General Theory of Marketing Ethics and Unethical Behavior in the Pharmaceutical Industry Field

Most theoretical efforts in marketing ethics focus on the normative approach, not the positive approach. Theories emphasize formulating guidelines and rules that can assist marketers in their efforts to behave ethically; however, the general theory of marketing ethics is descriptive; the theory tries to explain the decision-making process for the condition having ethical content. The discussion and valuation process involves normative ethical notions based on moral philosophy. On the other hand, the theory indicates that a personal moral norms concept based on an understanding of the society moral values levels enables an individual to make ethical decisions. The societal level of moral norms promotes social trust, based on deontological ethics. Resulting in social trust, promoting businesses' productivity and economic growth. However, the broad understanding of marketing ethics needs a holistic understanding of the existing knowledge. This will help to identify and explore ethical issues involved in the marketing industry. The primary purpose of this paper was to provide critical analysis and synthesis of the literature related to the general theory of marketing ethics and the strategies that sales managers in the pharmaceutical industry use to improve ethical marketing training to reduce unethical sales representative behavior. The review is organized so it includes six primary sections: a general theory of marketing ethics, causes and effects of unethical behavior, benefits of addressing unethical behavior, challenges faced in addressing unethical behavior, relationship building as the appropriate strategy for addressing unethical behavior, and training strategies to reduce unethical behavior.