Applying Catholic social teachings to ethical issues in marketing

Abstract

This article updates earlier work by the authors and proposes the social teachings of the Roman Catholic Church to be an encompassing and coherent normative theory, a source of principles that address contemporary issues in marketing, especially when a manager faces ethically charged questions. The authors propose that this application of a tradition in moral theology offers a novel approach for helping resolve contemporary ethical problems in marketing. Their approach to this task pursues two paths. First, the main tenets of Catholic social teaching are presented, along with some discussion of sources. Then, some of the ethical issues associated with contemporary marketing are introduced. These two paths are joined together by connecting Catholic social teaching principles to these questions. Finally, they argue for the value of this approach outside the framework of any denominational or sectarian context. This article updates and extends earlier work by the authors (e.g., Klein 1987; Laczniak 1998, 1999) and proposes the social teachings of the Roman Catholic Church1 as an encompassing and coherent normative theory, a source of principles for addressing contemporary ethical issues in marketing. The approach to this task is twofold. First, the main tenets of Catholic social teaching (CST) are presented, along with some discussion of sources. Then, some of the ethical issues associated with contemporary marketing are discussed. These two paths are linked together by applying CST principles to these questions. Finally,