Ethical Issues in Digital Marketing and Social Media

Privacy, Transparency, and Awareness

While digital marketing tools and social media provide online marketers with effective ways to engage with customers, build relationships, and drive consumers toward a purchase, there are ethical issues that marketers must consider when utilizing these tools.

First, because of the highly targeted capabilities of digital and social media, companies have access to large amounts of personal data, including name, email address, phone number, as well as personal interests, social and political views, and shopping behavior. Consumers are increasingly concerned about data privacy. In a recent survey by KPMG, 86 percent of the respondents have a growing concern about data privacy, and 78 percent fear the amount of data being collected.³⁵

Given this growth in distrust of how personal data is handled, some companies have responded with updated policies designed to be more transparent about how data will be used. Seventy-five percent of consumers polled reported that they want increased transparency.³⁶

In 2021, Apple released features for iPhone and iPad users that allow consumers to have stronger control of how their data is used.³⁷ Using pop-ups, Apple device users will be able to allow or disallow companies to track their activity across apps and the websites they link to. This move by Apple resulted in some back-and-forth commentary by Meta’s Mark Zuckerberg and Apple CEO Tim Cook. Tech companies like Facebook and Google depend on being able to target the advertising on their applications to users using personal data. Giving greater privacy control to iPhone users presents a threat to the core of their business models.

Social media platforms in particular mine personal data and then use it to sell advertising space on news feeds of consumers who match the demographics and psychographics of a company’s target market. With nearly 71 percent of social media users taking the time to check their privacy settings on social media, it’s clear that this issue is front and center for a majority of users.³⁸ Companies can respect the privacy of their users by being transparent about what data they collect and how they use it.

Tracking Consumer Data

The reality is that it’s not just social media companies and search engines that track consumer data. A majority of companies use tracking codes to follow consumers and data about them as they navigate the web. Zoho, a productivity and collaboration app, reported that in the B2B space, about 72 percent of businesses do not inform customers that they are being tracked by third parties.³⁹

The Use of Client Reviews

Client reviews involve feedback that a customer or client posts directly to a platform that can accessed by consumers during the buying process. Companies that use client or customer reviews include Amazon.com, Wayfair, and Lands’ End. Customers rate their experience with the product typically by assigning stars and commenting on their satisfaction.

Reviews can be helpful to consumers during the search phase of the buying process because reviews provide a real-world glimpse into the favorability of a product. For example, Wayfair invites customers to post pictures of items like sofas and end tables once a customer has styled the room. This provides shoppers a real-life view of the product, its color, and its size, among other things.

Beyond the reviews on e-commerce sites, Google serves as a major player in the customer review space. Consumers often rely on Google reviews when deciding on whether to hire a local business. In addition to Google, consumers can find reviews for travel on Tripadvisor, restaurant reviews on Zomato, and reviews of software programs on G2.

Marketers recognize the power of customer reviews as a digital promotional tool, as consumers report that they perceive reviews as more credible than messages created by the company itself.