturbing picture., the results are shocking. Comment by SWALEHA NAQVI: LITERATURE?Comment by SWALEHA NAQVI: IS THIS THE RIGHT WORD? AUDIENCE, RECIPIENTS?Comment by SWALEHA NAQVI: Making every endeavor?The organizations Iin pursuitspite of meeting their targets and intended goals, ts he organizations have started begun to overlooking the rights of the consumers who are paying for the services and products (Andreasen and & Manning,1990). From deliberate manipulation of facts about a product to creation of a need that actually is not material, a lot number of malpractices are prevailinghave become prevalent. Organizations now botherare now concerned more about making profits rather than delivering the appropriate solutions. An, one example is of this is creating a need among the consumers and later addressing it with solutions (Barnett, 2001). According to Viscusi, Moore and Albright (1993), pPharmaceutical companies are considered unsympathetic in this scenario as to sell their products, they approach enlist the medical practitioners in and seek their help to make upforming customer opinion s mind by developing creating a situation that actually does notnt exist. However, our study is not limited to any particular product or industry. It is, yet its general in nature and the aspiration aim of the author is to bring such practices to light; so that the level of customers awareness may be increased. Comment by SWALEHA NAQVI: fontComment by SWALEHA NAQVI: again specificity neededComment by SWALEHA NAQVI: NO CONTRACTIONS IN FORMAL WRITINGComment by SWALEHA NAQVI: Try to work on sentence structureright now you are punctuating a sentence with semi colons when the thought has not finishedBy highlighting these aspects, author intendswe intend to suggest a matter of concern to be addressed on priority basis and also to add to the customers knowledge. The proposed study is directed aimedis an effort to help at helping the consumers in spotting anyto detect mal practices or threats to their interests.as their interest are being sacrificed. A number of such mal marketing practices are very carefully discussed with proper logics and in the light of previous studies (Carrigan, and Attalla,2001; Carpenter, Rashi, and Nakamoto,1994; Mason, 2000) to validate the effortsupport the assertions made in this study. The study does not challenge the notion of marketing; rather, it questions its mal functionsmalpratices that are put to work very strategically and later leading to consumer rights violation. However theThe hypothesis and model discussed under consideration is presented before the research groups to for evaluation and comments, and to ascertain if the model can be utilized for empirical testing at a later stage. Comment by SWALEHA NAQVI: Again be precisewhat matter of concern and add to which part of customers knowledgeComment by SWALEHA NAQVI: unnecessaryLiterature Review:Ingram, Skinner and Tayler (2005) state that if the corporate actions of an organization are perceived as unethical by the committed consumers, there are certain chances that the organization may lose its loyal consumers and the customer bucket shrinks. It is suggested by Alexander (2002) that unethical marketing behavior influences customers behavior in marketplace, as the customer is sensitive enough to understand though to some extent that the right is being overrun. If tThe customer perceives the companys behavior as being unappealing, then in the course of buying, he/she may deny the products (Bone, and Corey, 2000). The sense of ones rights being violated impulse compel such behavior, and in return the consequences are severe. Ingram et.al (2005) further add that customer commitment is driven by psychological or emotional attachment to a brand or company. However, the judgment of the ethical behavior varies with individuals. Hence, and it is necessary for companies while initiating any marketing drive, it is necessary to understand how the stakeholders design the parameters of judgment (Carpenter, Rashi, and Nakamoto,1994). Jones (1991) states that any behavior that is illegal or morally unacceptable to larger community is referred to unethical marketing behavior. Actions like a negative word of mouth, the frequency of complaints lodged and a few third party survey, are the factors that help the consumers determine their opinion about a brand and in specific a product (Carrigan, and Attalla, 2001). The seriousness of consequences exhibited by the marketing strategies and social consensus, impact the decision making process of the buyer (Carrigan, Marinova and Szmigin, 2005). Logically, the customer is consciously evaluating the companys contribution towards society and the hidden interests of marketing initiatives. There are a number of marketing practices, that are considered contradictory to the marketing ethics such as, persuading the consumer with deceptive information and trying to maneuver the customers buying behavior (Chen, Ganesan, and Liu, 2009). Rotfeld (2005) states that it constitutesis a patently unethical practice, when marketing people professionals hide vital facts about a product from a customer rather than merely deliver false information only to boost their sales. H; he further adds that, most of the marketing experts make a wrong use of customers desire to believe as mostly, consumers prefer sports over education and entertainment over science. The practice of using the public icons like actors, sportsmen and other inspirational elements works on along the line to of usinge the element of emotional attachment of the individuals with their role models (Creyer and Ross, 1997). Comment by SWALEHA NAQVI: idea unclearrephraseIt is also a point to noteworth noting that, in the past, subliminal messaging has also been used to manipulate consumers paradigm of choice. Subliminal messaging is a technique introduced in the 1950s to advertise products in movies. Rogers (2003), refers to a claim made by a failing research firm that he it used subliminal messaging in a movie to boost the sales of popcorns and drinks. Actually, the marketing agents try to take undue advantage of a customers psycheic and insteadby developing a need for him/her that literally is not desired. However, for many products the customers areis so obsessed that they will to believe anything that comes their wayconveyed to them (Rotfeld,2005). For example, a number of weight loss products are a source of attraction for overweight individuals who and they are not rarely bothered to evaluate the product or question its safety., whereas t On the other hand, the marketers deliberately skip gloss over the possible consequences that are associated with the use of that product. To further validate, Smith and Cooper (1997) state that any product that carries unsafe characteristics or ingredients towards its intended use is a harmful product. As the concept of harm chain introduced by Polonsky, Carlson and Fry (2003) which was actually developed to evaluate the characteristics of a product and evaluate as if it includes any harmful ingredients. The companies that catch more eyes among the general public as a positive force will have to face more public scrutiny (Stoll, 2002). Comment by SWALEHA NAQVI: validate what?Comment by SWALEHA NAQVI: fragmentComment by SWALEHA NAQVI: rephrase expression unclearFurthermore companies now days tend to spend more on spreading word about their contribution towards society rather than actually what they spend. Stoll (2002) adds that Phillip Morris once spent three times more money on advertising their social work they actually did. Here, companies tend to put curtains on the damage they dealt to the consumers in lieu of questionable marketing practices while taking undue advantage of customers psychic (Sun, Chen and Wang, 2012). Moreover such philanthropic deeds are brought in to light as a reaction to negative public opinion due to past misdeeds (Rogers,2003). Academically, the issue of scrutinizing the issue of marketing practices is under consideration of research groups and particular focus is on the ethics gap developed in response to allegedly deceptive marketing practices (Quelch, 1993).Comment by SWALEHA NAQVI: general comment on lit review. The review seems to be drifting from one point to another. Tighten it up. Decide what you want to say, then drive home your point by using appropriate literature.e.g(I want to say that) In seeking to attract customers and generate business, companies can often resort to using less than ethical means of marketing.(I will now say that) Marketing malpractices can be defined asgive examples to illustrate each kind.(I will address the issue that) although unscrupulous marketing ploys may succeed at times, companies risk losing not only their reputation but also customer goodwill + exampleAnd so on(I will conclude by pointing out that) whatever you want to focus on at the end of your review.Words in brackets just let you think in terms of what you are reasoning. Keep these words in when planning the structure of your review, but remove in the actual review. Holley (1987) argues that repetitive ads is considered as bully that doesnt give the customer enough time and space to think and decide rather generate a pulse. The mass marketing activities make way for advertisers to define a scenario of a good life and then manipulate our desires and exploiting the insecurities without giving any chance to think critically and evaluate the choice and define their own parameters of a good life (Mason, 2000).

Influenced Buying BehaviorManipulated Consumers choiceUnethical Marketing Practices

Hypothesis:Following hypothesis as extracted out of the model isuggested that:H1: The uUnethical mMarketing practices are directed towards manipulation of consumer choice/H2: Manipulated consumer choice results in Influenced influencing bBuying behavior of the consumers

Discussion:Comment by SWALEHA NAQVI: Review this section to make tone more academic. Rephrase, tighten language and make meaning clearer.As mentioned in the literature review, the practices that are critically and unreasonably manipulating the consumers buying behavior are much in to act. Now days people are obsessed with a lot of desires and in order to fulfill one they turn back towards the important factor that is scrutiny and the marketing agents unfortunately are taking full advantage if this. Though, consumers are perceived as innocent souls and with little knowledge about the product they most of the times fail to distinguish between the usefulness of the product they intend for. The said model depicts a sense of curiosity to evaluate the notion as if the marketing agents use manipulation techniques to influence consumers buying behavior. The organizations at will and quite daringly overlook the ethical standards and put behind the obligations to deliver to the society rather than taking the undue advantage and increasing their profit ratio by sacrificing the free will of the consumer. In their stance they appear to be well justified as their interests are being well served, yet the consumers are at losing end in all this process. Practices like, hiding or faking the information, creating undue needs and later addressing them, subliminal messaging and spreading words about philanthropic activities to cover all the misdeeds, are putting the consumers at a very uncomfortable place with not much but little of the chance to opine.With the historic perspectives, such practices have been occurring in the past but in recent times the intensity has increased to a greater degree and such practices which used to be occasional are now carried out regularly. The marketing initiatives are designed in a way to serve the stated cause and organizations appear to be obsessed with the fact to increase their profit ratio while sacrificing the consumers rights at any cost.Conclusion:Conclusively, the practices discussed are detrimental and the marketing ethics are being violated at every step leaving consumers astray. Organizations appear to be controlling the consumers buying behavior by any means and the most absolute means of all is through manipulation. Not much space is left with the consumer to think and decide rather they are unduly directed to opt any option due to false and unrealistic situations created by the organizations. Author encouraged research groups to give the fact a thought and think on the lines discussed in this piece of work. The situation if not dealt properly will continue to worsen and no sooner than later the adversity will increase landing the consumer blocks in sheer trouble.

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