The Perception of Ethics Related To The Marketing Targeted to Children in Romania

Abstract

The responsibility of a company in relation with the consumers translates primarily by addressing and treating them ethically, respecting the rules and principles of moral, legal and deontological. The situation is more delicate when the targeted consumers are children.

This paper proposes, starting from the author’s constant concern about the problematic of the children as target market, to investigate how the marketing practices in Romania are seen as ethical in relation to the consumer as child. For this purpose, 24 interviews were conducted with parent dyads from diverse urban environments, of medium and large size (Bucharest, Iasi, Constanta, Cluj, Brasov, Bacau, Timisoara, Craiova), having various income levels, between 850-1500 lei per capita, average education level and above average, eight couples for each significant age groups (3-6 years, 7-12 years, 13-16 years). The main goals of the present research were to identify the perception of the ethics in the marketing efforts, to identify the level of ethics perceived related to the marketing efforts targeted to the children in Romania, to reveal those marketing practices perceived to be ethical/fair, to emphasize the marketing elements considered to be appropriate in strict relation to the children segment in Romania