True Marketing: A Value Based Philosophy for Strategic Marketing

This position paper suggests a new moral and ethical approach to practising marketing by considering the value priorities inherent in daily marketing work. This is coined True Marketing. It is suggested that theoretical models from axiology (the science of values) can reveal the relative importance of different decisions and courses of action by analysing their value content. More important values must then be given priority. The proposed True Marketing Ladder is a model of nine basic value levels. It is suggested that marketing managers observe the relative importance of these value levels in order to apply True Marketing in a strategic sense.