Unit 34 Marketing for Ethical Tourism

Introduction

This unit introduces the concepts of ethics and ethical marketing. Students begin with a study of ethics and the relationship between morality, ethics and ethical behaviour, as well as frameworks to support and inform ethical decision-making.

Marketing is a key area where lines can become blurred regarding what is and isn’t ethical practice. Students study this key area and explore examples of unethical practice. They consider what represents ‘ethical tourism’ and the importance of ensuring any associated marketing activity is also based on ethical principles.

The practice of green marketing typically applies to those companies that are committed to sustainable development and corporate social responsibility.

More tourism organisations are making an effort to implement sustainable business practices and make their products more attractive to consumers, in order to demonstrate a high level of social responsibility and increase brand loyalty among socially-conscious consumers.

Students will discuss ethical marketing principles and be given an opportunity to apply the learning covered in this unit by designing and pitching the elements of an ethical green marketing campaign.

Learning Outcomes

By the end of this unit students will be able to:

Explore the concepts of ethics and ethical marketing
Assess the relevance of ethical behaviours in marketing for the ethical tourism industry
Design and pitch the elements of a green marketing campaign.

Essential content

LO1 Explore the concepts of ethics and ethical marketing

Ethics:

Definitions of ethics and ethical behaviour

Relationship between morality, ethics and ethical behaviour

Sources of ethical standards and relevant ethical legislation for marketing Frameworks for ethical decision-making

Difficulties in proving unethical practice

Ethical marketing:

Different interpretations of ‘ethical’ and ‘unethical’ practices

Examples of unethical practice e.g. making false, exaggerated or unverified claims, alteration/enhancement of imagery, deliberate use of ambiguous or misleading statistics or testimonials, stereotypes, plagiarism, exploitation of or demeaning messaging towards certain social groups

Considerations of marketing to children and vulnerable adults

LO2 Assess the relevance of ethical behaviours in marketing for the ethical tourism industry

Ethical tourism industry:

Different forms of ethical tourism e.g. eco-tourism, voluntourism and geotourism

Ethical and non-ethical behaviours in tourism:

Ethical behaviour e.g. sustainable tourism polices (economic, social and environmental e.g. land use policy, community participation and reduction of poverty)

Non-ethical behaviours e.g. lack of sustainable policies and practices, inaccurate or incomplete descriptions of services (hotel rooms) or the local environment (facilities, level of noise), lack of information regarding payment arrangements and contractual terms, non-stipulation on how to resolve complaints

Promoting ethical practices – the green marketing approach:

Definition of green marketing

The importance of accurate alignment between campaign messages in a green marketing strategy and the actual degree of ethical practice within a destination

Issues of greenwashing and eco-labelling standards

Potential consequences of misalignment e.g. loss of customer confidence, reduction in visits

LO3 Design and pitch the elements of a green marketing campaign

Key steps:

Situational analysis to identify current position in terms of green and sustainable tourism policies and practices

Segmentation – identifying the market segments that will value ethical, sustainable tourism and react positively to a green marketing campaign, targeting the identified market segments and positioning the offer

Setting strategic goals and objectives

Applying the marketing mix: defining and understanding the 7Ps (product, price, place, promotion, people, process, physical) and the value they add to the green marketing campaign

Monitoring and evaluating the delivery of the plan and the campaign initiatives to support meeting strategic marketing objectives

Guidance for pitching:

The structure of pitching

Building the bridge of trust during a pitch Summarising and follow-up

Verbal and non-verbal communications skills

Learning Outcomes and Assessment Criteria

Pass	Merit	Distinction
LO1 Explore the concepts of ethics and ethical marketing
	D1 Critically evaluate the main ethical dilemmas facing tourism organisations and the implications of not adhering to consistent ethical practice
P1 Explore the concept of morality, ethics and ethical behaviour in marketing P2 Discuss examples of unethical practices when promoting and advertising to customers	M1 Evaluate the sources of ethical standards and frameworks for ethical decision-making to support ethical marketing practices
LO2 Assess the relevance of ethical behaviours in marketing for the ethical tourism industry	D2 Justify recommendations on how to improve alignment of marketing campaign messages and ethical sustainable practices for specific examples
P3 Discuss specific examples of ethical and unethical practice by tourism destinations and service providers P4 Evaluate the importance of accurately aligning marketing with sustainable or ethical policies and practices for ethical tourism	M2 Critically evaluate the potential consequences of misalignment between marketing campaign messages and ethical sustainable policies and practices, using specific examples
LO3 Design and pitch the elements of a green	D3 Design a green marketing campaign pitch for a destination or tourism business that justifies the choice of strategic objectives and strategy to successfully meet campaign objectives
marketing campaign
P5 Design a green	M3 Design a creative,
marketing campaign and	feasible and detailed
make a pitch about how it	campaign pitch which
promotes both the	evaluates the inter-
destination or tourism	dependency of the various
business and its ethical	elements to ensure
practices	campaign objectives are
	met

Recommended resources

Textbooks

ARNOLD, C. (2009) Ethical Marketing and the New Consumer: Marketing in the New Ethical Economy. Chichester: John Wiley & Sons.

CRANE, A. and MATTEN, D. (2010) Business Ethics. 3rd ed. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

DAHLSTROM, R. (2010) Green Marketing Management. Cincinnati: South-Western College Publishing.

OTTMAN, J. (2010) The New Rules of Green Marketing Strategies, Tools, and Inspiration for Sustainable Branding. Oxford: Greenleaf Publishing.

WEEDEN, C. (2014) Responsible Tourist Behaviour (Advances in Tourism). Oxford: Routledge.

Websites

www.greenhotelier.org	Green Hotelier (General Reference)
www.green-tourism.com	Green Tourism Case Studies, Products and Services (General Reference)
www.gstcouncil.org	Global Sustainable Tourism Council (Research, Articles)
www.tourismconcern.org	Tourism Concern (General Reference)

Links This unit links to the following related units:

Unit 1: The Contemporary Travel and Tourism Industry

Unit 2: Managing the Customer Experience

Unit 3: Professional Identity and Practice

Unit 4: The Travel and Tourism Business Toolkit

Unit 6: Managing Aviation Services

Unit 7: Managing Conference and Events

Unit 8: Visitor Attraction Management

Unit 11: Corporate Travel Management

Unit 16: Marketing Essentials for Travel and Tourism

Unit 20: Tourism Consumer Behaviour and Insight

Unit 21: Airline Operations Management