Literature Review: Ethical Marketing Strategies in Food and Fair Trade

This literature review examines ethical marketing within the food industry, focusing on fair trade practices. It evaluates the benefits and drawbacks of incorporating ethical marketing strategies, highlighting its impact on business performance, consumer trust, and social and environmental advantages. The review also addresses the complexities of fair trade, including challenges in global trade policies, competition between developed and developing countries, and the role of NGOs in promoting ethical practices. It concludes that while ethical marketing and fair trade can enhance business growth and consumer satisfaction, they also present significant challenges that require innovative strategies and government support, particularly for developing nations. Desklib provides access to similar documents and study resources for students.

Ethical Marketing focus food
& fair trade

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Table of Contents
Introduction.................................................................................................................................................2
Literature review.........................................................................................................................................2
Conclusion...................................................................................................................................................7
References...................................................................................................................................................8

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Introduction
The main motive of the paper is to evaluate the literature review on the ethical marketing
procedure focusing on food and fair trade. Ethical marketing provides various benefits to the
food industry, and it helps to enhance the business performance of a particular firm. Therefore,
with the help of this literature review, the academics and practitioners can easily review the
advantages and disadvantages of incorporating ethical marketing strategy in the food industry
business. By knowing the effect of ethical marketing focusing on food and free trade the
practitioners will be able to avoid such facts in their work in the future. Moreover, the literature
review will determine the importance of fair trade practices and also its problem while
incorporating it in the food business.
Literature review
Ethical marketing demonstrates as the procedure by which organizations markets their
products and services by focusing on consumer benefits and also on the social as well as
environmental advantages. Also, ethical marketing is a philosophy that enables a firm to build
strong relationships with their consumer base and thereby it easily enhances the trust and honesty
of their target consumer base. According to the author Varul, (2014), organizations that focus on
the ethical marketing of food and fair trade evaluate their decisions in the form of business
perspective that provides huge benefits to the social environment as well as their customer base.
The author also suggested that food and fair trade ethical marketing gives the customers the
option of paying more or higher prices for imported food products so that they developed a
decent living standard for the people. In the words of Vitell, (2015), nowadays many companies
main motive is to achieve a better environment and social equality by following the ethical
marketing procedure for food and fair trade. The concept of fair trade on food industry through
ethical marketing is only to maximize the supplier return in comparison to the margin of the
buyer in a logical development structure. For this reason, the companies choose ethical
marketing procedure for food and fair trade so that they eventually enhance their consumer base
as well as their attraction towards the particular brand directly increases the business profit.
Ethical trade is also important which focus on the rights of the workers during the supplying
chain of products, it also talks about the behavior and of the companies. Whereas the fair trade
which only applies to products, not companies and focus on the development of the workers. The

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development of the fair trade policy helps in evaluating the overall growth and execution of the
business processes by any concerned organization. On the other hand, it has been fund that rise
in the number of companies are seeking for providing an ethical alternative for the respective
consumers in order to purchase particular products from them.
In the opinion of Chatzidakis Kastanakis & Stathopoulou, (2016), the concept of fair
trade mainly originated in the United Kingdom, but its advocacy and impact are pursued
throughout the country. Therefore in current days the country also plays a significant role in
implementation and advocacy of fair trade in the international market too. After implementing
the concept of fair trade, it is noticed that this country has gained considerable benefits in the
food sector and therefore from the 1990s most of the companies in this country use the fair food
trade in their business. Also, this fair food trade helps the companies to easily fulfill their
consumer demands by analyzing the market needs of this country, but some issues occur due to
this approach. The author Nicholls & Huybrechts, (2016), suggested that through food fair trade
most of the companies are enable to enhance their success rate but their targeted consumer base
has not increased at a higher rate. In order to increase the consumer base, it is important that the
companies should build some new strategies of marketing procedure. Therefore, for increasing
the consumer base, the companies of the United Kingdom introduces ethical marketing
procedure on focusing on developing the food sector thorough fair trade. With the help of this
strategy they successful in building high consumer base and thereby it enhances the business
growth of the food companies present in this country. The development of the fair trade policies
regarding the business processes of the firm on the international platform has helped in
increasing the number of the consumers from different countries of the world. It needs to be
understood that the fair trade is recognized as the desired philosophy which effectively supports
the marketing as well as the selling of the products at a greater than the free trade prices.
Moreover, it has been seen that the supporters of the fair trade practices effectively believes that
the prices for various commodities needs to be high enough in order to assure the safe living and
working conditions for the producers.
As evaluated by the author Cater, Collins & Beal, (2017), in order to build an ethical
relationship with the consumer base, it is necessary that the food company should focus on fair
trade through ethical marketing procedure. The author suggested that ethics in marketing help the

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industry to make a fair deal with humanity and thereby following this the food sector uses fair
trade procedure. Therefore in the present days, most of the food companies use fair trade with
ethical marketing so that it easily increases their business growth and the customer are also
satisfied with their products and services. According to the author Staricco & Ponte, (2015), the
rapid improvement of fair trade market on the food industry help the companies to increase their
consumer base, but it causes a huge impact on the trading nations internationally that leads to
subtle as well as legal complexities. By analyzing the legal factors, the author concluded that
though ethical marketing provides a positive impact, the fair trade food causes an argument
between the global policy of trade as well as on the domestic economic policies. Due to this
conflict various issue occur on the labor policy, local environmental policy and also on the
competition policy that somehow generates debates and conflicts between the developing and
developed countries of the nation. Therefore, from this view, it is clear that fair trade policy on
the food industry not only causes positive impacts but also gives rises to a negative impact
throughout the whole nation. It becomes important for the consumers to understand the benefits
of having fair trade marketing practices. The fair marketing practices effectively provides the
consumers the desired option of paying higher prices for the concerned imported goods. This
practice helps the producers throughout the different parts of the world to have a decent standard
of living. The barriers between the consumers and the produces present throughout different
parts of the world is reduced with the help of the globalization and the fair trade practices.
As evaluated by the author Kirwan, Maye & Brunori, (2017), fair trade on food
marketing causes various challenges in the trading relations and this cause’s negative impact
mainly on the developing countries of the world. Due to this ethical marketing procedure of fair
trade on food sector possess huge positive impact on the developed countries because the food
organizations of these countries became familiar to introduce new strategies by which they solve
the complexities. In other words, the developing countries do not come up with the fair trade on
food sector, and thereby they always find it unfair regarding the trading restrictions
(Hainmueller, Hiscox & Sequeira, 2015). In addition, the main problem arises on ethical
marketing on food and fair trade in the developing countries is that the food companies unable to
compete with the developed countries food companies. Due to this reason, most of the
developing countries enable to develop free trade on food sector as it causes various issues
relating to business growth. In the words of Raynolds & Greenfield, (2015), ethical marketing

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procedure on food and fair trade causes various challenges for the developing countries and
thereby it is important that these countries should innovate new strategies so that they easily
compete with the developed countries of the nation. The author suggested a solution by which
the developing countries should compete with the developed countries in spite of the presence of
such trading restrictions. The use of the different marketing techniques has also been adopted by
various organizations in order to boost the overall growth and development of the execution of
the food and fair trade practices. Moreover, it is a matter of fact that the trade unions as well as
the NGOs area effectively considered to be primarily responsible for the promotion of the
worker’s rights and respect around the globe.
According to this author, the government of the developing countries should take
necessary steps by which the food sector follow ethical marketing procedure through the fair
trade policy (Dagevos, 2016). With the help of government, the food sector of the developing
countries should innovate new strategies in spite of the trading restrictions and thereby following
the strategies they enable to give high competition to the food companies of the developed
countries. In the opinion of Kirwan, Maye & Brunori, (2017), the developing countries should
develop ethical marketing procedure in the fair trade food sector with the help of various NGO’s
of the countries. With the help of NGO’s the increases their productivity that indirectly help
them to build the trust of their consumer base which easily enhances their business profit in the
market. The author also suggested that it not only help the food sector to develop free trade
procedure, but it also helps them to easily overcome their challenges that have caused due to
trading restrictions. On the other hand, the ethics in marketing are defined by the set of principles
of right conduct which shapes the decisions that are to be made by the organizations or people.
Practicing the ethical rules in marketing related to the application of standards of fairness, moral
rights as well as the various marketing decisions are considered to be vital.
As evaluated by the author O'Connor, Sims & White, (2017), ethical marketing on food
and fair trade causes a low price on the products and services provided by the firm which thereby
provides positive results on the business growth of the particular food company. According to
this author ethics in marketing provides a huge growth of the company business because it builds
trust and honesty of the targeted consumer base which directly influences the people to purchase
products from their selected companies in the market (Rios, Finkelstein & Landa, 2015). By

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following this strategy, the food sector uses ethical marketing procedure along with free trade
approach so that they easily develop the trust of their consumer base towards their brands. In the
words of Hughes, (2015), by following ethical marketing, the food industry become succeeded in
gaining a competitive advantage over its competitors, and thereby it helps the firm to be one of
the leading food brands in the market. Therefore, from this view, the author analyzed that with
the help of ethical marketing the food sector enables to establish their position in the market. In
addition, the author Rousseau, (2015), demonstrate that incorporation of fair trade procedure in
the food sector helps them to handle the new trends of their customer behaviors easily. With the
incorporation of fair trade procedure, the food industry can easily decrease the price of their
products and services which enable to grab the attention of their consumer in the respective
market. The desired standard of living for the producers of food throughout the different parts of
the world can be effectively increased. One of the most vital aspects is the evaluation of the
quality of the food products and its prices. The demands for food products has been increased in
the cent times and thus, it significantly provides benefits to the food producers as well as satisfies
the preferred needs of the customers too regarding the availability of the food products.
In the opinion of Ladhari & Tchetgna, (2015), the ethical marketing procedure on food
industry help the companies to demonstrate a positive image of their brand and thereby it easily
enhances the customer attention towards their firm. In the today’s environment, it is noticed that
most of the food companies in the world are fond of using ethical marketing strategies and by
this way, they can easily follow every food laws and increases the profitability of their business
too. In other words, the author Doherty, Smith & Parker, (2015), stated that both ethical and
legal literature on food marketing causes various disciplinary boundaries that generates various
issues to the marketing context. According to this author, ethical marketing focus on the food
industry causes limits in this industry which thereby sometimes affect the decision making the
procedure of the firm. Due to this issue, most of the food companies are eagerly applied non-
ethical marketing strategy so that they easily cope with the market needs without any restrictions.
As stated by the author Goodman & Herman, (2015), ethical marketing focuses on fair trade
influence several sectors of the food industry. The author suggested that the main motive of the
fair trade concept is to maintain sustainable development of the firm so that they easily achieve
their goals and maximize the benefits of similar businesses. Due to this fact, the food companies

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incorporate free trade and also uses ethical marketing procedure so that they easily improve their
business growth and achieve their objectives too.
In addition, by using the fair trade practices, the food companies must be responsible as
well as ethical in concerning to their employee relations, corporate governance practices, and
product sourcing. As per the author Bratanova et al., (2015), ethical marketing focus food and
fair trade mainly due to reducing the market risk of the particular companies in the market. The
ethical marketing practices help the food companies in the nation to maintain ethics with their
consumer base which indirectly help the firm to increase their position as well as competitive
advantage in the market. In addition, fair trade provides various benefits to food organizations
and one of which is that it enhances the flow of productivity and provides international support,
so the firm easily attracts international agencies. Therefore, from this literature view it is clear
that ethical marketing focuses on food and fair trade not only provide positive impact but
sometimes it causes various problems to the business, but with the help of proper strategy the
companies can reduce their challenges in future days.

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Conclusion
The paper concluded that ethical marketing focusing on food and fair trade provide a
positive impact on the business and it thereby helps the firm to enhance the trust and honesty of
their selected consumer base. From the literature review, it is clear that ethical marketing
practices of the food industry help to increase the profitability of the business that indirectly
enhances their position in the market. Besides this, it is seen that fair trade originated in the
United Kingdom food sector and after its incorporation in business the food companies enhance
the business profit in this country. The literature review helps a person to know about the
positive and negative effects of ethical marketing on food and fair trade. After knowing the
negative effect, the person should not apply such fact in the workplace, and this literature review
also helps the academics and practitioners to establish a particular solution for overcoming the
issues. In addition, the literature review provides some solution of the issues which also help the
academics to use this on future, and they can also modify it to provide better results.

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