AMA Code of Ethics

As American Marketing Association Code of Ethics “reflect the recognition of a commitment to the exercise of honesty, integrity, and fairness within all professional transactions,” it says information collected from customers should be confidential and used only for expressed purposes.

The most important takeaway from AMA Code of Ethics for marketing is privacy. As the general public's privacy has been exposed to many problems and crimes, it is critical to keep all important information confidential. One of the crimes committed using the Internet is identity theft. People are charged some amounts unknowingly in their credit card accounts. People's information gets sold to third party companies and get into danger of being misused.
People have tendency to put up their information online more easily and willingly than they do offline. Educating the general public would play a big role in changing people's behavior.

Another important takeaway is online expression. People take an advantage of being anyone and everyone online due to anonymity. They express their hatred towards others and accuse them for no reason. I think it is important to respect an individual even though we do not know who each other is. Educating children and those who start learning Internet because Internet etiquette is a must these days.

Other important takeaway is honesty and transparency. I believe honesty is a base of other guidelines of AMA Code of Ethics. If a marketer is honest in what product or service he comes up with and how he advertises, a consumer’s trust, respect, responsibility will automatically follow it. If I find a marketer not honest, I would immediately feel disappointed and look for other honest marketers. As we discussed in the previous classes, there is a sentence I particularly like is “the consumer, not the marketer, is fundamentally in charge and control, and that it is the consumer that defines the terms of the consumer-marketer relationship” because it shows the needs and wants of people like us are met and satisfied and we demand what we would like to see in the market.