Ethical Theories: A Case Study Analysis of 'Targeting a Broken Heart'

This essay provides an ethical analysis of the "Targeting a Broken Heart" case study, applying utilitarianism, deontology, virtue ethics, and contract theory to evaluate the ethical implications of a company targeting individuals experiencing heartbreak. It discusses how Facebook's data collection and usage practices affect user privacy and emotional well-being. The essay argues that while such practices may generate profits, they raise significant ethical concerns regarding the exploitation of vulnerable individuals. The analysis concludes that companies should prioritize user privacy and emotional well-being over financial gains, emphasizing the importance of ethical considerations in business practices. Desklib offers a wide array of solved assignments and resources for students seeking to deepen their understanding of ethical theories and their real-world applications.

Running head: Targeting a broken heart
Targeting a Broken Heart
Assignment 3: Applying Ethical Theory
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Word count : 1400

Targeting a Broken Heart
Table of Contents
Introduction...............................................................................................................1
Utilitarianism theory..................................................................................................1
Deontology theory.....................................................................................................2
Virtue theory..............................................................................................................2
Contract theory..........................................................................................................3
Conclusion.................................................................................................................3
References.................................................................................................................5
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Targeting a Broken Heart
Introduction
For this paper, the case which is selected is “Targeting a broken heart”. By focusing on the entire
it has been taken into consideration that there are company focuses on the researchers who have
the detail insight that can be analyzed through problems. The emphasis is given on how breakup
influences the behavior of the individuals.
In this paper the case is related with targeting a broken heart and by considering the case the
ethical theories will be discussed like Utilitarianism, deontology, virtue and contract theory.
Utilitarianism theory
This theory is related with utilitarian and it has been seen that there are many perceived goods.
By taking this case, it has been stated that perceived good should be taken into consideration. In
the present era, the rule of utilitarian can help to contradict the information collection process
and there are methods which is important to be considered. It can be examined that in this it also
tells about how individuals maintain their safety on Facebook or focus on managing the entire
information. This theory states that moral happiness of the person is important and it focuses on
the principles as it helps to focus on the right actions.
By relating to this theory, it can be said that people have to face various issues which focuses on
the living standard of the people and it only makes the people happy or sad. So, according to the
case, it can be analyzed that the focus of the people is given to reduce the heartbreaks of breakup
by posting images or status on their Facebook account. The people are to share their images and
post on their account and they share what they think. But in many cases Facebook provide an
update of the status which was done in past so by seeing it increases the feeling of sadness in the
person. So, by seeing the post it gathers the information which can make them sad (Child &
Starcher, 2016).
ICT ethical norms have the link with the individual post and in which it can be seen that post
should not be considered by the other individual. But on the Facebook platform the third person
can easily comment and see the posts which are posted by the individual. In this case it can be
simple for the third party to give information to third party and it can result in breaching of the
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Targeting a Broken Heart
data. There are people who focus on other sources so that it can be easy to reduce their sadness.
To change their mindset people prefer to go for shopping, watching movie or exploring to new
places (Bevan, Cummings, Kubiniec, Mogannam, Price & Todd, 2015). It is important for the
organization to emphasize on considering proper safety so that it can be easy to focus on the
entire level of perception. It is the duty of the individual to maintain their privacy so that the
third party cannot misuse it.
Deontology theory
According to this theory it has been seen that it helps to encourage the individual so that it can be
easy to choose the best act. Also this theory states that relations are important to be maintained
so that it can be easy for the people to know about their safety or privacy of data. On the initial
level, it can be seen that there are many hurdles but on the later stage as the things going
gradually it can be simple to attain positive results. It has been seen that correct decisions can
help the organization to achieve good results. If the act of an individual gives benefit to the other
then it can adversely affect the entire activities of the company. It can also increase the problems
of the individual who are living in the society (Parker, 2017).
The present situation states that there are majority of people who feel good by using Facebook
and through this they can simply change their mindset or the mood of breakup. So, by
considering this theory it can be stated that it is not ethical and also it breach the overall rules or
the information of the person. It has been seen that company is offering the essential data to the
companies and they use it to marketing and also for their own benefit. This can be stated as the
legal offense and there are companies who provide pleasure to the people so that they can feel
good. The individual also emphasizes on the problems that can take place due to various reasons.
The company has no right to use the emotions of the people for their own benefits. So, this act
can be stated as the unethical act which can affect the lives of the people living in the society
(Markkula Center for Applied Ethics, 2018).
So, it can be said that Facebook tries to take into consideration the security of the people by
focusing on the overall policies. It is also essential to emphasize on the operations so that the
belief of the person cannot be affected.
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Targeting a Broken Heart
Virtue theory
According to this theory, it has been seen that there are less people who take into consideration
the virtual philosophy. It is necessary to focus on the individual happiness from their overall act
and it can be seen that they are not ethical. It can also been seen that individual who are positive
can attain growth in the market. It can only be attained if the focus is given on the ethical actions.
This theory also tells that there are virtues which is important to be considered like courage and
honesty (Murphy, 2017).
According to the case it has been seen that Facebook should consider the important information
so that advantages can be attained. This can also be stated as the unethical act and this theory
relates to the act of the person which is right and it do not focus on the work which is already
completed. The emotions of the people are misused and the theory also not considers the
unethical act but it emphasizes on the social media information of the person (West, 2018).
Contract theory
There are policies that are necessary to be taken into consideration by the individuals. It is
important for the people to focus on the rules so that people can survive in the society with
confidence and honesty. In this, paper work is necessary to be considered and when people start
their Facebook account then they are many rules which they accept because Facebook do not
permit to do so (Vaughn, 2015).
So, it can be stated that it is important to focus on the rules before accepting as it affect the
privacy of the person. The actions which are adopted by the company are not right in the eye of
law and can be stated as wrong. It is important for the people to emphasize on securing the data
by considering the use of social media. It is important to maintain the relation of the individual
or to focus on their privacy so that it can be easy to live a safe life. So, it is important for the
management of the company to focus on maintaining high safety so that negative affect can be
reduced. It is important to focus on maintaining the privacy so that customer satisfaction can be
enhanced. It is important to maintain the safety of the customers so that they can maintain their
trust on the website. It is necessary for the company to focus on securing the data of the people
so that the third party cannot misuse it as it can affect in the negative manner on the lives of the
individual (Rachels, 2017).
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Targeting a Broken Heart
Conclusion
Therefore, by focusing on the entire paper it can be stated that Facebook and Social media
should take into consideration the privacy of the people and they should not think of their profits
on the initial level. It is important to maintain the security of people so that their satisfaction
level can be maintained. It is also important for the companies to consider the process of safety
as it can help in maintaining the privacy of the people so that risk of data loss can be reduced. If
the important data of customers are misused then it can create dissatisfaction among the
customers.
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Targeting a Broken Heart
References
Bevan, J. L., Cummings, M. B., Kubiniec, A., Mogannam, M., Price, M., & Todd, R. (2015).
How are important life events disclosed on Facebook? Relationships with likelihood of
sharing and privacy. Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking, 18(1), 8-12.
Child, J. T., & Starcher, S. C. (2016). Fuzzy Facebook privacy boundaries: Exploring mediated
lurking, vague-booking, and Facebook privacy management. Computers in Human
Behavior, 54, 483-490.
Markkula Center for Applied Ethics, (2018).Targeting a Broken Heart, Retrieved from
https://www.scu.edu/ethics/focus-areas/internet-ethics/resources/targeting-a-broken-heart/
on 16/8/2018
Murphy, R. S. (2017). Property rights in personal information: An economic defense of privacy.
In Privacy (pp. 43-79). Routledge.
Parker, R. B. (2017). A definition of privacy. In Privacy (pp. 83-104). Routledge.
Rachels, J. (2017). Why privacy is important. In Privacy (pp. 11-21). Routledge.
Vaughn, L. (2015). Doing ethics: Moral reasoning and contemporary issues. WW Norton &
Company.
West, A. (2018). After virtue and accounting ethics. Journal of Business Ethics, 148(1), 21-36.
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